Any sleep apnea people on Fluther that hate their CPAP mask?

My wife has sleep apnea and a sleeping disorder. at first, she tried the mask. she, like you, hated it and i thought i was sleeping with someone from World War I. we sat and thought about something else that might take the place of the mask. my wife read the literature about Lenesta. she decided to ask her doctore, if she could try Lenesta and hopefully discard the mask. on a trial period of 30 days, it worked for her. she now takes one Lenesta about 30 minutes before bedtime and so far….....so good. john

YES! I’ve tried six or 7 of them and still don’t like mine. I can’t believe nobody has come up with a really comfortable mask and nasal device.

I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I all but thank the Lord every day for my CPAP.

My friend couldn’t adapt to the mask. After some back and forth her physician took another look at her sleep study and found that she didn’t have events so long as she slept on her side. Her solution was to wear a tight shirt with a giant ball stitched into the back.

Ummmm..love all those answers! And John, thank you very much…will check that out! Just one question, does she have severe apnea? I do…

And Kevbo, tried that…does not work for me!

Hey Austinlad, always thought if they made a cap without the bill, could be an answer! Could tolerate a cap better than all that stuff around my head.

My husband started on a cpap last week. He is having a lot of trouble adapting to it. He has made it about five hours a night before he has to take it off. His sleep apnea is so bad he is unable to keep his oxygen up. He was placed on constant oxygen until he gets some of the carbon monoxide out of his system and can keep his O2 up. He is going to see about a new mask, because he is embarrassed of wearing the oxygen all the time and wants to be able to get a full sleep with his “sleeping machine” as the kids call it. My aunt got a cpap and never had a bit of trouble getting used to it. I will have to ask her secret.

@knitfroggy I’m with your husband on this one..it drives me up a wall…clautrophobic for me! Thank you for the answer. If your husband finds a better mask, please let me know!

I refuse to use one.

@ChazMaz mine is a severe case…have too or could be harmful to my health…

@Cotton101, that’s kind of how I feel, although I never really had an aversion to the mask to begin with. It’s one medical treatment that I willingly accept because the alternative is too miserable.

I use a full nose-and-mouth mask, by the way.

@kevbo surely someone can invent something better than what they have…apparently, the person that invented this contraption Kev, never had to wear it..loll.

hey, think a person could retire early if they invented something comfortable…fruit for thought..lol

@cotton101 yes it could be very hazardous. You could end up on oxygen like my husband. Supposedly his oxygen levels will get better after he has been on the cpap a while. No one has answer as to how long this may be, but being tied to the oxygen sucks.

@knitfroggy if he finds a better mask, please let me know!

@cotton101 will do!

Keep checking with your machine provider. I went in to have my machine calibrated and they showed me the latest model of mask. Most of the time I forget I have it on even before I fall asleep.

@stratman37 Super…will do that today! Thank you!

Glad to help.

There are masks that are filled with some type of gel which cushions the fit of the mask around the nose and mouth. I tried one, given by a friend, and did not really like it. I found it to be heavier than I liked and I could not get used to the fit.

Some people use nose pillows which attach to the top of the head through some type of harness. The advantage is that you don’t get the impact on the face of the general CPAP mask. The husband of my wife’s colleague began using them this summer and he is very happy with it.

To my taste, I use a Resmed conventional mask. I have used a CPAP since 1993 and I am just used to wearing the contraption. If you saw the first mask I was given, you would either be shocked or you would laugh out loud. It had a full head cap covering the skull and if you wanted to, you could thread the hose through loops on the top of cap to keep the hose in place above the nose. Very medieval when compared to the ones being sold now,

SRM

@srmorgan thank you for the good information…any way you slice it, it ain’t fun!

@Cotton101 have a look at www.cpap.com to see various options for masks and units.
I was traveling on business quite a bit say 2005 to 2008 and I bought a real lightweight one for less than $300.

SRM