[Earl]

Anyone here know about BiPap machines for sleep apnea? I snore real bad and have sleep apnea and a friend suggested a bipap machine.

I wonder, if you use one, does that mean you have to sleep on your back? I normally start on my back and turn to a side after a few minutes. I wonder how wearing a breaking mask would be affected.

Thanks,

[gonnamakeit]

My mother had sleep apnea and wore a C-pap mask. I don't know what the difference is between hers and what you have described. With the C-pap, you must sleep on your back.

She had the surgery to remove some obstruction in her throat to see if that would eliminate the need to use the mask and she described the results as the worst throat pain she ever had and she would never go through it again. The operation did not help her either and she continued with the face mask.

gonnamakeit

[Blessings2You]

My husband used the C-pap for a while, but it drove him nuts. He's kind of claustrophobic that way. He ended up having the surgery, and during the recovery he was in a lot of pain.

However, that was eleven years ago. For years after the surgery he didn't snore AT ALL, and now only occasionally when his allergies are acting up. Now he says he's glad he had the surgery.

I know other people who use the C-pap with good success, and it doesn't bother them the way it did Bob.

Incidentally, when he first got it I privately thought, "Oh no, I won't be able to sleep at ALL with that thing going all night." Au contraire. It turned out to be like "white noise", and it didn't disturb my sleep at all. Just in case you were wondering.

[weeble37]

A bi-pap is different from a C-pap machine. I'm not sure how exactly as I forgot.

I have sleep apnea, was diagnosed in 2002 I think. I have been using a C-pap ever since. I can sleep on my back and on my sides if my mask is on just right. There are lots of different masks you can wear.

I never slept on my stomach and I don't think that would be easy with a machine like these.

Have you had a sleep study yet? You will need one in order to be officially diagnosed and then given a bi-pap or a c-pap machine.

Good luck with everything,
Weebs37

[Snoopy]

Hi, Earl.

I don't use a BiPap but I do use a CPAP. I can lay on my back or sides so I would guess you can do the same with the Bi-Pap. Both are used for sleep apnea.

For those who do not know:

Bipap - Bi-Level Positive Airway Pressure.

Cpap - Continuous Positive Airway Pressure.

If you have a higher cpap setting then a bipap is better becaue a bipap has two different settings one for exhaling and one for inhaling, with a cpap it's one setting.

Because a bipap has two different settings it's also best for those who have a neuromuscular disease, it helps them to breath when they have difficulties doing it on their own.

The bipap came out in the 1990s and the cpap in the 1980s.

[doydie]

There is a long detailed thread either here or in Stumble Inn about this subject.

I have used my C-pap for almost a year now. The new masks make it a lot better. By the time I am almost asleep I can hardly tell I have mine on. I sleep on either side or my back. I sleep in a super single water bed which is bigger than a twin but not as big as a full so the 8 feet of tubing give me a lot of moving room. I think with the C-pap on, it is actually impossible to snore, that was one of my problems. Anyway, i sleep much better.

When I was a nurse, the masks for the old fashioned C and Bi-paps scared me to death they were so big. I don't know how anyone slept with them.

[Earl]

Thanks everyone, I am calling in the morning to try to get the doc to get me one.

I had a sleep study done a few years ago and found out I have Apnea and major storing. I put it off until now but it's time.

Thanks again.

[Shashi]

My husband and I both have sleep apnea. We started on CPAP last June, but I was unable to continue after about four months because I was getting less sleep than before. (I fought with that darn mask continually!) My husband is still doing well. He has a full-face mask and does sleep on his back, but I used the nasal masks or nasal pillows and could sleep on my sides.

On July 28, I'm having nose surgery to have my deviated septum repaird. I am also having a relatively new procedure called a somnoplasty. This surgery is a simple procedure in which lesions are burned into the soft palate or tongue. The lesions then heal and pull the tissue tighter, reducing the soft tissue falling back in the throat which causes snoring and apnea.

The procedure is usually done on an outpatient basis, but since I'm having the nose surgery, I'm having both at the same time. Supposedly, the recovery time is much shorter and there is a lot less pain from the procedure.

You might want to check on this with your doctor, especially if you find that you can't tolerate CPAP (or Bi-Pap.)

[doydie]

My Mother couldn't tolerate her C-Pap, of course that was in the days that it was huge, so her doctor ordered just a plain oxygen tubing. Her sleep apnea was profound enough that he didn't feel comfortable in her not having anything at night. So she just uses O2 at a low flow. She just uses the little cannula that you have in the hospital for anything. She has this huge compresser in her bedroom that makes the O2 for her and a very long tubing.

In other words, no C-pap machine at all just oxygen tubing connected to straight oxygen. Yes, she still has the apnea but at least her blood stream is saturated with a higher level of oxygen than she normally would have.

[Twinkletoes]

I guess I must have the bi-Pap, cause I know it adjusts when I exhale.

I began using it again a couple of months ago (after an 18 month hiatus), but was having difficulty getting the mask to seal. Had it tested and mailed it off to the factory to get the settings adjusted -- it was like being blasted in a wind tunnel! Using a loaner right now.

I use the full mask (nose/mouth). I do quit breathing a lot and for extended periods (according to a recent blood-ox test); however, I really don't notice a huge difference in alertness/energy level upon waking between sleeping with or without it. But, if I use the CPAP consistently, the dark circles under my eyes fade nicely. Also, I think I have fewer body aches.

Are you recovered from your surgery? Sorry you weren't feeling well and missed the GTG.

Sweet dreams!