CPAP, Day 1

Had a nice briefing from the somno tech and got fitted.  Shockingly, they had to mix and match masks to get one to fit me.  I ended up with a medium nose + mouth mask on a small frame.

Went to the apartment, tossed in some water, and turned it on.  My prescription is for auto-titrating 4-20, but the somno tech said there was no way it would ever go anywhere near that high.

Yeah, whatever.

CPAP is an interesting feeling.  It's like trying to sleep with a supercharger on.  I fell asleep, and at some point started trying to stop the air from coming in so fast.

Not a good idea.

The reason is that the auto-titration does not work (as I had initially assumed it would) by using a pulse-ox to determine when an apneic episode is occurring.  Oh, no, it senses the torqueing down of the compressor motor, assumes the airway has collapsed, and ups the power to push it open.

So rather than feeling that torqueing down and saying, "Hey, this guy might not be really feeling this much pressure, let's back it off a bit," the little transistors say one to another, "OMG!  APNEA!  MOR PRESSER!!!!!"

Perhaps some Respironics engineers need to read Aesop's "The North Wind and the Sun."

I woke up when the pressure hit 16 and change.  I vaguely recall wondering why someone was trying to inflate my head with a full-shop air compressor.

A panicked headgear removal and a few groggy expletives followed.  I fought the air, and the air won.

Fortunately, there's a handy button that resets the ramp, dropping the pressure back down to the initial 4.  This time, I fell asleep doing mindful breathing (though not the usual part where you hold your breath...oh, my, no).  When I woke up, I had scored 7.7 hours of compliance.

At some point, we will get on the same page, and I will have a healthier, more energetic day.  I mean, it's already accomplished one thing:  I'm not going throughout my whole day wanting to go back to bed.

Just not quite for the reasons I had hoped.