As the result of his sleep lab experience, DH (dear hubby) picked up his CPAP (continuous positive air pressure) machine and will be renting it for a month or two (at $18 per month) to see if that kind of sleep apnea machine is effective for him.
The machine comes in a back-pack sized case with a compartment for the mask with its long clear tube and another for the little (about the size of a half piece of letter paper) black box. Two of the three buttons have been programmed and punching them won’t do anything. The middle button is the on-off switch. The mask fits over the nose.
He was told it might take a while to get accustomed to it. He tried it for about 20 minutes the first time. That night or the next he said he had it on for about an hour.
I discovered that I had to get a good-night kiss in before the nose thing goes on as there’s not much room around the mouth with the mask on. I fell asleep listening to the kind of heavy breathing that isn’t very unusual when DH is fast asleep. (He very seldom snored– not all with sleep apnea do snore.)
Temperatures in our rooms will fall to 55 degrees in the autumn. The machine’s forced air felt cold to DH so we tried setting the thermostat higher. The air also was fairly dry.
Today DH went and picked up a humidifying attachment. With the attachment the machine is about the size of a full piece of letter sized paper. There is also a knob for adjusting the temperature of the humidity.
On the way home we stopped by the store for distilled water. Only distilled water should be used in the reservoir. Every week or more the water holder can be cleaned with a solution of 3 parts water to one part white vinegar.
Wondering about the cost? Under the medicare plan that DH has, our portion of cost of the machine with carrying case is about $200. I haven’t seen the charge card receipt for the humidifier.
I’m writing this as a record of the journey into another aspect of sleep. Wikipedia shows a photo similar to his at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAP_machine. I have high hopes that higher energy and less need for DH staying in bed for longer than eight hours will be the result of having the CPAP sleep apnea machine.
Tags: CPAP, humidifier for CPAP, sleep apnea machine, spouse view of CPAP
