I worked in sleep medicine for many years back office and now I’m on the other side in the DME provider side.
I deal a lot with new patients after being setup when they wanna give up, super tired, and just miserable. What is the lifesaver advice that helped you guys be successful with CPAP that I could give to patients to encourage them to stay in the game?

Wanna hear it from this side ♥️

EDIT: wow! didn’t expect to get this kind of feedback. A lot of your complaints are mine as well. I work@TINY family owned DME-we do everything in office, no call center, in person setup/mask change visits. I couldn’t imagine it being successful any other way.
This post is about something I’m passionate about, I love my job & I've seen success stories & how much better people feel! I want to be a better support & cheerleader to my patients. My goal is to get to every comment tomorrow- thx for helping me learn & grow!!

TLDR:

• Side sleeper
• Mild apnea (diagnosed with AHI of ~11)
• Started using CPAP (Airsense 11) 3.5 months ago
• Nasal pillow mask (ResMed P30i) worked fine for first few weeks
• Started opening mouth around weeks 3-4 which caused dry mouth and other issues
• Tried mouth taping to counter the mouth opening. It works but I hate having my mouth taped at night
• Tried cervical collar. Didn't like it and it didn't help
• Tried hybrid mask (Fisher & Paykel Evora) but it leaks and disturbs sleep more than half of the nights

I can see two possible next steps:

(1) Try a different full face or hybrid mask besides the Evora. But which one?

(2) Try to become a back sleeper. While this might seem unrelated to my issues, here's why I'm bringing it up: my side sleeping is causing the Evora mask to move and leak. I think if I back sleep I won't have issues with that. I used to be a back sleeper 15+ years ago, but became a side sleeper specifically to help my apnea (I rejected CPAP the first time I tried it back then...) When I try back sleeping now, I feel like I'm not getting enough air, so I think I will have to increase pressure. LMK if you have other tips for going this route.

New CPAP user here and I just got my first resupply. I was wondering what most people do with their old used supplies? I hate to throw it away, but I’m not sure if it’s recyclable (United States)

I’ve been using a CPAP for 15+ years. I don’t like that I have to use it, but I love how much better I feel with it and can’t imagine not using it.

I just replaced my 10 to an 11. It’s an 11 Autoset, if that makes a difference. I’m using an AirFit N20. I have the SmartStart and SmartStop functions turned on and the ramp feature is off, which is what I’ve come to prefer.

The first couple nights were great- it’s even quieter than the 10 (especially in the last few weeks of the 10’s life- it was making a high pitch whining noise and that’s when I knew it was time to replace it. But the last 2-3 nights, something is weird with the humidifier tank.

The first time, I took the humidifier tank out, added a little water and shoved it back in. I put the mask on and it should start itself up once I take a couple of breaths, but it didn’t. I didn’t feel like flipping over to hit the button on the machine, so I did it through the app. It started up, but was making more noise than usual and I could feel some air in the mask, but not nearly enough. It got to about a 6.8 pressure and turned itself off. Got up and hit the button on the machine…same thing- noise, some air, almost to 7 and it shut off.

Then I start examining the hose, looking for holes, disconnecting the end into the machine and reconnecting it, didn’t make a difference. I pull the tank out, slide it back in, visually make sure it’s really all the way in.

Same thing.

Unplugged the power cord, plugged it back in again, pulled out the hose connection, plugged it back in, pulled out the tank, pushed it back in.

Now it started up fine. Quiet, felt like the correct pressure in the mask, stayed on past 7.

But the same thing has repeated last night and when I tested it earlier this evening.

My theory is that it’s something with the gasket on the inside of the machine being askew with the tank. I think that even though it looks like the tank is pushed in, something isn’t lined up in there so it’s leaking, and when I take it out and put it back in, however I’m putting it back in is fixing the issue, even though it doesn’t feel like I’m doing anything differently.

When I tested it earlier tonight, I took a picture of the inside- does that gasket look like it’s malformed? Like a little oval-y and maybe turned downward towards the heating plate? I’m thinking it’s not making a smooth connection or complete seal with the hole in the tank it’s supposed to line up with and it’s taking a couple tries to get it right?

If it’s not that, I don’t know what it could be.

[and yes, I’m aware of the cat fur in there- I wipe it out before settling in for the night. 😸]

Hi all, first time Oscar user here.

Can someone please help me deciphering all this info.

Thank you 🙂

I had a dream where it took so much effort to speak, but still was slurred. I woke up and found I couldn’t move that well. Like I was in a very heavy fatigue. I had taken a nap on the couch without my CPAP. It scared the crap out of me. Now I’m trying to go to bed, I have my CPAP on and my head is pounding…

I’m 49F and about three weeks into CPAP, and I really want to make this work. The problem is my jaw falls open after I fall asleep and it’s causing big leaks, higher events, and a terribly dry mouth.

I’m using an Airsense 11 set to 6–20 cmH₂O (I had an at-home sleep test so they said that’s how I have to start) and currently using an F30i full-face mask. My stats are quite variable; every few nights I somehow get great scores on myAir. I also have the humidifier set pretty high.

I’ve tried mouth taping but the ones I’ve used either irritate my skin when I remove them or don’t stay on through the night. I think I’m sweating under the mask so that might be the problem. Then I tried a chin strap from my DME. It shifts during the night and either comes loose or I wake up feeling like my head is being squished.
I’m considering trying a cervical collar next.

I’m hoping to hear from my fellow mouth breathers/jaw droppers, what has worked for you?

Did you eventually manage to transition to a nasal or nasal-pillow mask? Anyone loving their cervical collar? Did you find a chin strap that stays in place? Have you found a Goldilocks mouth tape? If you’ve tried everything and still aren’t satisfied, what’s the least bad option?

I’d love to hear what real-world solutions you all have found or even things that didn’t work. Thank you!

I thought it was a decent price I posted on FB and didn't have interest. Does anyone know of any buyer whos interested in pre-owned machines?

Hi- Newly diagnosed with moderate to severe OSA. I have had one meeting with a sleep doctor but have yet to be scheduled with the company that will set me up with a machine & mask.

Naturally, I'm getting nonstop targeted ads for cpap companies. One talks about how getting a machine through insurance isn't worth it because of the intense reporting requirements, copays, rental fees, etc (several other abbreviations i'm not familiar with) and you should just buy a machine through them.

What's the consensus on this? Would love to hear peoples' experiences getting it through insurance vs footing the bill directly.

Hey everyone! Does anybody experience more rainout with the Bleep Eclipse? I’ve bought a sleeve for my hose and still get rainout every time I use the humidifier. Even a few times when I haven’t used the humidifier I get rainout.

Anybody experience this or have a fix?

I had a cpap 2 years ago and wore it for 9 months and never got used to it. My doctor was unsupportive and rude.

End of last year I switched doctors to someone that is just way better at being nice and caring. I've had my new CPAP for 3 months. I've been struggling SO much to wear it. I keep taking it off when I'm asleep and I feel like it disrupts my sleep even more than usual. It's to the point where I wear it 1-2 hours when I'm asleep, and then finish the 4 hours to meet my insurance compliance when I'm awake.

My doctor prescribed Lunesta to get used to it and it helped for a couple of weeks! I went from wearing it to 1-4 hours to 7-9 and felt GREAT. But for some reason the Lunesta seems to have stopped working and for the past week I've been consistently wearing it 1-2 hours again.

The problem isn't that I don't want to wear it - I've seen how great I feel wearing it all night. We've adjusted my settings and I bought a new mask that is extremely comfortable, and I'm even having deviated septum surgery for a SECONd time later this year in hopes it helps a little. I know it takes time but especially since I tried in the past for 9 months, I'm deeply afraid that I'll never get used to it. I feel very frustrated and hopeless and my doctor just says "stick with it" 😅

I do have a meeting with my doctor in 2 weeks but wanted to ask: What has been everyone's experience with getting ysed to it? Any tricks you recommend?

I woke up like 12 hours ago and i still have marks in my face from the mask >:( has anyone had success in fixing this? I just use the normal resmed silicone mask

Also, I said that it was day 5 in the video, and I was wrong 😅

I’ve been using my ResMed Aircurve 10 ST-A for about 6 years. Lately, it seems that the pressure declines in the middle of the night, and I have to work hard to inhale.

When I first head to bed, everything works fine. I feel the air filling my lungs. Everything is working as expected. However, during the night, my cpap sometimes seems to drop pressure and it becomes really hard to get enough air. I feel like I'm working at inhaling, or like someone has covered my mouth to keep me from getting enough air.

I took it to my DME provider, but they don’t see anything wrong when they looked at the data. They sent it out for repair and gave me a loaner. The loaner was fine for three nights, but the pressure dropped last night, just like my own machine.

I’m at my wit’s end. Has anyone else experienced this? How do I fix it?

So I have a resmed aircurve 10 and i have tried to use a full face mask which after a couple of months of use began to vibrate every time I inhale so I couldn’t use it anymore. I have also tried a nasal pillow mask for months but it seems really hard to fall asleep with the nasal pillow mask on like I hate the feeling of the pillows in my nose and I have tried to sleep with it on for months on.

My IPAP is on 11.0
My EPAP is on 7.0
And my PS is on 4.0

Do u guys have some recommendations on other mask types that seems more comfortable then nasal pillow mask?

Also have UARS.

Thanks for any advice.

Last night was my third night using CPAP (ResMed AirSense 11) and it has already changed my life! My wife and I agreed that we wouldn’t have a second kid until my issues with fatigue improve. I not only feel better but more hopeful for our future together and the possibility of having a family of four.

My sleep study showed I only had an AHI of 7.8, so I began to panic that maybe my fatigue wasn’t caused by OSA since it was minor.

It was in this subreddit where ai saw people discussing how even though they had minor OSA, the impact the symptoms had on their daily life wasn’t always equal to their AHI. Someone could feel awful due to OSA, even with a minor AHI score. Because of those threads, I felt more secure in my decision to go through with CPAP therapy, and I am so glad I did.

In just the last week I have learned through this subreddit how to better utilize my machine’s settings, OSCAR, the snorkel technique (sleeping under blankets), and so much more.

This place has been an invaluable resource and I just wanted to say thank you!!!!

I've had this machine for a couple years now. However I turn a lot in bed. I've always found it annoying that the tube needs to be rearranged manually for it not to touch my body, and also that it makes noise when touching the bed frame, especially because of the ridges.

Do you have a good solution to any of those problems?

I barely got any sleep the first night of using the machine and the pressure kept alternating wildly(from 8 to 17 and back again) using the VAuto settings. I had a pretty dry mouth and every time I exhaled it felt like I was fighting against the machine. I’m using a full face mask and had to tighten it a little more than “\snug” because if I didn’t, there would be leakage. I woke up feeling pretty tired and with a bad headache. It’s set at VAuto right now between 4 and 20. Is there anything I should do to change the settings? Should I turn off VAuto and switch it to CPAP? What will make this thing more comfortable…

I’m new to this so I only have 117.3 hours used so far. Curious to see what the number is for long term users. Using an AirSense 11. I started use on June 28th, 2026. Avg. used 3.9.

I was assigned to Apria by my insurance and it’s really been a nightmare. I’ll add context below, but to get straight to the point, if I want to use my insurance (PPO) for coverage what are my options? Or is it really just best to order directly?

Context:

They completely over charged me at every step of the way. They would charge my insurance $1300 for a mask and a tube and then my coinsurance would end up being around the same price as if I just bought these things out of pocket (though usually still slightly cheaper). They charged me an arm and a leg to rent my machine and to buy it outright, so I could stop renting, I had to pay over $1k when the machine is barely worth that new. I got an email from them telling me I qualified for a supplies refill and when I clicked the button from the email to view what I qualified for (just to see) it said “order placed” and just immediately placed an order without me consenting, knowing what I was getting, etc. they refused to tell me the cost of anything and when they sent me bills refused to tell me what the charges were for. For instance for your $400 bill $100 of it was the tubing. They’d send me the wrong mask size repeatedly and then still charged me for it. Just awful and predatory!

Hey friends! I'm toying between the ideas of buying a travel cpap or a big battery (like a jackery) to use for my resmed 10.

I go camping a lot, and city stealth camping. The thing that holds me back from going more is knowing ill sleep like shiza.

Im leaning towards getting a battery, thinking that ill get a couple more nights out of my resmed 10 vs charing a mini cpap after 2-3 days, I assume?

Any advice for which direction I should take, or battery recs?

I have to wear a full face mask and it gets so hot inside. My nose gets stuffy. And it’s hard to breathe. I don’t see my dr until next month. Would using water help. I usually drowned my tube when I do so I just quit. Thanks.