Elrond,

     So glad to hear you are doing well, I am so happy for you.  And you lost weight too!  How exciting!

  Thank you for dropping me a line, I haven't been on here in quite some time, but I'm so glad to hear you are doing well!!!

Michele

Elrond,

      Hey, the humidifier should help with your congestion, that is true.  Your humidifier should be a heated model, as I don't think they make cool pass humidifiers anymore.  There should be a dial on it to set the amount of the humidity, try starting on the lowest level of heat, if you are still experiencing congestion turn it up by one notch or number maybe each week.  If you begin having water in your hose, or mask then the humidity is too high and may need to be turned down.  If your home is really cool, sometimes you will get water in your hose due to condensation, they make insulating hose covers if this is a real problem for you let your DME know.  You can inexpensively do pretty much the same thing as a hose cover with tube socks over lapping up the lenth of your hose.  As for the problem with it being in the way, can you fit a small table or shelf next to your bed?  I haven't seen your layout so I'm not sure what to advise.  It is very important to your health, if you think it would help I can send you info on the health conditions caused by sleep apnea, maybe if your husband understood how important it is to your health he'd be a bit more tolerant?  Let me know and I'd be happy to help in any way I can.  The humidifier should help you though, and shouldn't feel much different then it did without.  If you want to tell me specifics on how it feels different maybe I can give you more precise help on the humidifier. :0)  Oh and I'm happy to be one of your friends! :0)

Michele

Shannon,

     Sleeping in a strange enviroment is a real challange for a lot of people.  We expect that, and take it into account.  Typically we ask in the AM how your sleep compares with how you sleep at home, and in most cases people say they sleep better in their own surroundings.  You would be surprised what we can learn with just 2 hours of sleep.  It is always best for the initial sleep study to see how you actually sleep, on your own, we can document insomnia, or difficulties falling asleep.  Since you have already had a study and it was discovered you do have Sleep Apnea if you are going back just to find your CPAP setting level and be sure all of the apnea is adequately treated, and you have trouble sleeping in a strange enviroment you can ask your doctor and see if he is comfortable giving you a sleep aid to help you sleep for the study.  If you do decide to get a sleeping pill from your doctor, you should choose something like Ambien or Sonata, those medications don't affect the stages of sleep.  Drugs like Trazadone, or Amytriptyline, or even Benadryl are long lasting and can cause you to not have REM sleep, or dream.  Apnea is worse when we dream in most cases, so it is very important we see REM with you on CPAP.  I hope this is helpful, if you have more questions let me know.  It sounds like you have a good atitude about your CPAP, and in most cases that means you will do well.  Let me know if you have any other questions or cocerns, and HAPPY SLEEPING!!!! :0)

Michele