It took a while for me to get use to it too. I just used it a few hours at
a time the first few weeks. You do have to retrain yourself to breathe. At
first I would forget to exhale and the vent would high pressure. Now it's
so automatic, I exhale through my nose while I'm getting a breath. If I
feel like taking a full breath I don't exhale until between breaths. It
feels more like normal breathing. I take it out when I sleep, but sometimes
fall asleep watching tv and it's still in.
If I feel my lungs getting congested, I hold my breath and am able to cough
mucus into my mouth, then just spit it into a napkin or paper towel. That
may sound gross to some people but it is sure better than getting suctioned.
The biggest problem I had at first was getting use to drinking with it. I
had gotten use to drinking countiuously without stopping to breath; didn't
have to, the air went out the tube. The pressure kept bulding up and I got
lite headed.
The first thing everyone does when I wake up is put the one-way valve in. I
forgot to mention that I use a different one-way valve when in bed. I use a
green one that I got from the RT at the hospital. It's easier to put in and
take out than the passy-muir.
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Jim Lubin jlubin(AT)eskimo.com
Bothell, WA, USA http://www.eskimo.com/~jlubin
Fax: +1 206 483 0215 ftp://ftp.eskimo.com/u/j/jlubin
disAbility Resources: http://www.eskimo.com/~jlubin/disabled