Questions
Hello everyone,
For a while now people have told me that I stop breathing when I'm sleeping. Snoring Etc. I looked into a lot of it and sleep apnea is what a lot of people have been telling me. Well since I don't have health insurance I decided to try and take matters into my own hands. I purchased a pretty much brand new ResMed Airsense 10 Autoset. At first reading on it I was under the impression it automatically adjusted your air flow. Well tonight I decided to give it a shot and ramp time was set to auto. After laying there for about 20 min getting used to it the pressure got really strong. I'm using a nasal mask not pillows. My pressure settings were set from 4-20. While I was laying there even practicing with high pressure the pressure stayed at 20. I was doing some reading and saw that people said most users get help between 7-14. I found how to change the pressure but nervous to do so in case my pressure is too low. What do you guys think?
RE: Questions
G'day unknownskies. Welcome to Apnea Board.
Let's assume for the moment that you have plain vanilla obstructive apnea, then the AutoSet is just about the best machine you can get. It will adjust the pressure as needed between a pre-set maximum and minimum. Your preset range of 4 - 20 is "wide open" and doesn't give the machine the best opportunity to home in on an optimum pressure. When starting out, and without having had a sleep test, it's probably a good idea to set a more limited range and go from there. The 7 - 14 you mentioned is as good a place to start as any.
A low end of 4 is too low for most people and makes them feel starved for air. On the other hand, setting the maximum at 20 can allow the machine to "run away" causing some sort of positive feedback loop, which sounds like what you experienced. Don't worry about doing yourself any harm - the pressure range of these machines can't hurt you so don't be afraid to experiment a bit.
But in order to experiment you must have data. Download and install the #SleepyHead software. You'll need a standard SD card for your machine and a card reader for your computer. Once you have a night's worth of data on the card, download it to SleepyHead and prepare to be amazed at the amount of information it will give you. Post your daily charts here, and plenty of experienced members will be able to provide guidance to optimise your treatment.
RE: Questions
while you are laying there awake, you don't count anything. The machine is reacting to normal awake disordered breathing, thinking it is apnea and increasing the pressure. turn the machine off and on again and it will reset. You might want to use the ramp function set for 20 minutes. Decreasing max pressure to 14 and bring min up to 7, should get you a reasonably comfortable night and you can adjust it as you go along. When you get your charts up and are more use to the machine, it will be easier too. Adjusting to cpap can be an effort, but we all get there in the end.
RE: Questions
You could try out the whole getup while you’re awake watching TV or something. You might set up SleepyHead first, so you can get some feedback on your experiments.
I used awake experiments when I first started to figure out my way around the machine. All the buttons and settings. Then I wasn’t trying to sleep while I was in major adapting mode.
I also used it religiously while napping. Even 15 minutes of doze gave me a lot of info.
RE: Questions
Hi unknownskies,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
You got a good machine.
Good luck with CPAP therapy and getting your settings fine-tuned, you have come to the right place for guidance.
Hang in there for more answers to your questions.
trish6hundred
RE: Questions
Since you are self-titrating, I agree with Deepbreathing, that it is important to have a SD card in the memory slot, and to download #Sleephead. Your decision to set the pressure range from 7-14 couldn't have been better. That is an ideal range to start from. Once you have some data recorded, it should be fairly easy to post that (see the first two links in my signature), and for us to suggest some strategies for optimizing results. It may take some time to get comfortable and adapt to the change, but it should work very well to protect your health and improve your sleep...good luck.
RE: Questions
Yes, about 7 to 15 or 16 will cover most peoples needs.
However, do not try stopping breathing to see what the machine does, it will just confuse it.
Just put it on and go to sleep.
You might need humidification if you get any feeling of dryness.
If your mouth get dry, it might be you are breathing through your mouth or air is leaking through your mouth and you may need a chin strap.
I am NOT a doctor. I try to help, but do not take what I say as medical advice.
Every journey, however large or small starts with the first step.
RE: Questions
Thanks guys for the information. Yeah I had done a bit of research and was really looking for an APAP at home since I will be doing this on my own. I got lucky with this machine and got it basically for a steal. She bought it for her husband 3 months ago, he put on the mask and said nope. Next thing they sold it to me for cheap.
I laid in bed last night and at first I started getting used to breathing in the pressure, but when it got up to 19-20 it started to get tough. My ears were starting to feel the pressure and then when I needed to release some pressure I would exhale through my mouth. By doing that it felt like a vacuum was sucking through the back of my throat and it seemed a little difficult to get back on a normal breathing. That's why I didn't use it last night because I was a little nervous about falling asleep with the setting like that.
I will download sleepyhead right now and get the settings set for tonight. The autoset has the SD card so I will upload the information.
RE: Questions
IME....I can't use my top pressure number when I first lie down to sleep. I can't exhale at all at that number. I have to let the machine just responsively get me to that number and then I'm all set. It might take as little as 15 minutes, and by then my body can handle it.
