First time user — is it normal that breathing out the nose is difficult?
I just received a Resmed Airsense 10 to try it for a week. I tried two different masks and decided for the Philips one which is nose pillows if I understand correctly.
With both masks I have difficulties breathing out of the nose due to the mask and air flow being there. It makes me want to breath out of my mouth instead.
Is this normal? The med sales rep who delivered the machine to me said this is normal and that I will get used to it.
She changed some settings but I didn’t feel it made a big difference so in the end I told her to set it back to what my doctor told her.
Please let me know if you need any further information. I had a sleep study in the hospital and was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea. Doctor said that when I sleep on the sides my values are fine but once I sleep on my back I stop breathing more often. So the average turns out to be just mild sleep apnea while the values for sleeping on the back are more severe.
Also, are there any apps for this machine which can provide data to Apple Health or something that’s easy to read? I currently track my sleep using the Apple Watch and my deep sleep and REM sleep phases are both way below the amounts they should be.
RE: First time user — is it normal that breathing out the nose is difficult?
Do you breathe out of your nose while not on Cpap? It may just take some time to get used the "feel" of the air pressure.
Try wearing your mask and use the Pap machine before bed, sitting up reading or watching TV. This will help you get used to it.
Are you using EPR (exhale pressure relief). This lowers the pressure a bit when exhaling against the pressure. Also what pressure(s) is your machine set at? The minimum may be too low.
Which Airsense 10 are you using?
Airsense 10 Elite
Airsense 10 Autoset
Airsense 10 AutoSet for
Is there a SD card in your machine? If yes, you can use the
OSCAR software and upload a chart here. We can help you get your machine optimized.
07-18-2023, 09:06 AM
RE: First time user — is it normal that breathing out the nose is difficult?
(07-18-2023, 07:03 AM)OpalRose Wrote: Do you breathe out of your nose while not on Cpap? It may just take some time to get used the "feel" of the air pressure.
Yes, I always breathe using my nose.
Try wearing your mask and use the Pap machine before bed, sitting up reading or watching TV. This will help you get used to it.
Are you using EPR (exhale pressure relief). This lowers the pressure a bit when exhaling against the pressure. Also what pressure(s) is your machine set at? The minimum may be too low.
These are the settings I can see:
Main screen:
Pressure — 4.0 - 10.0
And showing a big 4.0 below (so I guess that’s current pressure?)
Options:
RampTime — Auto
Humidity level — 4
Pressure relief — on
SmartStart — on
Mask — Pillows
Tube — SlimLine
Which Airsense 10 are you using?
Airsense 10 Elite
Airsense 10 Autoset
Airsense 10 AutoSet for
It says Airsense 10 AutoSet on the machine.
Is there a SD card in your machine? If yes, you can use the OSCAR software and upload a chart here. We can help you get your machine optimized.
yes, it does.
See my response enclosed above in blue.
RE: First time user — is it normal that breathing out the nose is difficult?
We've found that for most folk here, using a minimum pressure of 4cm is just too low. It can make you feel starved for air and as you stated... you want to open your mouth.
What is your EPR set at, 1, 2 or 3? If it's set at 2, you won't feel pressure relief until your pressure reached 6cm. Example: (6 minus 2 EPR = EPAP of 4).
Set your minimum pressure to 6cm, use EPR 1 and and see if that feels better.
Work your way up to 7cm minimum with 2 EPR after a week or so.
These are very low settings and you'll be surprised how fast you will adapt.
Order a Clinicians manual
HERE.
Download the
OSCAR software.
RE: First time user — is it normal that breathing out the nose is difficult?
It took me a couple months for it to feel normal breathing through my nose with the mask on. Just make sure you stick with it.
07-18-2023, 09:38 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-18-2023, 09:41 AM by dandebruyner.)
RE: First time user — is it normal that breathing out the nose is difficult?
(07-18-2023, 09:27 AM)OpalRose Wrote: We've found that for most folk here, using a minimum pressure of 4cm is just too low. It can make you feel starved for air and as you stated... you want to open your mouth.
What is your EPR set at, 1, 2 or 3? If it's set at 2, you won't feel pressure relief until your pressure reached 6cm. Example: (6 minus 2 EPR = EPAP of 4).
Set your minimum pressure to 6cm, use EPR 1 and and see if that feels better.
Apologies, How do I make those changes? I can’t find it in the settings menu and the sales rep didn’t explain it in that detail.
(07-18-2023, 09:27 AM)OpalRose Wrote: We've found that for most folk here, using a minimum pressure of 4cm is just too low. It can make you feel starved for air and as you stated... you want to open your mouth.
What is your EPR set at, 1, 2 or 3? If it's set at 2, you won't feel pressure relief until your pressure reached 6cm. Example: (6 minus 2 EPR = EPAP of 4).
Set your minimum pressure to 6cm, use EPR 1 and and see if that feels better.
Ok I found the clinical menu. My EPR was set to 3.
RE: First time user — is it normal that breathing out the nose is difficult?
So I changed the settings as suggested above and indeed it feels easier to breath. I believe I should be able to do it.
Even though I changed the minimum pressure to 6 though, it seems the pressure keeps staying at 4.0 (if the big number in the big circle is the current pressure).
Also, not sure if it’s important, but the mask they gave me actually isn’t a Philips but a Resmed Airfit P30i. Guess when I showed her the Philips one she picked a similar one from Resmed.
RE: First time user — is it normal that breathing out the nose is difficult?
It may be that the ramp feature is set to 4. You may want to turn off the ramp feature.
The mask brand doesn't matter. What matters is if it is a good fit for you and you're comfortable with it.
07-20-2023, 01:33 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-20-2023, 01:52 AM by dandebruyner.)
RE: First time user — is it normal that breathing out the nose is difficult?
After my first two nights:
1. First night was terrible. I woke up frequently as my nose started to hurt from the nasal pillow and I got panic attacks fearing I would suffocate. I must add that I’m currently going through a sh**ty phase of my life with anxiety and panic attacks from a break up and subsequent health issues.
2. Second night felt good and I thought I slept well. Waking up in the morning I almost couldn’t notice the mask and breathing through it anymore even though the autoset had increased the air pressure to 6.5 or so.
But I guess this was due to the fact that I was sleep deprived from the night before (I also took 2mg of Melatonin). When I checked my Apple Watch sleep tracker my sleep phases actually were worse than other nights. I generally don’t get enough deep sleep and REM sleep (probably because of the break up and midlife crisis I’m going through) but this night was particularly bad with less than half hour deep sleep and more awake time than I could remember:
Total time asleep: 7:53 hrs
REM: 19% (vs. 20% on average)
Deep: 5% (vs. 9% on average)
I’ll try to get that Oscar data later.
Question: Will the CPAP eventually improve deep sleep and REM sleep phases? This was one of my objectives (my sleep apnea seems only mild).
RE: First time user — is it normal that breathing out the nose is difficult?
I’m still figuring out how to get the Oscar data so bear with me.
But this is what the CPAP machine says as a summary:
Used hrs. 45.4hrs
AVG. Usage 9.1hrs
Pressure 7.0
Leak 22L/min
AHI 1.4
Total AI 1.2
Central AI 1.0
Events per hours 1.7
