[CPAP] Guidance required, 10+ months and no progress!

[antstephenson]

Hi again,

I had my checkup with the doctor today (it was actually a different doctor and I felt I made more progress). He's put me on a trial of a AirSense 10 AutoSet and he's keen to see the data. I'm guessing this will give much more info through the software since he suggested it tracks much more than the brick I was given initially

[Gideon]

Great, Awesome!!!

Now install sleepyhead, and post your daily charts.  we will help you to work with your doctor.

[Sleeprider]

Glad to hear you will trial the Autoset. I suspect you might have been experiencing central apnea with the Escape, and of course it does not report the results. Please keep us informed of what you learn using the Autoset.

[antstephenson]

Hey guys,

Reviving my old thread! so, in short, I've been on this new machine, not much has changed, I'm STILL waking up after around 1h-1h30m. I had my checkup with the Doc yesterday, he's a great guy, very patient. I was worried that they would discharge me soon due to non-compliance. Most days I'm seeing around 1h-1h30 usage, like clockwork, I wake up.

So to summarise, after he analysed my charts yesterday, he says:

* My apnea is cured when I use the machine, AHI comes down to around 0.8,
* I should continue using my nasal pillows, they are the easiest things for me to use being so minimal, he thinks this mask is working fine, a couple of incidents of high leakage, but nothing to worry about.

He went on to say we need to figure out why I'm waking up, he speculated that I'm more likely to wake up after around 90 minutes due to coming out of dreaming ready for deep sleep. He wants me to really push ahead with keeping it on for longer, 4+ hours a night so he has more data. He suggested it could be as simple of as me training my body to get used to the machine, by forcing myself to keep it on or ask my partner to poke me to put it back on if I take it off.

So... last night, I got 3 hours out of the machine before getting p*ssed off, I woke up twice, so around 1h30m between each other, almost like clockwork I guess.

Has anyone seen this? I guess I'm looking for some advice, I appreciate you guys won't be able to say much potentially, without seeing my data. I need to get an SD card reader tomorrow! I'll be completely honest, I can't be bothered waking up every 1h30m with the mask on, it's generally more uncomfortable than not wearing anything at all, so as I wake up more and more, I just don't want it on.

[antstephenson]

OK, so it turns out my Macbook has an SD card slot. Here's data from two days, one last night and one sometime last week, my longer nights out of the set.

[HalfAsleep]

Wanting to rip the mask off in the night—whether consciously or unconsciously—is fairly common, I’ve noticed. If you look a month or two ago, you’ll find a bulky thread to that effect.

Stick with it no matter what. Get in at least 4 hours and work hard at it, or they might confiscate the machine. Your health needs you to stick with it.

Everyone takes a while to adjust to this, some folks much longer than others. But it doesn’t seem to be easy on anyone.

Hang in there, and come here for encouragement.

——

While you’re waiting for data evaluation, you might check out exactly how this board prefers you lay out SleepyHead charts. Certain panels and stats are needed for targeted input.

[Apnea Infant]

Hi AntStephenson

Welcome to the forum. You will get great guidance here from the Gurus here.

Whilst there is a sticker on my CPAP which says it belongs to the NHS, I really do not see anyone coming to my house to confiscate it. My dealings with Guys in London took a much much longer time. All of the medical people are absolutely great in person when I do see them but due to the NHS being over subscribed and soaring costs, the patient to medical personnel ratio is very high with far too long wait time.

You have good access to the doctors but the Gurus here will help you fine tune your personal requirements.

Do you have a heated tube and humidifier? I was not given one to start with on my home titration trial of 2 weeks which made therapy very difficult. I was told humidified air with the trial APAP would make it personal to me and the APAP was for general home titration trials. after that I was then given a CPAP with the humidity tank and heated tube. I struggled with the CPAP to start with with aerophagia and huge leaks through a full face mask. You have pillows which I have found to be better.

Are you a mouth breather? If so, you might find that an open mouth is causing leaks which may be an irritant to sleep. I found that it was the leaks whoosing onto my face, my pillow, my hands that irritated and woke me up. Many here recommended a soft cervical collar which I bought online from the Complete Care shop. This helps obstructions by aligning the neck, preventing chin tuck and also helps with keeping mouth shut. Try pressing your tongue against the roof of your mouth to prevent leaks and also to prevent air escaping into your gullet, causing aerophagia. Some use a chin strap. I got one online but it became loose after one use and was not helpful. Resmed's chin strap may be better for this purpose.

My therapy was really broken as well to start with and I was in bits. Slowly but surely, with a lot of encouragement and personal help, it all dropped into place for me, much thanks to all.

Keep with it, as you know, restful sleep draws rewards.

The best

AI

[Sleeprider]

Great job of posting the charts. That sure looks pretty good while you're on the machine. Your pressure is averaging around 7.5 cm and in these two charts, goes up to between 9 and 11 cm. What we want to do is get you as comfortable as possible so you don't quit during the night. So, I think you should consider raising your minimum pressure and adding some exhale pressure relief (EPR). This will do two things. Pressure will be less variable, and breathing should be more comfortable with less effort.

So for starters, if you're game to try some changes, I think a pressure of 7.0 to 7.4 would be a better minimum. I also suggest you add EPR full time with a setting of 1. That will make your exhale pressure lower by 1-cm. It sounds like you have a good relationship with your doctor, and if you feel better asking him about trying these settings, that is fine. I think you will find them just a bit more comfortable, and might get you over that 1.5 hour hump.

[ajack]

(edit, I don't disagree with sleep rider...we posted about the same time)
The machine isn't the issue, it's you not wearing your mask. Taking it off every night is still at week one. You really haven't started yet
You have to sleep with the mask on, if you wake up and want to take it off. sit up and do so, so you don't fall back to sleep without it. If need be, get up, read till you are tired again.

Put the chin strap over the headware, to make it harder to remove, half asleep. wrap bandages around your head, do whatever it takes.

You will get use to it, it takes time and persistence. none of us adapted to it in one night and it's normally counted in weeks or months till it's just part of you.

[Sleeprider]

I remember when SarcasticDave was having a problem with removing the mask. I commented to him at that time he had developed a bad habit, and he needed to develop a new habit of keeping the mask in place. Old habits die hard, and that is all this is. It takes a fresh, determined attitude to overcome and replace the habit of removing the mask with a resolve to push through. If we can teach children not to wet the bed, or pets to have accidents in the house, we can surely teach ourselves to leave a CPAP mask on.