[CPAP] New to CPAP and figuring out how to begin while waiting for consult/tests

[SarcasticDave94]

Yes, EPR is on the ResMed AutoSet, a CPAP, not on the VAuto which is BPAP/bilevel. The VAuto has PS/pressure support.

What pressures and other settings are you using? If set wrong, you may be setting yourself for difficulty exhaling, etc. I don't recall seeing any OSCAR data yet, that would help us see what's going on.

[staceyburke]

Seeing is better than reading an explanation so..  Here is a pressure chart and settings from last night.  Note the starting pressure is 8 and the high is 13 (8+ps 5), the highest it could go is 18.  Now look at the beginning of the night the bottom is 8 the top is 13 .  At about 23:30 I must have had a blockage.  You can see several peaks rising up to almost 18(17.84) and then going down a little untill around 0:15 and they went back up to almost 18.  Then the rest of the night they came back to the 8-13 level for most of the night.

[Pawther]

Thanks for the info!

I did my first night and got used to the exhaling pressure fairly okay, the only two things that would happen is if I rolled over on my back I would often wake up with air coming out of my mouth and my lips sputtering. Also, a few times I just pulled the mask off for a few seconds to regain my composure if it sometimes hurt my nose. 

That being said, I'm not sure how to read the data from OSCAR. Here are some shots I took for my first night that show the full info of left and right windows. Wondering if anyone has ideas based on this data as to how I am sleeping/breathing or if I should play with settings or record more nights.

Remember this is kind of an experiment for me, my sleep doctor thinks that I probably don't have a consistent apnea issue, but that I do sometimes have an airway that close sporadically throughout a week or month, long enough that I wake up without oxygen, gasp, and have a panic response. I have been through mental health therapy to help deal with this, but the latest episode was such a struggle to get air back in me and lasted way longer than ever before, so I felt I had to test out sleeping on CPAP.

I guess my curiosity is that if the machine helps me, wouldn't it not show any issues because it is working as intended?

[SarcasticDave94]

That is probably fairly typical to mouth leak when you're not used to being on PAP. You might need a chin strap or tape to try and keep the mouth closed, but air may still get in your mouth if you cannot seal the airway properly as we normally do while awake. The tongue seals the back of your mouth while awake.

Try looking at the OSCAR wiki for chart organization. We need the Event flag first, then Flow Rate, Pressure, Leak Rate, and Flow Limit. Let's see if I have a screenshot for you.

[attachment=27487]


What you should do is describe how you felt, answering the "How do you feel?" question. The numbers showing aren't bad for first at bat. Now we need to know if it helped you feel better for it.

[Sleeprider]

With the S9 Vauto at EPAP min 4.0, PS 3.0, IPAP max 12.0, you basically had a perfect night. While that does not confirm you actually have obstructive sleep apnea, it certainly shows you don't have central apnea. As Dave said, the question is, did the bilevel therapy relieve your symptoms and feel better? Great results!

[Pawther]

That is probably fairly typical to mouth leak when you're not used to being on PAP. You might need a chin strap or tape to try and keep the mouth closed, but air may still get in your mouth if you cannot seal the airway properly as we normally do while awake. The tongue seals the back of your mouth while awake.

Try looking at the OSCAR wiki for chart organization. We need the Event flag first, then Flow Rate, Pressure, Leak Rate, and Flow Limit. Let's see if I have a screenshot for you.




What you should do is describe how you felt, answering the "How do you feel?" question. The numbers showing aren't bad for first at bat. Now we need to know if it helped you feel better for it.

Hey Dave, I attached a screenshot more like the example one you showed me. The only thing I couldn't grab was that pie chart, every time I hit "take screenshot" it made it disappear, but I think this is the info you wanted to see. From what I can tell without knowing that much, it looks good sleep-wise?

As far as how I feel, I think I will give the CPAP a full month. Since the rough gasping episodes that sometimes happen are about 1-2 times a week or even less often, I'll trial it. They are so scary when they do happen that if this were to eliminate them from my life I would probably continue CPAP usage. Also if I take another blood test in a month and my red blood cell counts are less elevated that would be another sign to keep going. If I continue to have the episodes maybe it would point to another health issue if new settings didn't help.

One thing that is interesting is that outside of the keeping the airways open, it just makes it way more easier and satisfying to breathe through my nose as a stomach sleeper. Sometimes my nose feels a bit tight and medication doesn't help that much, but even if my nose is kind of tight with the CPAP, it still pushes enough air in that feels satisfying to my lungs with less effort, so that's a plus.

Regarding the settings, if I did want to change the pressure for when I exhale, it would be turning the PS up or down from what I understand in the replies to this thread, right? I notice I breathe at about a 3 second inhale and 6 second exhale with a CPAP. Which is kind of like a meditative breathing. I think it's partly due to exhaling taking longer since it is going against pressure, or at least feels that way.

My only other things I am trying to tweak a bit are that my throat is a bit dry in the morning, so I think I'll try turning the humidifier from 3 to 4. Also gonna try stretching the Airfit P10 straps a bit because when I pull of the nasal pillow in the morning, my nose feels a bit sore.

I am so happy to have found this forum to help me set this up. With my health bills being expensive and appointments scheduling so far out, was nice to see my doctor be supportive of trying a CPAP without a Rx and to be able to get the specific expertise of this community to get things right.

[Sleeprider]

Dave was showing you an image from the tutorial that identifies things like the calendar and pie chart. We actually don't want to see the pie chart or the calendar, so Oscar was revised to automatically close those items during a screenshot, allowing more important information to show. We also made getting the standard and advanced respiratory views easy by including automatic chart organization in the view menu. Look at View/Reset Charts for Standard and Advanced.

[SarcasticDave94]

Correct; it is an image in the OSCAR wiki. I forgot to explain that about the pie chart needing to be turned off.

[jaswilliams]

If your nose is a bit sore with the P10 then some lansinoh from the nursing mothers section of your local chemist will help over a few days you’ll get used to it. To make the straps looseron a p10 separate the upper and lower part of the strap so one is over the top of your head and the other towards the back of your neck and the mask will feel much looser

[Pawther]

Thanks for the tip about lansinoh and straps for the p10.

I attached two overviews from the 22nd and 23rd. When there are spikes on the pressure graph, is that due to the CPAP reading less breathing happening or needing more pressure to keep the airways open so then it adjusts? The reason I ask is that on the 22nd I woke up a fair amount in the back end of my sleep and I can see some waves in the graph for that area and time of the sleep session, so wondering how they correlate.