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I'm coming up on the end of my second week. I think I'm starting to feel a bit better. I'm still having trouble with taking my mask off in the middle of the night. I think part of it was the air felt a bit too hot so I turned my humidity / climate line temp down, part of it is sometimes I'm waking up and feeling like I can't breathe... still trying to figure out what I need to do for that, but may just need to give myself more time to get used to sleeping with something on my face. I did turn up the pressure on my machine to 13.4 even though I had a titration study that said 13 was the pressure I should be using, I thought it might help, but after 2 nights I'm not sure if it did or not. I am attaching 2 nights worth of data since I ripped my mask off in my sleep last night. I realize the data is showing a leak but I think it's my hose being unsupported and have ordered one of those hose hanger things to hopefully keep it from getting all tangled up and pulling the mask off of my face. I am also taping my mouth with the cover roll stretch tape. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
As you noted, focusing on the leaks will be a help in finding what works for you.
Pressure-wise, I would like you to consider trying the following:
Mode Autoset
Min pressure 8
Max pressure 15
EPR 2 full-time
This will tell us how much pressure is needed for controlling events and how much EPR you may/may not need to handle flow limitations that drive up pressure.
Give that a go and let us know how things go. Post some charts when you are ready.
12-28-2023, 10:16 PM (This post was last modified: 12-28-2023, 10:18 PM by SarcasticDave94.)
RE: Sleep Data - removing mask in sleep
Something I had to try with I started therapy was to get used to it, I'll call it practice. If you can, you'll want to practice during the day, afternoon, something like that, when you're not actually trying to fall asleep. The practice is get used to the mask and air flowing through it.
Another item I had to make myself do was if I ever removed the mask during the night in which I wasn't getting up, I'd make the effort to put it back on right away.
The edits mentioned should help as well in 2 ways, better treatment and higher comfort.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
Well, I was skeptical about charging my pressure settings and turning on EPR. However, the more I got to thinking about it, the more I realized that I can either go back and forth with a doctor, if and when I can get in to see one, or trust people like y’all to give me your advice based on what I’m assuming is years worth of experience. In the end, I changed my settings to what PeaceLoveAndPizza recommended. I set the EPR on 2. However, I did bump the minimum pressure up to 9 after about an hour. I just didn’t feel like I was getting enough air and as a result I couldn’t fall asleep. This morning, I looked at the Resmed app, and it showed that I had a perfect score on mask seal and the lowest number of events since I started therapy (0.4 p/h). I’m glad I took the advice and changed it now. I’ll try SarcasticDave’s advice and start wearing my mask around the house to get better used to it. I will post my OSCAR data when I have time either tonight or tomorrow. Thanks to you both!
Excellent to hear you taking control of your own therapy. We are merely your Sherpa’s doing our best to help you get a good nights rest. We are simply CPAP users same as you, just with years of experience and frustration. It will be interesting to see your OSCAR chart.
BTW, if you walk around the house with your mask on be sure to play this music. No real reason other than I find it extremely funny.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
12-30-2023, 10:46 AM (This post was last modified: 12-30-2023, 10:52 AM by James87.)
RE: Sleep Data - removing mask in sleep
Well, I had my second night with the new settings and can't remember the last time I slept so soundly. I think the only reason I woke up when I did was that I started feeling a bit dry in my nose and throat so I bumped my humidity settings up from 1 to 2 and I'll try it like that tonight, but I'm not knocking a full 8 hours. I did take melatonin last night just because I felt really tired yesterday afternoon and evening and wanted to sleep all night, if I could. I don't really understand how my leak rate went down so much. Was it the EPR or the reduced pressure, or a combination of the two? Let me know what you think or if there's anything that you think I should tweak with my settings. Thanks again.
I started CPAP therapy over 15 years ago. It was a nightmare trying to adapt to headgear and a full face mask. I would yank the gear off in my sleep. How I did that and not wake up I don't know. The straps were not released. I had dreamed the monster in the Alien movie that grips the face was upon me.
I was about to give up after many weeks of failure to adapt when finally I made it through a night with a mask on.
I still wake from the mask at times, find it too irritating, and take it off. I have to strap mine very tight to keep leaks down.
Best of luck.
I only give suggestions from experience as a fellow CPAP user, not professional advice.
I was reviewing my OSCAR data and saw these flat line type events in the first 2 attachments. Can anybody help me understand what's going on here? I'm still struggling with leaks quite a bit... I ordered a P10 mask because I read that it's better for side sleepers. I think that when I try to sleep on my side with the N20 it is pushing the mask askew on the pillow and causing a leak and so I either sleep on my back and have poor quality sleep with no leaks or sleep on my side and am comfortable but have large leaks. Hopefully the new mask will help with that.
I'm still taping my mouth but woke up this morning around 3:00 and the tape was completely saturated with water. I'm guessing that's probably from the mouth leaking and the humidity?
Still feeling pretty good. Definitely better than I was prior to starting therapy.
Those are times you did not take a breath for less than 10 seconds, so it is not flagged as an event. Perfectly normal, though too many of them followed by an arousal require attention.
There are pillows made for CPAP users. I use the Contour CPAPmax 2.0 pillow. Others rave about pillows from Costco. Whatever works for you.
Those leaks are likely a big part of what is waking you up and/or impacting sleep quality. If tape is not working, try a soft cervical collar. Read up on it and be sure to measure to get the correct size.
