[CPAP] Waking up in the middle of the night since cpap

[kwhenrykerr]

I have a similar issue. I got my CPAP several years ago, but could never get a full night's sleep. Tried for a few months and finally gave up on it. Now with lung disease, my pulmonary Dr says I need to get back on it to get my pulse oxygen level up. Have been trying for about a month now, but I wake up anywhere from 1 - 4 hours after I go to sleep. I don't think I'm getting enough "higher quality" sleep to be waking up an hour after I go to bed. Not sure what exactly to do at this stage, other than just dealing with using the CPAP fopr the first part of the night and then off of it for the remainder. I did check and it looks like my oxygen level gets down to about 90 without it, versus 94-95 with it. As long as I stay above 88, it is good, but my lungs aren't getting better...

Any advise would be welcome.

What has your doctor said was the reason for low oxygen ? I add oxygen to my cpap to get to 90, it has been as low as 64 with 24 heart beat on the doctors equipment. All I get for answers is we need more test. Maybe it is time to seek other advice. Having said that I have seen improvement to reach the level that the doctor got on his equipment.

[ger365]

Well, once I got my AHI down below 5 I started noticing I was waking around 3AM every morning and feeling rested. So, I get up and mess around for an hour then go back to bed. I expect the issue is the quality of sleep is improved and your (my) body is adapting. Meaning your body thinks it is rested because it is sleeping so much better than before. I also expect after a while your body will adapt to the new higher quality of sleep and slowly go back to sleeping for 7 to 8 hours. That's my theory and I am sticking to it...

I plan to bring this up with my sleep doctor at my next appointment in a few months.

I'm going through the same thing. I try to sleep in and feel like crap! But, get up and putz around and feel great, sometimes I need a 15 minute nap in the afternoon...your sub-conscious needs to relearn/adapt to the new environment...

[PoolQ]

For comfort you have EPR (exhale pressure relief) this setting reduces the pressure when you exhale-off,1,2,3. Humidity and temperature-I am at 3 now with a temp of 70, but have ranged to a low of humidity off and ICE is the water chamber with a temp of 60. This seems to change for me and usually take a couple nights of trying out a setting to see how I like it.

[eseedhouse]

I tried using pressure of 5 once, but my chest feels a bit uncomfortable. The staff at the shop said it might be too much air and suggested lowering it.

I think the staff who told you this should be fired, to be frank. Can you blow up a party balloon? If so you are able to generate far more pressure than a APAP even at it's maximum (usually 20). 5 cm H20 is about one half of one percent of normal sea level atmospheric pressure. In other words at 5 it's adding one part in two hundred of extra pressure. Unless you have serious pulmonary disease you should be able to handle that easily.

I would move up a half CM at a time (or less if that bothers you) and give yourself a week to adapt until moving up further. At 4cm of pressure I think you are basically not getting any effective therapy and might just as well not be using the machine at all. Disclaimer: I am not a doctor nor a medical specialist of any kind.

[BadGoodDeb]

FWIW: my initial prescription was for a setting of 4. All was well for a few months. Then I felt suffocated and stopped using the machine. When I finally asked the Dr, he bumped the pressure to 8 and it's been much better for several years (except that now I'm experimenting with APAP, using a range).

So if you are okay at a low setting, that might be helpful in learning to accept your CPAP machine. BUT you may need a higher pressure later on.

(I only have "mild-to-moderate" apnea, so your milage may vary if you were diagnosed with more than that.)

[susilosaja]

I would move up a half CM at a time (or less if that bothers you) and give yourself a week to adapt until moving up further. At 4cm of pressure I think you are basically not getting any effective therapy and might just as well not be using the machine at all. Disclaimer: I am not a doctor nor a medical specialist of any kind.

Isn't the 4.6 is just the initial pressure, and it will go up to the effective pressure when needed? My AHI is also around 2-3, so doesn't that mean the therapy has been quite effective?

[kwhenrykerr]

As i understand the Auto cpap: It has the pressure range that you or your doctor can change. I have set mine to 12-20. It starts at 12 and can range up to 20 as the machine thinks I need.

The cpap machine has a setting called Ramp that will allow the pressure to start below my setting of 12. If I set the ramp to 4 and turn on that feature it will start at 4 and over time increase to 12. once at 12 it will then star between 12-20.

If I wake up and want I can restart the ramp by pressing the ramp button.

I found that I did not like this feature so I do not use it. I would be gasping for air at the start of the ramp. The doctor and the supplier of the machine have not been much help in learning how to use the cpap.

Having said that, it may be a blessing that they were so little help. I found this forum and the many people on it that have been a great help.

I can not undo the things that untreated lack of oxygen have done. Education can be costly. Mom used to say HARD HEAD SORE ASS, and IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE STUPID YOU HAD BETTER BE TOUGH.

Well mom I have a sore ass and was not tough enough for low oxygen. I should have listen to you more...

[eseedhouse]

I would move up a half CM at a time (or less if that bothers you) and give yourself a week to adapt until moving up further. At 4cm of pressure I think you are basically not getting any effective therapy and might just as well not be using the machine at all. Disclaimer: I am not a doctor nor a medical specialist of any kind.

Isn't the 4.6 is just the initial pressure, and it will go up to the effective pressure when needed? My AHI is also around 2-3, so doesn't that mean the therapy has been quite effective?

Yes but the point is that if you start out that low it can take a lot longer to reach the pressure you need to be at. The higher you can stand at the start the less time it takes to reach proper treatment levels.

[susilosaja]

I found that when I increased my min pressure, my AHI actually went up. The first week I was using cpap with min pressure of 4, AHI was around 1.9. Next 2 weeks with min pressure of 4.6, AHI was around 2.7. These last couple days with min pressure of 5, my AHI is around 4.4. My max pressure has always been 15.

I thought AHI should go down when I increase pressure? The number "Events per hour" on my machine, that's the same as AHI, right? That's the number I've been referring to as AHI.

My level of energy has been really bad these last couple of days. I wonder if it has something to do with this.

[chill]

In therapeutic terms, the difference between 4 and 5 is minimal (maybe not for a child). Your AHI variations seem normal to me, considering you are still getting adjusted.

What is your 90/95% pressure?