[CPAP] biboombap - Therapy Thread

[biboombap]

Hi all. I recently started tracking my CPAP usage with OSCAR. My pre-CPAP AHI was 21+ so in the moderate range. With CPAP I'm hovering at 1-2 AHI which is a marked improvement, but I often have nasal congestion due to seasonal allergies, which seems worsened by CPAP. I usually don't feel any better with therapy, worse if anything. The last two nights, I went to bed at midnight and woke up at 3am. I was unable to get back to sleep.

Are there any clues in these charts? Is the flow limit value concerningly high?

       

[HalfAsleep]

I’m confused. Is some of that sleep a nap?

[biboombap]

The "main" sleep is around midnight to 3am each day. On 4/16 (the first image) I did manage to fall asleep again 9am-noonish. All the other segments are me unsuccessfully wearing the mask while trying to sleep. I guess that's why the characteristics of the graph are different there (lower flow limit, etc.)

[johnathanb76]

How long have you been using CPAP? This happened to me a lot when first starting out on my therapy. I could not sleep more than 3 hours, I pulled the mask off my face, and it was just a nightmare. Over time though, it got easier and easier and now its not so bad.

[biboombap]

to be honest I've been using CPAP for some years now but only just started Oscar. in general ive noticed very little difference when using vs not using. a lot of times I'd use it for a few hours, then wake up and only be able to fall asleep again by taking it off.

that's why I wanted to see if the data showed any abnormalities. does anything look off there?

[johnathanb76]

I would raise your minimum pressure to 10. The pressure its hitting the most is 11. Setting it to 10 will get it to 11 a lot faster in the case of an event you have throughout the night. Over the years have you seen sleep doctors regarding your pressure? Only getting 3 hours of sleep now all of a sudden is strange.

[Expat31]

Hi, 

Looking at your settings, an increase in minimum pressure in theory to 10 should reduce your apnea events. 

Also enabling EPR at a setting of 3 should improve therapy comfort, and hopefully reduce your current significant sleep disruptions. 

You have mentioned nasal congestion. This I would expect must be impeding your airflow, and consequently degrading your machine's effectiveness, and likely distorting your results. 

In my opinion, this is an issue to be resolved as a priority to avoid making unnecessary setting changes. 

Anyway, in the meantime, as mentioned above, try minimum pressure at 10, EPR  3, to see if this helps.

[biboombap]

Thank you all very much. I woke again after three hours of sleep tonight with bad acid reflux and popped some Tums. I'll try increasing the pressure to 10.

I also noticed that the inside of my nasal pillows gets moisture buildup over time. (I set humidity to max, but I have a heated tube and hose wrap.) Could that be a possible contributing factor as well?

[Expat31]

Couple of things.

Why are you using humidity on the maximum setting? Are you in a very dry climate?

I would say that if you have a build up of moisture, your setting is too high. I find personally excess moisture quite annoying and disruptive to sleep. 

I live in southern Europe and it is quite dry. I like to keep things simple, humidity setting usually 4, a hose wrap which I find is really good, but certainly no heated tube. The latter is just not necessary here,  but for you, useful perhaps for alleviating your nasal congestion symptoms. 

Regarding acid reflux, how is your sleep hygiene?  Light evening meals are important, alcohol is generally a no-no.

[staceyburke]

I believe that your main problem is EPR.

turn EPR to FULL TIME
ERR 3

Leave other setting where they are and post your next night. Also I would like to see the flow limits chart. You can click the bottom of a chart and draw up to make the size of the chart smaller so you can show other charts also can move the entire chart up or down.