First Steps Toward Better Health: Report Eval?

[matsarge]

I'm about to post my data from last night and I had a similar experience. I don't think it's related to the increase in pressure to 7, I got to bed a little later than normal and it showed. 

I noticed that you had a drop in pressure to 4 but the min is set at 7. Do you have the ramp set?

[MickTravis]

For me, my bedtime was normal and I was pretty tired and ready to sleep. I initially had the ramp off and tried to get to sleep with the pressure at 7 to little success. I felt like I had my head stuck out the window of a jet. The two clusters of events early in the night were me trying to get to sleep, then eventually around 00:15, hitting the ramp button for some temporary respite from the pressure. It worked, and I dropped off to sleep soon after, but my mask leak got worse as the night progressed. Too much tossing and turning and waking up. I actually noticed myself holding my breath against the pressure a few times, which probably registered as a CA. I guess it'll take time for me to get used to the higher pressure.

Are you tolerating the higher pressure ok?

[matsarge]

I turned my ramp off, but I've also been using the machine for close to 2 months now. I'm pretty used to it.

I think I'm fine with the higher pressure. My 95% is 9, so my body is used to having that level for the vast majority of the evening. A lot of my events seem to revolve around the pressure is low and the machine is taking too long to react and get it up to the right pressure level (seems to be a common theme with the Dreamstation). I think that's why many turn up the min pressure so the amount of ground the machine needs to cover is a lot less. In theory, that should decrease events or at least shorten the amount of time when they occur.

[Dormeo]

Sorry to hear you had a lousy night. If you can reduce leaks, that will be all to the good. Have you yet tried ways to avoid sleeping on your back?

[MickTravis]

Matsarge,

I think it might take me another week or so to get used to the pressure enough so that I may turn off the ramp. I thought I was ready for the plunge last night, but perhaps I am not. How long did it take you to get used to 7 cm H2O? Maybe last night's leak-fest had more to do with my disturbances than the pressure itself. 

Dormeo,

Thanks for the commiseration!   Tonight's goal will be to get the leaks back down. I had been doing so well on that front... Last night, I found that the leaks were worse when on my side, so I created a catch-22 for myself: sleep supine with no leaks, or side-sleep with noisy, disturbing, performance-sucking leaks. Tonight, I will make sure side-sleeping will give me no leaks before attempting to drift off to dreamland. Have you any tips for avoiding back-sleeping?

[matsarge]

I got used to it very quickly, I probably could have turned the ramp off weeks ago. The apnea and the resulting sleep had been so bad that I think my body was craving the help. 

My doctor was very happy with the number and that I was at 100% compliance with the machine. She said that only about 15-20% of her patients have that level of compliance in the first month. For most, they have problems with pressure, fit, comfort, etc. and only use it 50% the time and it takes her about 3 months of working with them to get up to 100%.

[MickTravis]

Thanks for the inspiration! And expiration. I definitely intend on being 100% compliant, and I know I have to be patient to get all the kinks ironed out. It’s nice to see that it all comes together, eventually, for those of us who put forth the effort. The way I see it, my life depends on it.

[Dormeo]

About back-sleeping: it’s not a problem for me, but I’ve read posts on several sites about remedies you could experiment with. Try going to Amazon and searching on “sleep positioner adult” to get a sense of the options. Pillows and items involving tennis balls are two top picks, I gather. Someone a while back swore by a big u-shaped pillow designed for pregnant women, so don’t overlook that possibility!

[MickTravis]

I looked at those pregnancy pillows!   I wonder if they're as comfortable as they look... Probably not. I don't think a device of that size will be tolerated in my bed. 

I had greater success after a few machine tweaks. I set the min to 7, the FLEX to 3, and the initial ramp pressure to 5. Perhaps more importantly, I used a nasal opening strip to try to counteract my slightly deviated septum, which, I think, was making it more difficult to breathe through my nose than it should be. I definitely felt less "suffocated" while trying to fall asleep which ultimately made the night my best yet.

   

[matsarge]

That's not a bad night at all!! What kind of mask are you using? It looks like you get periodic leaks throughout the night. Nothing bad, they just pop up from time to time, maybe as you move in bed. 

Overall, it looks like your cruising along between 7-9.