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[attachment=58981]Hello everyone. I have completed my first week on CPAP, and am looking for suggestions/tweaks to get the most of it. I have attached prior two nights of oscar data. I have had chronic brain fog, fatigue, and cognitive problems for past 5 years, as well as can sleep for prolonged periods of time (such as 11 hours last night). I know one thing that needs to be tackled is my leak rate, and I am unsure if it because of my mask being a poor fit (F30i), or something else (pressure settings?). I am a mouth breather due to fairly severe allergies, so I am thinking of a chin strap. Also, i am a back sleeper - this is something I have tried to change, but I seem to always end up on my back 90% of the night (cervical collar maybe would help chin drop?).
Any tweaks to my settings or other suggestions: Thanks in advance, and appreciate all the help!
Read all of the info down to "How to achieve the perfect mask fit - GUARANTEED! by Jeffy1958" then pause, take a deep breath, put all of the knowledge you have gained to good use as you read Jeffy 1958's take on getting a good mask fit. He really does a good job of explaining how to fit a mask for a good seal. Utilizing his method I have really good leak rate.
Thank you for your advice!! I put it to work, and will post some screenshots of my last 3 nights for any other adjustments. I am still working on mask leaks, but getting there. I began using a chinstrap last few nights as well, as I wanted to see if that made a difference. Overall, I still have many days where I am still tired, but I also have good days here and there. I have not had any let up in brain fog yet, but I am optimistic. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated
Looks pretty good ! You still need to work on your mask adjustments, Leaks are one item we have control over. Review the mask primer and remember "Tighter s not necessaryly better" Little tiny adjustments can make a big difference.
Try Pressure Min: 12.6 cmH2O Pressure Max: 16 cmH2O EPR Full Time Epr: 3 cmH2O
The additional support with Pressure minimum at 12.6 cmH2O should help with the few remaining events. CA's may start going away after a few months of acclimation. Hang in there for the long haul. Try using the "Notes" on your Daily page to record how you feel upon waking and any outside influences that may affect your sleep quality. Your AHI is acceptable, now you need to focus on the quality of restorative sleep you are able to get.
Lets take a more conservative approach on your pressure minimum. I would rather see you start with a pressure minimum of 10.6 cmH2O. I was thinking of my own mothers adjustment when I typed the last entry.
Try Pressure Min: 10.6 cmH2O Pressure Max: 16 cmH2O EPR Full Time Epr: 3 cmH2O
When you review the Mask Primer be sure to read all the way down to "How to achieve the perfect mask fit - GUARANTEED! by Jeffy1958" That portion puts together all of the information on that page, to get a good seal. Once you get a good fit and leak rates are down it becomes easier to keep the leaks down.
Take several days to adjust to the new settings and then report back, remember, you have already achieved low AHI numbers. Now you need to concentrate on the quality of restorative sleep you are getting.
Thank you for the advice! I upped my pressure even slightly more to 11.4 which seemed to help my AHI number. also have been figuring out how to reduce masks, as I started using a cervical collar. Any additional changes??
Machine: Remediated Dreamstation APAP-CPAP Mode Mask Type: Full face mask Mask Make & Model: Airfit F20 Humidifier: Built In CPAP Pressure: CPAP 15cmH2O CPAP Software: OSCAR
You're not getting close to your 16cm max, you could set the machine to cpap mode at 14cm with EPR as it is and see how it goes, I sleep much better with cpap than with apap.
I was going to suggest what Phaleronic said. I was using auto pap (APAP - adjusts pressure supposedly as you need it) for a few months while working with an apnea dentist but my oxygen wasn't good and I was having a lot of issues and not sleeping well. I got a formal sleep study done and the recommendation was to shift from auto pap to a constant pressure (CPAP) and my prescribed pressure was 12 cm H20. I set my machine to that pressure with a point or two of exhale pressure relief (EPR) and it made a HUGE difference. If you haven't had a formal sleep study done, I recommend it. If you have, you may try setting your machine to CPAP at the prescribed pressure with EPR of a few points if you need it for comfort. I hope this helps.
