First year anniversary; suggestions for stomach sleeper?

[kevinz]

Hello, all,

I just 'celebrated' (?) my first year of using a CPAP machine. Yea. I'd like to ask for suggestions for further reducing my AHI number. I was diagnosed with an AHI of 40. In the last month it averaged 6.6. Recently (in the last 2-3 months), I haven't felt as rested, and am again tired and sleepy somewhat during the day.

I've attached my Overview chart, as well as a Daily chart that was more or less typical, from last night. Last night shows my typical pattern of rising pressure and leak rate, followed by awakening and resetting my machine to get back to a lower pressure, then going to sleep again.

I sleep on my stomach, and ball up my pillow under my head, so that my chin and nose are kind of hanging in free air. However, eventually my nose-piece rubs the mattress or pillow and disturbs it enough that I can feel air rushing by it. I use the Phillips Respiromics DreamStation and DreamWear nasal mask (medium headgear, small nose-piece).

My questions are:

1. Is this the best mask for a stomach sleeper? Are there any other masks compatible with the DreamStation that work better for stomach sleepers?

2. Another poster on this forum recently ask if she was replacing the components too frequently. I have the opposite situation; I've never replaced the headgear or nasal portion for a year. Do these components wear out? I'm fairly conscientious about cleaning them out weekly, and once a month with a brush that I can run throughout the headgear and nose-piece. Should I replace these items? On what schedule?

3. Any other suggestions for a stomach sleeper to lower AHI? I've tried a cervical collar, but after a couple of weeks, I couldn't see a benefit. Any other suggestions?

Thanks for your advice and suggestions.

-Kevin

[jaswilliams]

It looks to me like your minimum pressure needs raising from 8 to 9 or 10 that should reduce the pressure fluctuations and the amount of Obstructive Apnoeas and Hypopneas

[ardenum]

I'm a stomach sleeper myself. I modified my bed twice, at first I cut out a portion of the foam mattress where my head is. Second time I totally went off the edges, and mounted a massage headrest like this on the edge:



It works good with masks that have the hose in the middle of the mask. For dreamwear you'd have to cut out 2 pieces of foam at the sides to accommodate the mask.

My whole bed tilts by 10 degrees to either top/bottom. When on stomach it's majestic to tilt it to my head, getting more circulation and easing the heart. Those days are my best nights.

Lastly I also have a sleeping hammock, I move a lot during sleep and I have to change position and venue often. On restless nights I switch to my hammock. I cut out a small portion on one side for the hose. In the hammock you can switch sides easily and you never fall out of it.

On top of that I have a custom mouthpiece with a vent a custom 3d printed mask and a 800ml humidifier. Been busy last 4 years fixing my sleep.