Getting back into CPAP after 2 years

[mogulman]

Well you could do that too. But I was talking about raising the min pressure up to 9 cm and leaving the EPR alone. That would increase the amount of air you get and still allow for a reduced exhale vs inhale pressure.

Ok...noted...I'm going to try it at 7-14 for a bit...maybe lower it to 7-12, after a few more days...and see how it goes..
Then maybe I'll raise it to 8-9...and stay in a smaller range, if it looks like I'm usually within that range.
Think I should change the O2 level at all?
Any chance that O2 is really all I need?  Just wondering...

[mogulman]

mogulman,
I've had the same problem with a time shift in the oximeter.  It seems to be a "GMT- your time zone" delta.   I went on to other things before finding a work-around.

Ahh..that makes sense, since I'm at -6 GMT.

[mogulman]

The good news is that I made it mostly sleeping all night. I do remember waking up and thinking it was morning and wanting to take off the mask, but then I looked at my clock and it was only like 1am or 2am. I've had similar experiences the other nights. I'll have to pay more attention and see if that somehow corresponds with something (low pressure or high pressure). If I can somehow mark it, so I know exactly what time so I remember without getting a pen

So..maybe the surgery didn't fix my apnea, but maybe it is allowing to actually use the CPAP and get through the night. I think I like the N20 more than the P10 too. So that could be helping.

[Walla Walla]

O2 isn't the cure for Sleep Apnea. It will help keep your O2 up but you'll still have Apnea's that disturb your sleep. The hope long term is you get to the point that you don't need O2. Believe me it's a lot easier and safer to travel with a CPAP machine than Oxygen.

[mogulman]

O2 isn't the cure for Sleep Apnea. It will help keep your O2 up but you'll still have Apnea's that disturb your sleep. The hope long term is you get to the point that you don't need O2. Believe me it's a lot easier and safer to travel with a CPAP machine than Oxygen.

So does that happen? If I get used to the CPAP and maybe raise the pressure more?

I do know that back in 2010/2011/2013, when I had back surgery before any of this was diagnosed, my o2 was low in the hospital while sleeping.   They would think I was fine, because I had recovered enough and my O2 was good while awake.  I'd fall asleep without o2 in the hospital, even for 5 mins and then the beeper would start beeping.  The only thing that seemed to help is if I breathed through my mouth.

Also...I have a place in the mountains in CO that I go to almost every weekend. I don't think I'm bringing the oxygen concentrator up there. Its too big.

[Walla Walla]

I can only say there is a chance. Increasing the pressure enough to get rid of the Apnea also improved my Oxygen levels enough to come off oxygen. It didn't happen overnight though. It took me a couple of months. If there are other reasons for the low Oxygen levels than of course CPAP alone won't take care of it.

[mogulman]

Went to sleep later than usual. Didn't feel that tired. Probably because I slept better the night before. Had 2 beers over a period of 3 hours prior to go to sleep.

Noticed that I didn't feel like I could breath as easy through my nose before I went to bed. When I woke up around 6am, felt even more constricted. Not clogged, but not sure why it was hard to breath through my nose. Felt like breathing out of my mouth was easier in the morning. Oximeter import seems to be broken for me. The oximeter readings that are imported into SH seem to be stretched out and don't match CPAP. I'll post that in the software forum with a screen shot. This causes my AHI to look a little better than it actually is.

[mogulman]

Updated screenshot, with data imported from file, because direct import isn't working. This looks correct.

[Gideon]

Went to sleep later than usual.  Didn't feel that tired.  Probably because I slept better the night before.   Had 2 beers over a period of 3 hours prior to go to sleep.

Noticed that I didn't feel like I could breath as easy through my nose before I went to bed.  When I woke up around 6am, felt even more constricted.  Not clogged, but not sure why it was hard to breath through my nose.   Felt like breathing out of my mouth was easier in the morning.  Oximeter import seems to be broken for me.  The oximeter readings that are imported into SH seem to be stretched out and don't match CPAP.  I'll post that in the software forum with a screen shot.  This causes my AHI to look a little better than it actually is.

Watch your correlation with this.  Some people I know react to hops in this manner.  This does happen to me on occasion, but (fortunately) it has a minor effect on me.

Fred

[mogulman]

Ok... Last night same settings... Drank quite a bit while watching Broncos and fight stuff over a period of about 5 hours prior to sleeping, large margarita and 3 ciders. Probably contributed to the snoring and stuff right at the beginning of the night. Machine seems to be helping though. Still not feeling refreshed, but I didn't feel sleepy at the end of the night the last few nights. Didn't use the Oximeter last night so no SpO2 results.