03-27-2018, 05:29 AM
RE: Help! Brand new to this
G'day Mttnkatt. Welcome to Apnea Board.
Starting out on CPAP treatment is very hard for a lot of people. After all you're learning to breathe in a whole different way with a compressor pumping you full of air and a plastic alien strapped to your face!
Be reassured though - it does get better.
The settings on your machine (4 - 20) are referred to as "wide open". They won't give you an optimum treatment, but they will allow you to zero in on more appropriate settings. With the Dreamstation it is important to get your settings as close as possible to optimum as the machine tends to respond rather slowly. So I would concur with the advice to increase your minimum pressure to around 9 and see how that goes. As always you should confirm prescription changes with your doctor, but many of us have found that we need to be proactive.
As Walla Walla mentioned, it's possible that some of your apnea is caused by positional issues. Either sleeping on your back, or with your chin tucked down to your chest. You might need to use an extra pillow to stop you rolling on your back, or else get a soft cervical collar to help support your chin. The collar should not be too tight or too tall - it's just a minimal support.
The other thing I notice in your charts is a fair number of clear airway (central) apneas. Did these show up in your initial sleep test? If not, then it's likely these are pressure-induced. In most cases they will go away as your body adapts to the therapy. If not, then we can suggest some further changes later on.
You're off to a rough start, but that's (sadly) not unusual. It will get better and you've got a whole community of fellow apneacs here to help you along.
Starting out on CPAP treatment is very hard for a lot of people. After all you're learning to breathe in a whole different way with a compressor pumping you full of air and a plastic alien strapped to your face!
Be reassured though - it does get better. The settings on your machine (4 - 20) are referred to as "wide open". They won't give you an optimum treatment, but they will allow you to zero in on more appropriate settings. With the Dreamstation it is important to get your settings as close as possible to optimum as the machine tends to respond rather slowly. So I would concur with the advice to increase your minimum pressure to around 9 and see how that goes. As always you should confirm prescription changes with your doctor, but many of us have found that we need to be proactive.
As Walla Walla mentioned, it's possible that some of your apnea is caused by positional issues. Either sleeping on your back, or with your chin tucked down to your chest. You might need to use an extra pillow to stop you rolling on your back, or else get a soft cervical collar to help support your chin. The collar should not be too tight or too tall - it's just a minimal support.
The other thing I notice in your charts is a fair number of clear airway (central) apneas. Did these show up in your initial sleep test? If not, then it's likely these are pressure-induced. In most cases they will go away as your body adapts to the therapy. If not, then we can suggest some further changes later on.
You're off to a rough start, but that's (sadly) not unusual. It will get better and you've got a whole community of fellow apneacs here to help you along.
