Help with adjusting settings

[jake.love]

Hello, 

I have been on CPAP for about a month with a prescription between 5-20cmH2O.  I  have been trying various settings and am still struggling with getting it dialed in.  I feel even more tired in the morning these days and way less rested since I've been using CPAP.  I just got a new mask last night (Resmed F40) and I've posted screenshots from last night's sleep from OSCAR.  Could anyone please advise how I might adjust my settings to help with my therapy? Thank you. 


       

[staceyburke]

You are having some positional apnea.  You can see positional apnea where either H or Oa events are clustered together.  Getting rid of as many as you can will lower your AHI.  Positional apnea can NOT be controlled by pressure changes.  You have to find out what position you are getting into and cutting off your own airway.  Have you changed your sleep position?  Sleeping on your back?  Using more (or new) pillows?  These things can cause positional apnea by chin dropping to your sternum and cutting your airway.  Think of it of a kinked hose – nothing can get through – you have to unkink the hose…

IF you can’t make a simple change like changing to a flatter pillow helps then you will need a collar.  I have a link to collars in my signature at the bottom of the page.  It shows people who are not wearing a collar and the SAME person wearing a collar.  There is a huge difference between the two.

Also you are at the highest setting of EPR (3) so not much we can do but move the min up one.  Set min 9.

Just a thought - is you nose stuffed up?  If it is you need a spray to help keep your nose clear.  Try to find one that does not make the rebound so that you HAVE to all ways use it.  Check with your Pharmacist to help find the correct type. (over the counter)

[Deborah K.]

You have other issues too.  You are bumping up constantly against your top pressure.  You need to change your settings to 10.6 to 15.  That can be raised later if necessary.

If your flow limits remain as high as they are, you may need to get a bilevel to replace your Airsense.  I started a thread a couple of years ago because my flow limits were not low enough, but not nearly as high as yours, learned that I needed a bilevel and got one after lots of great advice, especially from Sleeprider.  I love my ResMed AirCurve 10 Vauto and heartily recommend it.

[jake.love]

Hi all, 

Thank you for the feedback.  I greatly appreciate it.   I bought a soft cervical collar yesterday and wore it last night it appears that it completely got rid of my obstructive apneas which is great.  I posted screen shots from last night below. 

As far as the pressure, I lowered my EPR to 1 and kept my pressure from 9 to 12 for most of the night, but set it at 10 to 15 for the last 1:45 of sleep. Bottom line sounds like I just need to increase my pressure to decrease my flow limits. Any more suggestions??  Thanks!