Needing help fixing my sleep with cpap
Hello all, i'm new to this forum, found it while googling and trying to figure out a way to fix my sleep apnea with cpap.
I'm a 31 yo male, 183cm, 82kg, have been diagnosed with moderate OSA in december (25 ahi) majorly hypopnea, have been prescribed a cpap machine, at first i had a nasal mask, and my sleep quality has become worse than pre cpap, switched to a full face mask then i started getting a peaceful night sleep. but lately and after a month of restful nights, my apnea is waking me up again.
I attached two reports from oscar one in february when i used to have a good night sleep, and one from lately when i have terrible sleep.
Could anyone please help me figure out what's waking me up at night ? and how can fix it ? i'm totally new to this.
RE: Needing help fixing my sleep with cpap
I'm new at this, so I can't be much help, but since I'm not seeing disruptive apnea in either chart--both night's AHI are very low, suggesting apnea is well controlled--I'm curious what's happening when you wake up. Are you struggling to breathe? Are you snoring? Maybe it would be helpful if you posted the full report from a recent night.
RE: Needing help fixing my sleep with cpap
It looks like you have arousals waking you up. Some may be related to tossing and turning, or even just position adjustment. The rest look related to the flow limitations causing pressure increases, which in turn are triggering arousals directly or indirectly. You may be one of us lucky ones who negatively respond to pressure swings.
The first thing to consider is your pressure. I think trying the following may help:
Min pressure 8
Max pressure 12
EPR 3 full-time
No ramp
That should help with the pressure swings. You may still need to increase a bit from there, but start with that and let us see how you respond.
Also, what kind of pillow do you use? If it is on the high side, then a flatter pillow would help. Anything that contributes to chin-tucking, like a high pillow, should be considered for change. There are CPAP pillows that many find helpful. I use the Contour CPAPmax 2.0 pillow as it has cut-outs for the mask while also providing good support for your head. There are many out there, so you will need to do some research.
Give the pressure and pillow change a few days and report back. We can help adjust from there.