Kiwii's Search for Restful Sleep
Hi. Some background and a question about aerophagia to start my thread. I'm very sleep deprived since starting xPAP last week; still coming up to speed on what needs to be done to post SleepyHead charts, but they will be following in a day or so (it has been installed and data successfully imported).
The initial Rx was for "BIPAP Auto 5-20 cm PSV 4 Resmed Air Curve" - AHI 70, ODI 63.1, lowest O2 60%; at home test due to insurance constraints; the choice of machine was mine, sleep doctor would have chosen APAP; equipment is being paid out of pocket.
Initially I was setup with a Swift FX. Now (as of yesterday) using F&P Simplus.
XPAP went okay, other than the occasional forceful blast of air from the vent, and the swallowing of large amounts of air (judging by the volume that was exiting my body from the other end throughout the night).
The mask unexpectedly turned out to be a poor choice for me, possibly due to reconstructive surgery and rhinoplasty that was done as a teen (movement to the tip of my nose, caused by the hose, made something inside of my nose painful - and translated pressure upwards, against the sensitive area where some bone was removed). Not happy that it took so long to get an exchange made, and the new Simplus was the wrong size, but my husband picked up a new one during lunch so tonight ought to be great! (wish me luck)
Things I am wondering about:
1. I thought a bi-level is supposed to reduce aerophagia.
2. Sleep doctor's solution to aerophagia was to have me sleep on my back. I prefer to sleep halfway between stomach and side (obliquely). Snoring has historically been worse on my back (and, sure enough, AHI has gone up since following his advice, although admittedly the aerophagia is better). I saw comments in the aerophagia thread against back sleeping, but did not see mention of the rationale behind that advice. So what is the rationale? Any ideas on why my doctor would recommend something that would increase AHI? (maybe read #3 before answering)
3. Sleep doctor at first refused to alter settings, insisting that I must first have an in-house bipap titration study before any adjustments could be made. I questioned the need for that, considering the machine that I have. Once I assured him that I could also provide him with oximeter data, and asked if he couldn't in the interim do something to 'take the edge off', he agreed to change the settings. Looking at my machine, the settings as of 9/11 are:
Mode: VAuto
Max IPAP: 10.0
Min EPAP: 4.0
PS: 4.0
Ti Max: 2.0s
Ti Min: 0.3s
Trigger: Med
Cycle: Med
SleepyHead data will be coming once I can understand what I need to include and how to post it, etc. I'm sorry to be so slow in figuring it all out. The learning curve (and search/research for a workable mask) is starting to ease some, so hopefully progress on this will speed up. Thank you for your patience.
I'll be sleeping obliquely on my side for the next few nights. I'm curious to see if the aerophagia occurs again and how the data will compare.
Thank you. I'm looking forward to your comments/observations.
eta: btw, I am scheduled to see a new sleep doctor next month, referred by my neurologist. I'm feel uneasy at this sleep office.
The initial Rx was for "BIPAP Auto 5-20 cm PSV 4 Resmed Air Curve" - AHI 70, ODI 63.1, lowest O2 60%; at home test due to insurance constraints; the choice of machine was mine, sleep doctor would have chosen APAP; equipment is being paid out of pocket.
Initially I was setup with a Swift FX. Now (as of yesterday) using F&P Simplus.
XPAP went okay, other than the occasional forceful blast of air from the vent, and the swallowing of large amounts of air (judging by the volume that was exiting my body from the other end throughout the night).
The mask unexpectedly turned out to be a poor choice for me, possibly due to reconstructive surgery and rhinoplasty that was done as a teen (movement to the tip of my nose, caused by the hose, made something inside of my nose painful - and translated pressure upwards, against the sensitive area where some bone was removed). Not happy that it took so long to get an exchange made, and the new Simplus was the wrong size, but my husband picked up a new one during lunch so tonight ought to be great! (wish me luck)
Things I am wondering about:
1. I thought a bi-level is supposed to reduce aerophagia.
2. Sleep doctor's solution to aerophagia was to have me sleep on my back. I prefer to sleep halfway between stomach and side (obliquely). Snoring has historically been worse on my back (and, sure enough, AHI has gone up since following his advice, although admittedly the aerophagia is better). I saw comments in the aerophagia thread against back sleeping, but did not see mention of the rationale behind that advice. So what is the rationale? Any ideas on why my doctor would recommend something that would increase AHI? (maybe read #3 before answering)
3. Sleep doctor at first refused to alter settings, insisting that I must first have an in-house bipap titration study before any adjustments could be made. I questioned the need for that, considering the machine that I have. Once I assured him that I could also provide him with oximeter data, and asked if he couldn't in the interim do something to 'take the edge off', he agreed to change the settings. Looking at my machine, the settings as of 9/11 are:
Mode: VAuto
Max IPAP: 10.0
Min EPAP: 4.0
PS: 4.0
Ti Max: 2.0s
Ti Min: 0.3s
Trigger: Med
Cycle: Med
SleepyHead data will be coming once I can understand what I need to include and how to post it, etc. I'm sorry to be so slow in figuring it all out. The learning curve (and search/research for a workable mask) is starting to ease some, so hopefully progress on this will speed up. Thank you for your patience.
I'll be sleeping obliquely on my side for the next few nights. I'm curious to see if the aerophagia occurs again and how the data will compare.
Thank you. I'm looking forward to your comments/observations.
eta: btw, I am scheduled to see a new sleep doctor next month, referred by my neurologist. I'm feel uneasy at this sleep office.
