Minute long obstructive apnea with cpap on

[middleofnowhere]

I'm starting to wonder if my cpap is set wrong. I wore my cpap all night with a good seal. No alcohol consumption or anything else that would have caused extra problems. 

I was wearing a Fisher & Paykel Evora full face mask. When I check my OSCAR data, I see a nearly minute long obstructive apnea! Even though the pressure settings are on autopap (Resmed Autoset 11) so it's supposed to adjust to my needs. 

Unfortunately I don't have adequate insurance coverage or money to go for polysomnography or anything to investigate this better because I was laid off of work and am barely scraping by. I got the CPAP from one of these online companies that has you wear the monitor overnight and send in the data, and then one of their doctors prescribes a CPAP. So that means I'm basically on my own for what to do now that I have it. They just send it to you at its factory settings of 4 to 20. 

Should I try turning up the minimum pressure? Right now I have set the minimum as 7 and max as 15. The average pressure that it shows me in OSCAR nightly is 11. Maybe I should set the minimum to 11? Attached is a snapshot of the problem. Thanks for any advice.

[G. Szabo]

You should post the chart by selecting "Details"  instead of "Events." Also, turn off the calendar and organize your graphs according to Wikipedia.

[middleofnowhere]

OK, I checked the Wikipedia and I saw that it had the regular default graph order listed, which is how I have it set because I don't know how to change it anyway. I also already have the calendar off. So I changed to details view and took 2 more pictures. I hope this will make some sense. Thanks!

[G. Szabo]

I suggest you set your minimum pressure to 11 and not use EPR. Do not change the other settings.  
Let's see what happens with your CA figure.

[middleofnowhere]

OK, thanks! I'll go change it now.

[Phaleronic]

Szabo is on the spot with turning EPR off and raising min pressure, try it for 30 minutes tonight though to see if you can deal with it before bed, if it's too uncomfortable turn EPR back on to 1 (during exhalation).

[middleofnowhere]

Thanks. I did turn off the EPR no problem. The new pressure setting will take some getting used to as it caused aerophagia and burping. Also the mask wanted to become dislodged more easily and woke me up several times with the annoying routine every cpap user doubtless knows: blowing air into your eyes or making fart noises on your face. And that's with the cloth cover I bought. Apparently I have very little fat on my face (or anywhere) and it's hard to get a good mask seal. However, I will tolerate anything in order to stop these horrible long apneas!

[G. Szabo]

It would help us to see your OSCAR results again. 
Did the number of CAs reduce? Higher EPR increases CAs, but it helps to tolerate higher pressures. So, you will need to find your comfort zone between the two. Also, some CAs tend to disappear spontaneously with treatment time (weeks or months).

[middleofnowhere]

I'll be able to find out tonight. Last night, the SD card was accidentally left out of the CPAP, so there was no recording except for the useless MyAir.

I do know that it leaked massively despite all my strap adjustments, at the rate of 35L, because the pressure blows it off my face. I will have to devise something out of jersey fabric to try to prevent it from coming loose.

[G. Szabo]

I do know that it leaked massively despite all my strap adjustments, at the rate of 35L, because the pressure blows it off my face.

At that rate you cannot have effective treatment. Try to go back to EPR 1 or 2. Also use as small size mask as possible. The smaller the size the less the straps are tensed.  You might need to find a different mask for this higher pressure. 
Although, you must had a similar issue with your erlieer setting because your automatic pressure was pushed over 11 cm.