Mouth Taping

[Dave77]

I have been diagnosed with mild sleep apnea - positional.  My current pressure is 6.4 (higher than 7, CAs appear.... I think because I am uncomfortable with the pressure and move around)  My nightly AHI average is usually below 2.  Mostly CA clusters as I am entering into sleep or waking up.  Rarely do I have obstructive events - at most 2 a night and that is rare.  I began mouth taping about 4 months ago and it has worked great in eliminating leaks.  Last night I decided to forgo the mask.  I wear an O2 sensor (Wear O2) and my oxygen average was 97% over 8 hours of sleep - drops over 3% were 14 for 1.5 an hour - Lowest oxygen level was 90 - 90-94 oxygen level was 2.24% of the total 8 hours.  I feel good - better than many nights with CPAP.  I am not a perfectionist.  If I have 1 or 2 events per hour and feel good, I am happy with that.  I wish that you could put the machine pressure at 0 so I could see with Oscar what is actually going on.  I am going to try mask free or with a pressure of 4 for a few nights to see if there is a difference.... thoughts?
Thank you to everyone on the board - you have been so helpful through the years.

[Dave77]

Forgot to add that I had still tapped my mouth but no mask.

[G. Szabo]

 I wish that you could put the machine pressure at 0 so I could see with Oscar what is actually going on. 

Without pressure support, the machine cannot detect anything. 

As you suggested, try the minimum pressure = 4 cm and the maximum somewhat higher to see the events and flow limits. Ensure that you are in APAP mode and standard response. You will know where the instrument sets your pressure. 

Mild apnea can be mitigated with positional therapy and tapig. You are lucky if you can do that.

[Dave77]

Thank you - I will try that tonight - I am also trying tongue and throat exercises. Your help and advice is much appreciated!

[Dave77]

Out of the country for a bit - so apologies if I don't reply quickly.