My CPAP Woes

[onyxdragun]

So I've had my ResMed AirSense10 (with the nasal pillows) since July 2017 and at first it worked well, I was getting weeks of 7hrs+ per night sleep etc.

Lately I've been fighting with the damn thing. I'll try and best explain the experience I have and hopefully it might shed some light on the whole thing.

My APAP range is 5-10 with it averaging about 9.5 per night.

Some nights it's fine. Fall asleep and sleep soundly for 6-7 hrs no problems. But more than often I find that I'm having to consciously breath in and out which takes away from me trying to fall asleep. I get fed up after 10-15mins of fighting it and take it off then I fall asleep within 3 minutes. But, I am assuming my Apenas happen.

When I get up in the middle the night on a "good" night. When I turn off the machine, i can feel the pressure difference in the nasal pillows. On a "bad" night there is no nasal pressure difference.

I don't know why some days I don't fight it when falling asleep and other nights it's a struggle. None of the settings have changed. I've played with changing the inital pressure from 5 to a 6 and even down to 4 just to see if it's the initial pressure, but none of that has made a difference.

Last time I mentioned it to my RT, she just told me to try and push through it until I fall asleep. Well, why struggle to fall asleep for 30-40mins when I can fall asleep almost instantly if I take it off?

I know this can work as it worked fine when I first got it and I still get the occasional night wher i have no issues. It's just that the bad nights happen more than the good nights :\

[Crimson Nape]

Hi onyxdragun -

I see you have your CPAP set to a starting pressure of 5cm.   If I understand you post correctly, you are experiencing air starvation.  Most users feel starved for air at that pressure.  You might consider upping it to about 7 to 8 cm and hopefully this will eliminate your problem.

A few more posts and you will be able to post a SleepyHead chart.  In the meantime, please review the links in my signature for formatting SleepyHead to achieve the best display of your data.

I hope you find some relief.

[onyxdragun]

Thanks so much for replying! I'll tinker with the settings tonight and see how it goes.

Thanks for the links to format the data. Sleephead seems.. busy! lol Love that I can pull the data off the card though.

[Sleeprider]

There is no longer a minimum post requirement for attaching images with your Sleepyhead data. There is a lot to consider including EPR to help with comfort and results. If you post a chart it won’t take long to get some good suggestions to improve.

[OpalRose]

All good advice.

Along with raising the minimum pressure a bit, you may want to try using one size larger nasal pillow, as many of us have found this to help with that air starved feeling. The pillow should not be inserted too far into the nostril, but just sit under and inserted slightly.