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I'm struggling with CPAP therapy and just now about a month in. The first symptoms that I noticed that lead me to getting a sleep study was a "snort" that would wake me up when I would fall asleep. After a at home sleep study I was diagnosed with mild OSA. The prescription I was given was a 8 min 20 max pressure. I tried sleeping with these settings but I could not stand the pressure. I begun to do some research on how to adjust my own settings as I have no insurance. And I have made some progress. My AHI is in the 8's and I can't get it down anymore. On top of that my sleep has been horrible. I have downloaded OSCAR but I am not sure on how to interpret the data to improve my sleep. I believe that I am dealing with mask leak and mouth breathing. The last couple days I have woken up with really bad dry mouth.
Not sure what I'm doing wrong. Still waking up a lot. Sometimes I will have a lot a hypopneas or OA's. I'm pretty sure I've gotten my settings down now. I've regularly keep my AHI below 5 but still struggling to feel rested. I sleep on my side or stomach with a flat pillow. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.
It looks like you are using ramp, that sometimes you are hitting a little too often against your upper-pressure limit, and that you sometimes have high flow limits. I suggest the following:
Turn ramp off, as you get virtually no therapy while using it.
Increase your upper-pressure limit to 14.
Set the highest setting on whatever the Dreamstation version of EPR is.
JohnnyHotdog - I have merged your 2 threads that relate to your CPAP journey. It makes it easier for those that offer advice to see your history in one thread. To provide a more inclusive title, I have renamed it to "JohnnyHotdog - Therapy Help".
Going forward, please use this thread to post your therapy related questions and OSCAR charts.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
If you're waking up with a dry mouth, your mouth is popping open while you sleep. You'll have to evaluate whether you need to open your mouth to breathe. If you do, consider that in your mask choice. For instance, if your nose is blocked, a nasal mask might not be optimal, since you'd be inclined to open your mouth just to breathe, and tape would be a very bad idea.
Even if you have a FFM with no leaks, you might still get a dry mouth! This won't be a therapeutic issue, but definitely a comfort one, and isn't great for your teeth. So, you'll likely want some strategies to minimize your jaw-drop.
Among the strategies: adjust the humidifier, use a supportive collar, lowering the pillow, using a different sleep position, etc.
My husband and I use Xylimelts, little curved tablets that you stick to your gum, overlapping a little on the tooth. These dissolve slowly as you sleep and help a LOT with dry mouth. It's best to set them between two teeth, as there is more gum there.
