New User and Question on Nasal Pillow vs face mask

[ashishol]

[attachment=4119][attachment=4119][attachment=4119]Hi All,

       I've just recently been diagnosed of Sleep Apnea, been feeling tired , headache's in the morning, day sleepiness for a long time. Finally took the sleep test to rule out apnea and then discovered that that was the cause. The sleep test showed that on an average I had 44 OSA events an hour. 
  
       Anyways cutting a long story short got a ResMed Airsense 10 for a one week trial from their distributor here in Bangkok. They will then  send the results to the doctor. I am attaching the second day result from the machine using the sleepyhead software. They have currently given me an Airlift P10 Nasal pillow which fits very well and has not been causing any issues. I needed some advice from the forum on the below queries :-

1. I generally am not a mouth breather but at nights sometimes I do breath from the mouth as I am not able to get enough air from my nostrils. (This was before the CPAP machine). Could this be because of my blocked air passage? Do I need to get a face mask? The reason I ask this is that I am planning to get the ResMed Airsense from the US and was wondering if I should order a facemask with the Nasal pillow? Also is there any face mask you would suggest I start of with. ( I know that face masks can be an individual preference but is there a model  that can be a good starting point?).Can the leak chart show if I have been breathing from the mouth ?

2. There are a couple of CA's that appear in the graph. The original sleep test did not show any CA's. Did I develop them because I am using the CPAP machine. (Some of the posts in the forum seem to suggest it)

3. I am still feeling tired and sluggish in the day. I read some posts where the users have been feeling fantastic after the first day of use. Is there something else I need to tweak to get the same feeling or I need to wait for my body to get used to it before I start feeling different in the day? What is the general expectation?

Lastly - I want to thank all the members of the forum. I've been reading through your posts for the last few days and i am mentally at more positive space then I was earlier when I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. Please keep up the support for newbie's like us.

Thanks in advance
Ashish

[DeepBreathing]

G'day Ashish. Welcome to Apnea Board.

If that chart is typical of your experience then you're off to a very good start. An untreated AHI of 44 is pretty severe, but you're already down to less than 1.0.

Your minimum pressure is set to 4, which is as low as the machine will go. If you feel you're not getting enough air through the nasal pillows, try increasing the minimum pressure. Most people find that around 7 is a good starting point. If you're happy with the nasal pillows then stick with it. If you really do want to try a full face mask then the Fisher & Paykel Simplus and Resmed F20 are popular choices. However mask fit is very individual, and you might find they don't suit you at all.

You're only getting a very small number of central apneas. They might be caused by the fact that you're new to CPAP therapy, or they may be random pauses in breathing which everybody experiences. In any case, there are so few you can safely ignore them.

Some people get instant fantastic results immediately, but that is a minority. For most of us it takes a while to start feeling the benefits. Be patient and it will come.

[dracus]

Not really seeing any mouth leaks in your chart.

I think you'll be happier with either more lower pressure and I was having similar issues until I went to a medium pillow from the small.

[ashishol]

Dear DeepBreathing and dracus thank you for your feedback. I think I'll just go for the nasal pillow for now.

[Sleep2Snore]

If you are going for Nasal Pillows, a lot of people go for a size to small and say they feel starved of air, try the biggest size and work down rather than up.

Welcome to The Apneaboard Forum.

[Gideon]

Hi All,

       I've just recently been diagnosed of Sleep Apnea, been feeling tired , headache's in the morning, day sleepiness for a long time. Finally took the sleep test to rule out apnea and then discovered that that was the cause. The sleep test showed that on an average I had 44 OSA events an hour. 
  
       Anyways cutting a long story short got a ResMed Airsense 10 for a one week trial from their distributor here in Bangkok. They will then  send the results to the doctor. I am attaching the second day result from the machine using the sleepyhead software. They have currently given me an Airlift P10 Nasal pillow which fits very well and has not been causing any issues. I needed some advice from the forum on the below queries :-

1. I generally am not a mouth breather but at nights sometimes I do breath from the mouth as I am not able to get enough air from my nostrils. (This was before the CPAP machine). Could this be because of my blocked air passage? Do I need to get a face mask? The reason I ask this is that I am planning to get the ResMed Airsense from the US and was wondering if I should order a facemask with the Nasal pillow? Also is there any face mask you would suggest I start of with. ( I know that face masks can be an individual preference but is there a model  that can be a good starting point?).Can the leak chart show if I have been breathing from the mouth ?

2. There are a couple of CA's that appear in the graph. The original sleep test did not show any CA's. Did I develop them because I am using the CPAP machine. (Some of the posts in the forum seem to suggest it)

3. I am still feeling tired and sluggish in the day. I read some posts where the users have been feeling fantastic after the first day of use. Is there something else I need to tweak to get the same feeling or I need to wait for my body to get used to it before I start feeling different in the day? What is the general expectation?

Lastly - I want to thank all the members of the forum. I've been reading through your posts for the last few days and i am mentally at more positive space then I was earlier when I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. Please keep up the support for newbie's like us.

Thanks in advance
Ashish

1.  A common issue.  As suggested raise the min pressure to something between 6 and 8.  You may be able to lower it later but usually 4 is too low.  The Mask trial strategy I recommend is to start with Pillows, even if you are a mouth breather.  Many "Prominent" people here use the ResMed P10 and love them.  The BEST mask for you is the one that works for you.  (Read the Mask Primer, link in my signature.)
2.  Don't worry about the CAs for now.  They can be very common when you are waking up or falling asleep.  We call that Sleep/Wake junk and ignore it.  If necessary we will recommend that it be addressed.
3.  How long it takes to feel better varies.  I was a lucky one and I had a very notable difference on my 1st night, but I was in the AHI 90 range.  YMMV.


Be aware there are many models of the Airsense 10, including models that we absolutely don't like.  Make sure you are getting an Autoset!!!

Fred

[Hojo]

Only 2 CA events are nothing to be overly concerned with.

[trish6hundred]

Hi ashishol,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Good luck with CPAP therapy and finding a mask that you like.
Hang in there for more responses to your post.