New, results from day 1 - looking for advice

[Dulcet]

Hi everyone,

I just received a dreamstation pro cpap yesterday and am looking forward to getting some better sleep. However, I would love to hear peoples thoughts on my first days results (afternoon nap and night sleep). My AHI was higher than I was expecting (18.83) and I am wondering if i should wait or consider tweaking my pressure.

In my sleep study I had a result of 59 episodes per hour so it is a huge improve on that.

Thanks

[mesenteria]

You are not being treated at your current pressure settings, both the lower and upper limits.  Your lowest pressure limit of 4 is very certainly too low.  You'll be much happier, and better served, with at least 5 and possibly even 5.5-6.0.

Notice your high pressure line?  It's flat and pegged at 12.  This means, with all the horrible vertical lines clustered in the chart at the top, that you are not getting a sufficiently high pressure.  That's just an early guess; it may be that you actually need a different type of delivery entirely, and not just an unvarying pressure.

All those clusters of events might be a strong indication that you are sleeping in such a way, perhaps on your back, or with your chin tucked, that your airway is being occluded significantly. We call this 'positional' sleeping problems.

You seem to be wearing the mask correctly, if inconsistently throughout the night, because the report says leaks are controlled.  So, without major leaks, and all those snores and obstructive events, you aren't getting the correct therapy through to your mask and beyond.

Please wait for more enlightened members to suggest remedies for the treatment regimen.

[Dulcet]

Thanks for the reply,

I was set a constant pressure of 11.5 with a ramp that started from 4, I have since increased the ramp to start from 8 for tonight.

I try and fall asleep on my side however I often end up back sleeping, but have no idea about the chin tucking.

[Melman]

Welcome to the forum. I agree with mesneteria. The clustering of hypopnea and obstructive apnea are indicative of chin tucking to your chest. The best way to control it is to wear a soft cervical collar that is just tight enough to prevent your chin from ticking behind it but not so tight as to be uncomfortable.  This has worked well for me and many others. I use the OTC collar available from amazon but there are many brands that will work well. You can purchase them at most pharmacies or big box stores. I think you would be better served with auto settings with a min pressure of 6 and max of 20. That way the machine will detect the max pressure you require. See the link at the top of the page to order the setup manual for you machine.  Then post some OSCAR charts and we will help you adjust settings.

[Dulcet]

Thanks, I will have to look into the OTC collar, although I struggle with even the slightest of pressure on my neck. 

Unfortunately the machine I was given is a fixed pressure machine so I am unable to try the auto settings out. 

Last night I tried to make sure I started of sleeping on my side with my neck stretched out and results are looking better at 13.36, plus I had a more solid sleep with very few awakenings I was aware off. However, I did still feel very tired on awaking, but will see how the day tiredness is.

Attached is my 2nd nights results.

[Gideon]

Set your pressure to 13 tonight try flex =1 and see if that is more comfortable.