New to CPAP - have 3 instances of Cheyne-Stokes

[aussienana]

I bought a body pillow a few weeks back, took out some stuffing from where the head rests to make it flatter, but still found it slightly uncomfortable & myself on my back through the night.

Maybe time to get it back into bed and give it another go although I don’t have an incline wedge. If I got that separate would that work? What degree of incline?

[G. Szabo]

I don’t have an incline wedge. If I got that separate would that work? What degree of incline?

You can buy it separately, and it should work. Please realize that it is not a simple wedge. There is a hole in it for your shoulder or arm. I use the wedge with a thin memory foam pillow. The body pillow is around it (not on the top of the wedge, as suggested by the manufacturer) to support my thin pillow. The point is to have a straight neck. I insert my whole arm into the hole and stretch it sideways.

• It takes up ½ of a queen-sized bed
  
  
• Creates a 10° angle of elevation
  

[aussienana]

Thanks for this - will look into it

[aussienana]

   
   

Hi G Szabo

Tuesday & Wednesdays data attached plus a 5 min graph of flow rate with no events recorded (just want to make sure that this is movement, again,  )


I did notice on both nights that my pressure is bumping up to the 17 max - should I increase both min and max pressure?  


Although my AHI scores are looking good I'm still waking up feeling tired.  Could this be because my sleep is quite fractured? I seem to sleep for 3-4 hours on first going to bed, then wake up every 2 hours.  I say wake, but it doesn't take me very long to go back to sleep - minutes?  Just curious if this is my "normal"?

[aussienana]

   
   
   

[G. Szabo]

I did notice on both nights that my pressure is bumping up to the 17 max - should I increase both min and max pressure?  

Although my AHI scores are looking good I'm still waking up feeling tired.  Could this be because my sleep is quite fractured?

 You can increase the minimum pressure to 15, while the maximum can remain 17. However, it would be better to keep your pressure low and avoid sleeping on your back instead.

The sudden pressure increases disrupt your sleep. Hence, you are tired.

[aussienana]

Hi G Szabo

As I'm on EPR 3 full time will raising min to 15 and leaving max at 17 work? Or should it be 14-18? I thought there had to be EPR+1?

Thanks.

[G. Szabo]

EPR=3 gives you a 3 cm lower exhalation pressure than the actual inhalation one. 
The min-max range of your inhalation pressure limit is not dependent on EPR. However, when you go to a pressure lower than 7 cm (with EPR=3), you cannot utilize the full effect of the EPR setting because the hardware of your instrument cannot deliver lower than 4 cm.

You are not hitting the 17 cm ceiling yet, so there is no point in increasing your max pressure. High pressure causes some side effects you want to avoid.

Increase your minimum pressure gradually.

[aussienana]

Thanks for clarifying G. Szabo - I'll raise min tonight to 14 and leave max pressure where it is.  I'll post again in a few days time to see if this has helped.  

Really appreciate all the advice.  I've been reading a lot of articles here on Apnea Board and individual's stories and am getting quite overwhelmed 

[aussienana]

Hi,

Had to swap out my F40 to my F20 for a few nights as the F40 caused quite a bad sore on the bottom of my nose at the top of the philtrum. Didn't help that I then increased pressure and my F20 leaked like mad!  Took me a while to sort that out without tightening the straps too much.

However I am now back on the F40 with my min pressure at 15 and max at 17 and am starting to use the Checkme 02 Max oximeter.  My sleep seems to be a lot better at this pressure - am not waking up so much at night.  I've set the oximeter to alarm when my 02 drops to 86%. I did not import my 02 data from last night into Oscar as it somehow fragmented into two reports and I don't know how to amalgamate them.  I can say that from 23:42 to 07:07 my SP02 lowest was 93 and my lowest pulse 54.


Could someone look over my last two nights of data to see if I'm on the right track?  I have noticed I'm getting a few CA's over both nights.