Newbie help interpreting data and having settings

[nickng33]

Hi there,

I just got the Resmed Airsense 10 in August for my untreated AHI of 10? I believe. Every night I try to use it, I just end up prying the mask off my face. In August I was using a full face mask, and most recent data was captured with nasal pillows P-10. I still have to pry the nasal pillows off my face to fall asleep. Sometimes I'll fall asleep with it on but only manage 1-3 hours before having to pry it off my face again. I slowly want to give up on this, and I am not consistent enough with it because it's so hard falling asleep on it, and staying asleep.

What settings should I be using? Pressure, etc.

I am 26 years old male, 5'6'' 150lbs if that means anything

Was wondering if anyone could help me interpret my data, thank you.

       

[Sleeprider]

Are you awake or asleep for this 2-hour session? There is nothing that stands out as a problem here. What do you think disrupts your sleep?

[Melman]

If I understand your post you frequently need to remove the mask before falling asleep. Can you explain why?

[nickng33]

I can't get comfortable or used to wearing the mask or nasal pillows. Sometimes I feel like it's really hard to breathe, like it's too much pressure to breathe through my nose or something. I thought CPAP was supposed to give me a free feeling of open breathing.

Maybe I was awake during the session and took it off right away. I didn't think about that. Let me try to find longer data..

[nickng33]

This is the longest session I could find in recent days

       

[Sleeprider]

How do you feel about being on CPAP therapy. Is this something you are looking forward to adapting to in order to solve problems, or are you at the 'why me' stage?
Do you trust the findings of your sleep study, or do you think you probably don't have sleep apnea? Why did you get tested?
What specifically makes you want to remove the mask? Panic is not likely after 2-3 hours, but this can be a behavior that is very hard to change once you start.

You say it is difficult or uncomfortable to breathe through your nose. Your pressure in these charts rarely exceeds 9 cm inhale and 7 cm exhale. If you're willing to try fixed pressure for a while, let's set your pressure low where it will be very easy. Go into settings and select CPAP mode, and use a pressure of 7.0. Turn on EPR full time at 3. This will result in a pressure of 7.0 inhale and 4.0 exhale. Try it for a while. If this is too much pressure, change pressure to 6.0 (exhale pressure will stay at 4). If you are not comfortable, try to analyze what the problem is. Don't worry about AHI for now, just try to get comfortable by removing all pressure changes and giving you a very low exhale pressure.

The objective here is to get you to use the therapy and overcome comfort issues that prevent sleeping. Maybe this will work, but if not you have a very mild case of sleep apnea. Success is entirely up to you. If you need a sleep aid, or something to relieve anxiety or stress, talk to your doctor.

[SarcasticDave94]

Hi and a warm welcome to Apnea Board.

A few observations and 2 questions come to mind.

Observations: not a scolding, but when you lowered the Min pressure from 8 to 6 your incurred AHI for the sleep session increased by 0.2. Not a big increase, but it is an increase. Just an observation that's all it is. Number 2 is a thing to consider, maybe EPR of 3 vs current 2 would add to comfort. It coincides with advisement of Sleeprider FWIW.

Session length is 2:09 under the Min. 8 pressure vs 3:50 on 6 Min. So I'm inclined to say that lowering to 6 had to increase comfort OR you're getting more comfortable with PAP therapy. A possibility anyway. And if Min. pressure of 6 is more comfortable than 8, I'm all in on maximizing your comfort.

Last observation, mask choice. Would you call yourself a mouth breather? Which of the full face or P10 pillows masks were more comfortable and more likely you'd use consistently nightly? There are those like myself that have eliminated other masks due to mouth leaks and must select a full face. I'll do my broken record of late; look up the Fisher & Paykel mask lineup. I have full face masks called Vitera and Simplus. I grade them from a user standpoint at A++++++ vs ResMed F20 at A. I've not yet used the F&P nasal or pillows, but I'm confident they will rank highly with me if I were to try them.

Another question is do you have in your possession your copies of sleep study and/or the titration? I am guessing not as most do not. I suggest 2 things, follow the suggestions outlined by the guru Sleeprider and 2 get those reports for your own personal health file data and to post redacted full multi-paged report(s) here. We are data driven in many ways. OSCAR and sleep study data help us measure the success and progress. AND your feedback of symptoms and complaints will complete the story and help us suggest measures to make PAP therapy a great success story.

That's my opinion and I wish you success. Keep putting forth your fullest effort on PAP and we will help you succeed, but we cannot make you do it. If you quit there's no way you can win. Not a sarcastic statement. Good luck to you.