OSCAR Results, woke up to a stuffy nose

[matty675]

   

Hi guys, I'm 3 weeks into CPAP therapy (AHI of 8). I started with p10 pillows but couldn't continue with it (after about 2 weeks) due to lip flutter, and mouth tape was not working for me. I have settled on a F30i which I find pretty comfortable. I slept for about 6 hours with it last night, which is the longest that I have slept with CPAP to date. I woke up with a stuffy nose and found that I was not getting enough pressure and ripped the mask off around 0300 (too groggy to adjust the pressure I guess). Oddly enough, when I went to bed the pressure felt just fine  as it does every night when I first go to sleep(my auto ramp is set to 4). I find the ramp of 4 allows me to fall asleep more effectively since it's a low and minimally disturbing pressure (the f30i has a pretty hefty vent on the front of the mask which blows a lot of air at higher settings). I would say I am doing "ok", but am trying everything possible to dial things in just right. I was wondering if anything "pops out" to you all that might help with my therapy. Thanks for looking!

[clownbell]

How did you choose the settings of 5-8? Many adults feel air-starved at 5 and 6. Some feel starved at 8, which may perhaps explain why you rip the mask off in the mornings.

You have EPR off. This may make it difficult for you to exhale. Given your flow limits, I would suggest EPR=3 full time. EPR is the front-line strategy to deal with flow limits.

You don't need ramp at such low pressures. During ramp, you are not receiving therapy. Turn the ramp off.

I see your AHI is low at present settings. The thing is -- if the min is higher, that could preclude hypopneas from happening in the first place. Because the machine's lowest setting is 4, EPR of 3 can fully work only if the minimum pressure is 7. All things considered, if it were me, I would increase minimum from 5 to 6 for a couple days and then increase from 6 to 7.

With regard to the stuffy nose -- assuming you have no structural nasal problems like a deviated septum, most users find the stuffy nose is because humidity is too low. You can raise it a notch or two and see what happens. Of course, there a few people who would need less humidity if their nose is stuffy. Humans are not entirely exactly alike. Experiment a bit.

It's not all about the numbers. It's also about how you feel. 

Please know I am NOT an expert. Until one comes along, these are a few things to consider.

[Psychotech]

increase min pressure to 7 and max to 14, epr-2, humidifier according to your comfort, try this setting for three nights post results
if you feels 7 is uncomfortable turn on ramp, set ramp preassure to 5 for 15min

[matty675]

Thanks for all of the advice. I have increased minimum pressure to 7 and turned on EPR. I set the max at 8 previously because my 95% was usually right around 8 or a little under, and as a new user I found myself very sensitive to small increases in pressure, especially considering the high amount of air that is vented from the front of the f30i (I’ll just need to get used to that)

[kaulny]

Is the stuffed nose just due to pressure or humidity settings? If you're using the humidifier, you could try playing around with the humidity. For me, a higher setting introduces a 'wet' feeling into the air and causes my nose to get clogged up, lower settings work better for me.

[matty675]

   
Here is my 1st night with adjusted settings. The only reason I removed my mask at 0330 was because the CPAP itself has started making a weird whistling noise and I couldn't fall back asleep with it on. What do you all think of the adjustments that were made?

[matty675]

   
Here is night 2. Thanks all!

[matty675]

Any recommendations?

[Crimson Nape]

It looks pretty good! If your numbers remain this low, your emphasis should be directed toward of how you feel.

- Red

[matty675]

   
I consciously ripped the mask off at around 1130 last night. I can't remember exactly why, but I do remember trying to sleep on my back for a bit as I'm normally a stomach sleeper and find stomach sleeping uncomfortable with the mask on. I checked the OSCAR report just now, and I found all of these clear airway events. Any idea what happened? The only changes that I made as of last night was a climate line tube using a humidity of 8 and air temp of 82*F, and I also increased minimum pressure to keep me from feeling air starved.