Potential UARS BiPAP Advice

[gce799]

Hi,

I am hoping for some advice about my BiPAP settings.

I have issues with tiredness and concentration. I have had two sleep studies, one pulse oximetry and one more with a nasal cannula, microphone and position sensor as well. Neither identified sleep apnoea, but the consultant reviewing the pulse oximetry study thought I might have UARS based on about 50 pulse rises per hour. He suggested a MAD which I want to avoid so I got hold of a used BiPAP machine instead.

I started using the machine about 2-3 months ago and tried setting it based on reading threads on here and had some success in being less tired, however it doesn't seem to have lasted despite keeping the same settings. It virtually eliminates my snoring so at least my wife is happy . I recently got an o2Ring which shows I am still having a lot of pulse rises in the night.

I sleep pretty much exclusively on my side. I'm fairly sure I mouth breath given that I get a very dry mouth so I got the F&P Evora hybrid mask. I've got the humidifier and heated hose.

I've attached the graphs from one night. as well as a zoomed in two minute section.

Can anyone please offer some advise for what settings I should try changing?

[PeaceLoveAndPizza]

I suggest trying the following settings:

Mode VPAPauto
EPAP min 8
IPAP max 14
PS 4
No ramp
Trigger high

You may have too much pressure support, which we will find out after a few nights. You may need to set your trigger to “very high” depending on how things go. One step at a time though.

[gce799]

Thank you for your advice, I'll give it a go. How long should I give it before I report back?

[cjep2000]

Your EPAP is min 8 correct? Maybe try starting with a lower EPAP say 6 and see if that makes a difference?

[HalfAsleep]

Ahem, stick with Peace Love’s settings. They are for a reason.

Sleep 3 or so nights and post two. The whole night. This should tell the settings specialist where to go next. The slice of a night may be needed to advance you, but maybe not. Those come later. Macros before micros.

In general, I have found that you’ll want to stay with Apneaboard monitors, administrators, or advisers for any suggestions about data. Those folks are hand-selected, experienced, and earn their labels with demonstrable skills.

[gce799]

Hi again, thank you for all the replies.

Sorry it's taken me so long, I get anxious about posting on forums and I kept putting it off.

I've attached the most recent two nights using the settings suggested by PeaceLoveAndPizza which I've been using since when you suggested them last month. If anything I feel more tired than I did before I changed the settings.

I've included the graphs from the o2Ring. If they're not useful I'll leave them off in future.

[gce799]

Hi,

Sorry to bump this up, any suggestions based on my screenshots in my last post?

Thanks