[Pressure] Change of bed pillow

[plasticplumber]

I tried a memory foam pillow for the first part of the night last night as this seemed to be shaped in a fashion that was clear of my mask and seemed a possible better option to my usual pillow for sleeping on my side (it is not one of those shaped specially for CPAP). I usually use a hollow fibre synthetic pillow and this memory foam was somewhat firmer than my usual pillow. The use of this pillow ended with me throwing it out of bed at 01.50am after 3hours 20min of sleep. I had woken with a very painful ear on the side I was lying on and although I did not know it at the time my pressure had also climbed to over 10cm and my AHI for the period on that pillow was 3.19 both these figures are well beyond what is now my norm since I lost weight. I returned to my usual pillow and the result for the rest of the night was a maximum pressure of 6cm and an AHI of 1.24 over two periods of sleep and if you discount the Hypopnoea that occur within the first 4minutes of each session when I always seem to create them (holding my breath as I pull my covers and hose into position) the AHI for the first period of 2hours would be 00 and the second period of 2.5 hours would also have been 00. I felt like s__t: when I woke at 06.50 and I remained like that until I went to the Gym and cleared out the cobwebs with a work out. I cannot think of any other reason than the change of pillow for the dramatic results. My usual pressure varies between 4.5 and seven and my AHI is usually around 0.8-1.5 just goes to show what a little change can make. I do not understand the headache as I still had a lot of good sleep on my old pillow and six months ago I would have been used to pressures above 10cm mind you I felt s__t then but possibly due to being new to this. Anyone else experienced something like this this? I am glad I have a data compatible machine or I would not have been able to see this.

Gerry

[PaulaO2]

The leak rate is practically a mirror of the pressure increase. Or vice versa. So it could be as simple as a leak issue. But the leak rate was no where near being over the limit (if I am reading that correctly).

Memory foam is also very hot. The ear problem may be that the ear got overly warm, especially if you slept in the same position up until that point. This is why I cannot use this kind of pillow.

Two possible scenarios. (just thinking aloud)

One is you actually were sleeping so well with this new pillow that we were sleeping deeply and the pressure had to increase in reaction to that. You weren't able to wake up as easily (to open your throat yourself) so the machine had to do it for you. It was like getting the CPAP for the first time.

Two is the pillow put your neck at an odd angle which made the machine think it was partially blocked and it kept increasing the pressure in an attempt to open it. This caused all sorts of fun events to happen until you finally woke up, switched pillows, and went back to sleep like usual.

[plasticplumber]

Thanks for the reply. I used to use this type of pillow before starting on CPAP I just forgot about them when I moved rooms so I really should have tolerated the heat though peoples tolerances do change. The trouble during the night on the 22nd must have damaged the inside of my nose. I had not noticed it during the day but putting on my mask last night hurt and was irritating between my nostrils on the side I was sleeping. I tried to put up with it for a while but eventually gave up and reverted to the Swift FX which sits more on the outside of my nose and has different pressure points but is less comfortable and tends to leak more.

My thoughts now are that as the night went on I possibly sank more into the memory foam pillow increasing pressure on my ear (possibly from the strap) and allowing the mask to come to rest in the pillow putting pressure on my nose. Subconsciously my body may have released what was going on causing more disturbed sleep and as you say tilting my head to a position that obstructed my breathing ether by pressure on the mask or the angle of my throat. We may never know as I do not intend to reproduce the event. Thanks again.