Pressure keeps going up but higher AHI?!

[AshSF]

Sleepygirl84: you mentioned in one of your posts that you are a thin 32 yr old.

Have you tried any nasal pillow mask?

For thin people, a lot of times, the apnea is caused by the geometry of the upper airway: nose and nasopharynx. A nasal pillow mask addresses these issues more effectively than a full face mask.

I started out with an FFM thinking that I am a mouth breather and can't breathe from my nose at all; and my pressures would rise up to 14cm on auto. Since I switched to a nasal pillow mask, my pressure barely budged from 8cm baseline so now I sleep on fixed 8. And my leak rate is zero most nights.

Something you may want to try.

[Sleepygirl84]

Sorry for the late reply guys!

Thanks for the encouragement PoolQ! that has helped describing the terms for me.

It does become hard I think the lack of sleep over many years starts to take its toll.

Has anyone else here found that after many of years of sleep apnea that they find their brain is deteriorating as in they cant think straight or describe things properly?

I will try and upload the last couple of nights for you to see my results and I think I will try and manually change my cpap to what people think might help.

Hi AshSF.

Thanks for your input. When I first trialed cpap I used a nasal mask, but unfortunately I open my mouth when I sleep. Its the way my upper and lower jaw is situated that when i fall asleep and everything relaxes it just falls to the back of my throat. I did try to use a head strap but this didnt help.

I hope when I re do my sleep test that they can give me better idea on what to do.

[Gideon]

Thanks for your input. When I first trialed cpap I used a nasal mask, but unfortunately I open my mouth when I sleep. Its the way my upper and lower jaw is situated that when i fall asleep and everything relaxes it just falls to the back of my throat. I did try to use a head strap but this didnt help.

I hope when I re do my sleep test that they can give me better idea on what to do.

Read the Mask Primer in my signature.  There are many ways to solve the mouth breathing issue.  I use nasal pillows (P10) and tape my lips,  others use a soft collar to support the chin.

[Sleepygirl84]

I am going to upload my different screen shots of the last few nights. It will show how many inconsistency's are happening with each sleep.

---

2nd one

[Sleepygirl84]

http://imgur.com/a/cLiln

---

http://imgur.com/a/7wC3A

---

http://imgur.com/a/YdsW9

---

http://imgur.com/a/Ybgk8

---

http://imgur.com/a/893uL

[Sleepygirl84]

http://imgur.com/a/azKH3

[Sleepygirl84]

As a site note even on the days that I am hovering around the 9 or 10 AHI a night I am still feeling absolutely shocking.
I feel almost as tired as the nights that I sometimes go without it all together.

My next sleep test isn't until 3 weeks away and I am struggling to get to work some days because I just cant wake up and all I want to do is sleep everyday.

With the advice and help from you all I am willing to try and change the pressures myself if you can see what I should do but keep in mind that I am a little behind the 8 ball in understanding and comprehending it all through the computer. So I will try my absolute best.

Does anyone else here who has suffered with this horrible condition feel like over the years with having sleep apnea that your brain is slowly loosing its memory? I know this is a one of the iussue's if you don't use cpap, but wondering if anyone else feels the same way.

I cant think as clearly as i did when I was in my 20's I feel like each year I am becoming dumb and dumber.

i hope someone here can help

[Sleeprider]

Well it's up to you. You have an auto CPAP and are sitting there with fixed CPAP pressure at 11.0 with abundant obstructive apnea events. If you're ready to do something, then change to auto mode, and make your minimum pressure 10, and maximum pressure 15 for now. There may be something more complex going on here since the apnea types appear mixed, but you need to try the auto CPAP pressures, and if that doesn't work out, consider talking with the doctor. This can be fixed.

[Sleepygirl84]

Thanks Sleepyhead.

How do I change it to what you suggest I can the new settings out tonight.

[Sleeprider]

NOT Sleepyhead...I'm a rider.

Learn how to access your therapy settings: http://www.apneaboard.com/dreamstation-c...structions

Once in the therapy settings, change CPAP to AUTO.
Set minimum pressure 10
Set maximum pressure 15
Exit.

That will put your machine in auto mode so it can respond to cahnges and help reduce this AHI. Your results are pretty awful right now, and auto may help.