[Treatment] Seven weeks of misery - update

[sevenlevels]

Thanks to your help, I achieved my first 4 hour night!

But some new developments with my health plan. They dropped the hospital & doctor I was going to! So, now I have to get a new Sleep Doctor and start afresh?

[sevenlevels]

I have now kept the mask on for eight hours for two nights!

But, looking at ResScan, I am seeing a lot of CA - central apneas, and RERA?

I have been looking through the posts for information. So far, it sounds like increasing the minimum pressure to get it closer to the 95% number might help (to 8.2 from 7.6). And reducing the EPR to 2 from 3 might help with CO2 and oxygenation.

My next Sleep Dr. appt is in August. (insurance snafu).

[green wings]

That is terrific! I went through a lot of struggles with my mask and with adjusting to breathing with the pressure during January and February.

I really feel like getting comfortable with having the mask on your face, getting leaks under control, and finding settings that let you inhale and exhale comfortably are potentially a bigger battle than finding the right settings to control your apnea events well.

It sounds like you've made it through the most difficult psychological and comfort issues.

I have now kept the mask on for eight hours for two nights!
<snip>

[0rangebear]

I have now kept the mask on for eight hours for two nights!

He who that overcomes inherits all things

[Adoniscmj]

I think we have all been there and I am still there nearly a year later. It takes some getting used to that is for sure. I hate CPAP with a passion and have noticed that my apnea may have been caused by TRT therapy and I may not need it now. If I still do then I find that you just need to stick with it and tolerance will increase with time and believe me it takes some people a while to get used to it. I find it a struggle to go more that 3 hours with it myself. I find that I wake up just enough to remove the mask and I never remember doing it. So best advice is to stick with it and don't push so much that you get anxiety. Go slowly and realize it is for your well being. With time your sessions will get longer. I have been on CPAP for almost a year and the most time I have seen so far is 5 hours and that was a fluke as it seems to be more like 3 hours. 3 hours is better than nothing is the way I look at it, but insurance will not pay for it at that rate. Now I found that I don't like heated humid air at all. In fact I like chilled air, so I ice my hose and water. This helps me with anxiety a great deal. You need to figure out what will make it more tolerable for you and try different things until you have something that works for you. Hang in there you will get it, but it takes time.

[sevenlevels]

I went back over my summary data and thought it was interesting to see how the changes showed up in the graphs:

This one shows my seven weeks of misery: crazy AHI/AI numbers, and all kinds of breaks in my sleeping.

[sevenlevels]

And this one shows what happened after implementing some of the ideas like increasing my pressures and starting on sinus solution:
dramatic drop in AHI/AI and more continuous blocks of sleep time!

(note: I cut off the chart before my trip to Vegas!)

[sevenlevels]

Back from Vegas on 4/01 (it takes a little while to get back to normal).

But then around 4/14, I get the Eureka moment! While discussing the Amara View mask with others, I realize how to get a much better fit by putting the main part of the cushion more over my mouth and letting the air pressure inflate the nose piece. (Instead of pushing the mask tightly up under my nose.)

FINALLY, I can sleep through the night. My Total Usage starts increasing, and my AHI is decreasing!

03/11/16-04/13/16 Avg Hrs 5:24 ; AHI 3.6/3.5
04/14/16-04/27/16 Avg Hrs 7:46 ; AHI 2.9/2.6

(Pressures: start 4.6 ; min=7.4 ; Max=12.4 ; epr-3 )

Well that fills up my attachment usage. So, this is my last post here.