Shadowknight - Therapy Analysis

[Shadowknight]

I just realized I "enabled" EPR, but it just showed the settings, EPR itself was not set to full. I will have set it to "full" and will see how it goes tonight.

[Deborah K.]

Good catch. That should help. Also, set it to 3. I see that on the 12th you had a lot of positional apnea. Was that before you wore a cervical neck collar? If so, it's okay, but if that was with a neck collar you need I higher one.

[Shadowknight]

I see a couple of issues that are causing you problems.  Your beginning pressure is too low for most adults, leaving folks feeling a bit air-starved.  I suggest that you raise it to 7.  I can't see your flow limits but I bet they are high.  Turn EPR on full-time, set at 3.  Those changes should improve your therapy and your comfort.

You have another problem that cannot be fixed by settings.  You have positional apnea which shows up when OAs and/or hypopneas are clustered together on your chart.  This means that your chin is dropping towards your chest causing something similar to a hose that is kinked and does not allow air to flow freely.  Most people find that wearing a soft cervical collar solves this problem.  When I used one the Caldera Releaf Collar worked and was the most comfortable by far.  You can try using a flat pillow to see if this solves it first.  Others use special pillows that can solve it, but not what you see advertised as CPAP pillows.  They are too high to help with positional apnea.  I use a child-sized pillow that is flatter and has a raised front edge that keeps my head tipped slightly back and it solves PA for me.  Good luck!  

I'm still having issues sleeping longer than 4-5.5 hours with using EPR at 3 and a minimum pressure of 7... I've been using two pillows to put my head on, with my head positioned at a slight angle to rest me jaw on the cervical collar so my jaw doesn't drop... Are you saying I'd have a better result using a single, flat pillow? Wanted to be sure before buying another. I've also added in charts from last night, in case that can add some additional insight.