Side effects of self-inflicted pressure change

[Ugly]

Okay I was given the forbidden tools to go over to the dark side. I changed the pressure of my machine to the average of the past three weeks. Up to 10.2 when it was, since 2005, at 8.0 . After two nights I admit I'm not feeling very rested and have a bit of a headache. I'm wondering if they are related or not. Regardless I'm going to tough it out for a while to see if there really is a benefit to the average reported by the S8 AutoSet.

And I asked this briefly in a previous question - I'll ask again.
If I'm told by my clinician that the doctor has prescribed an official pressure setting, should I tell her that I'll do it or keep letting her think that the knowledge is her little secret?

BTW I don't take the pressure setting lightly. I never would have gotten this far into it if 8.0 was still working for me. I needed a change.

[PaulaO2]

With a brick machine again, you'll need to go longer between changes.

Have you got an oximeter?

[2Tim215]

If you decide to change your settings past what was prescribed I wouldn't have made a 2.2 increase. IF it was me and I felt my needs changed over a long period I might have tried a 9 for at least a few weeks and see how I felt. It would be a good idea to have a professional opinion. Believe me, I know it can be costly and a lot of people haven't had good experiences with some DME's! I feel for you and again I wouldn't have went from 8cm to 10.2cm. Hope it works out well, keep us posted!

[jgjones1972]

And I asked this briefly in a previous question - I'll ask again.
If I'm told by my clinician that the doctor has prescribed an official pressure setting, should I tell her that I'll do it or keep letting her think that the knowledge is her little secret?

I wouldn't tell her unless it would save me some money or it was going to be a hassle to have her change the setting. If it was for free and convenient then I would let her do it and let her continue to believe she is the keeper of the super double secret forbidden knowledge.

[JudgeMental]

Hey UGLY...gee, that hurts to call another man ugly.

Since "knowledge is power", I wouldn't overload her system with any more then she already has.

I'm with 2Tim, in that I think you might just tweek one pressure number at a time. Hold that number for a week or two. Sometimes thats hard to do when we think we need to "goose it" a bit. But, patience is a virture.
We are in this for the long run anyway. Hope your increase helps. Its rotten to feel rotten.

Be careful...The CPAP Police monitor this site occassionally for ""unauthorized"" pressure changes.

[Ugly]

If you decide to change your settings past what was prescribed I wouldn't have made a 2.2 increase. IF it was me and I felt my needs changed over a long period I might have tried a 9 for at least a few weeks and see how I felt. It would be a good idea to have a professional opinion. Believe me, I know it can be costly and a lot of people haven't had good experiences with some DME's! I feel for you and again I wouldn't have went from 8cm to 10.2cm. Hope it works out well, keep us posted!

Why would I have made such a jump? It was the average reading. I feel I've been way off for so long. But I'll monitor how I feel over the next few days.

---

Hey UGLY...gee, that hurts to call another man ugly.

Since "knowledge is power", I wouldn't overload her system with any more then she already has.

I'm with 2Tim, in that I think you might just tweek one pressure number at a time. Hold that number for a week or two. Sometimes thats hard to do when we think we need to "goose it" a bit. But, patience is a virture.
We are in this for the long run anyway. Hope your increase helps. Its rotten to feel rotten.

Be careful...The CPAP Police monitor this site occassionally for ""unauthorized"" pressure changes.

Actually it may be worth a reconsideration. After all. I could go halfway to 9.1 and I still won't be worse off than I was at the standard 8.0. I'll check that out tonight. Might be worth it unless I actually feel worse for it.

[2Tim215]

Okay I was given the forbidden tools to go over to the dark side. I changed the pressure of my machine to the average of the past three weeks. Up to 10.2 when it was, since 2005, at 8.0 . After two nights I admit I'm not feeling very rested and have a bit of a headache. I'm wondering if they are related or not. Regardless I'm going to tough it out for a while to see if there really is a benefit to the average reported by the S8 AutoSet.

And I asked this briefly in a previous question - I'll ask again.
If I'm told by my clinician that the doctor has prescribed an official pressure setting, should I tell her that I'll do it or keep letting her think that the knowledge is her little secret?

BTW I don't take the pressure setting lightly. I never would have gotten this far into it if 8.0 was still working for me. I needed a change.

Considering the way you were feeling if you did decide to increase I would think safest is to go 1cm at a time. That is what most sleep studies do for incremental pressure adjustments until they believe they landed at the right setting. I did see you mentioned your average but also had some issues that may or may not be related. Process of elimination should help determine what the culprit is for the headaches and not feeling very rested. I'm learning too, just hoping you are feeling better!

[PaulaO2]

But then, on the flip side, each time my doc increased my pressure, it was by 2 points. Both based solely on guesses. Both also resulted in air in stomach and headaches for the first week or so.

"They" tell us to make slow increases yet they don't follow their own advice.

However, in most cases, especially when messing with our pressures ourselves, increases in pressure should truly be done in slower jumps of either half or a whole point. Why? Because we're smarter than "they" are. Too big a jump (like 2) introduces too many variables and questions. By going slow, we're decreasing the risk of air (I can never spell that word for it!) in our guts as well as decreasing the variables in the data.

[SuperSleeper]

By going slow, we're decreasing the risk of air (I can never spell that word for it!) in our guts as well as decreasing the variables in the data.

It's Aerophagia, and I can never remember it either.

[Ugly]

But then, on the flip side, each time my doc increased my pressure, it was by 2 points. Both based solely on guesses. Both also resulted in air in stomach and headaches for the first week or so.

"They" tell us to make slow increases yet they don't follow their own advice.

However, in most cases, especially when messing with our pressures ourselves, increases in pressure should truly be done in slower jumps of either half or a whole point. Why? Because we're smarter than "they" are. Too big a jump (like 2) introduces too many variables and questions. By going slow, we're decreasing the risk of air (I can never spell that word for it!) in our guts as well as decreasing the variables in the data.

Thanks to the replies. It may be helpful for the time being to at least cut the increase in half from 10.2 to 9.2 since, as I just learned, the increments appear to only be allowed in even amounts. If I can manage without snoring and/or gasping for air I guess it will make do until I get a "professional" response. Much appreciated.