dinojr38 - Therapy Thread

[dinojr38]

Hi, I am on my first week of CPAP treatment and I have been waking up with awful headaches in the middle of the night. I generally get a lot of nasal congestion as I have a deviated septum so my left nasal passage is very narrow and I often struggle to breath through it. For this reason I feel like the pressure from the mask is causing a build of pressure in my sinuses and giving me same type of headache at the front of my head that you get from have one too many drinks the night before. It really sucks and I am trying to figure out how to stop this as I am just feeling worse each morning now that I have started using it. My pressure settings are currently 4 - 20. And I set my humidity to 4. My bedroom temp drops pretty low at night lately since I am on the east coast and I don't run the heat at night. So I am sure I just need to figure out the right settings to alleviate this problem. I am wondering if anybody has any suggestions as to what might be causing this to happen. I appreciate any tips you may have. 

Many thanks!!!

[staceyburke]

You will get much more in help if you supply data.  The data we use is from OSCAR - a completely free download and use from the top of the site.  With that data we can see what might help.  In info you gave makes it hard to help.  With that being said, sometimes the problem with headaches is not enough oxygen being delivered.  You do not show what your min is set at but I need around a min of 9 or I have problems.

[Deborah K.]

I'm sorry you are having headaches.  I can't say what is causing them, but I see one change you can make that will result in better sleep, possibly helping with the headaches too.

Raise your low pressure setting to 7.  4 is a setting for a child, so you are probably feeling air starved.

Please post an Oscar chart.  That will give us way more information so that we can offer better advice.

Again, welcome, and good luck with your new therapy.  It takes adjustment but is more than worth it!  

[G. Szabo]

Indeed, it is a good idea to see your data so we can help you better. 

I had a headache after the nights when my XPAP treatment failed, i.e. when it was littered with obstructions and flow limitations.

The high moisture content mitigates my nasal congestion. I need to use the heated hose at 30 C and the moisture setting at 7 or 8. I also have low temperatures in my room overnight, so I use a double thermal covering on my hose (one for the slimline and one for the standard hose diameter) to prevent condensation and deliver all the moisture feasible into my nose.

[dinojr38]

Thanks for all the helpful input everyone. I am waiting on an SD card to arrive from Amazon and I will be able to upload my sleep data to Oscar then. In the meantime I will adjust my pressure settings as recommended. Thanks for the feedback.

[Sleepster]

Thanks for all the helpful input everyone. I am waiting on an SD card to arrive from Amazon and I will be able to upload my sleep data to Oscar then. In the meantime I will adjust my pressure settings as recommended. Thanks for the feedback.

Are you sure you don't already have a SD card in the machine. They typically come with a card installled.

Meanwhile, get OSCAR installed and learn how to organize your charts and upload them:
https://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph...ganization

I had headaches that went away with CPAP therapy. But recently I had to go 4 nights without CPAP and the headaches immediately returned. So my first suspicion is that you need to adjust your CPAP settings and possibly change to a full face mask because you are still experiencing apneas. But if that's true you have had headaches before you started CPAP therapy.

[dinojr38]

Hi, I did a home WatchPat One test that registered 1.8 AHI per hour over 7 hours. I slept like crap that nights as I found the finger thing that tests oxygen levels super tight and uncomfortable to wear but not sure if that affected test readings as I still managed to get a few hours sleep. My sp02 went down to 86%. I just purchased a Wellue continuous oxygen monitor and have been wearing it for a few nights now and it only dropped below 90% once so not sure what is going on there. My RDI was 12.4 per hour. I generally sleep like crap and very rarely feel rested in the morning, wake up a lot in the middle of the night so sleep apnea would definitely make sense as the root of my ongoing problems with sleep. Just wondering if anybody can comment on these test findings as it seems a little ambiguous to me. Much appreciate any feedback. 

Thanks!

[LuminousOne]

Hello Dino,

It's my understanding that home tests can under-report events and be deemed "inconclusive" due to potentially false negative findings. The usual recommendation when results are ambiguous is to proceed with an in-lab sleep study. 

I hope this helps!

[dinojr38]

Thank you, I am trying to get an in-lab study done over the coming months.

[dinojr38]

Hi, I started CPAP about 6 weeks ago after doing a home sleep test and showing a mild sleep apnea. I am trying CPAP for a few months to see if there is any improvement in my sleep and if there isn't I will get an in-lab sleep study done for further investigation. I am very slowly getting used to sleeping with the mask. It has not been an easy adjustment and I am currently using the Dreamwear full face. I currently have my pressure set to 7-13. I had the standard 4-20 before this but it seems this was way too low to start with and set to high at the max. Honestly I am just going off what I have heard others recommend on forums and have no idea how to actually set my pressure. I haven't been able to sleep longer than 4 hours with my CPAP so far since beginning and the pressure rarely goes higher than 10 according to my Oscar data. I am wondering if anybody can please advise what might be good settings for me to work with? 

Many thanks!!