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+--- Thread: [CPAP] alieser - Therapy Thread (new user) (/Thread-CPAP-alieser-Therapy-Thread-new-user)
alieser - Therapy Thread (new user) - alieser - 12-17-2024
Hi everyone,
I've started using CPAP (Airsense 10) around 3 weeks ago, for the first time in my life.
I haven't gotten a sleep test, but I can easily self-diagnose as I sleep terribly, snore a lot, wake up tired and lethargic etc.
Every day I've tried to improve on some aspect of the treatment but after 20 days or so, I've gotten stuck at this current point, so I'm looking for ways to improve my treatment.
I use Airsense 10 with AirFit F40 full face mask, and since I have a deviated septum and allergy problems as well, I do nasal rinses and nasal sprays before bed, also take Zyrtec and tape my mouth shut, which help pretty well in preventing mouth breathing. But still I can tell that my jaw drops and this sometimes causes leaks as the mask seal gets broken.
I'm considering getting a chin strap and maybe trying another mask, either an AirFit N20 or AirFit N30, both being purely nasal masks to maybe my jaw opening won't be an issue with leaks.
I bought a soft cervical collar from the advice I've read on this forum's wiki, but that was the single worst night I had, I wasn't able to sleep until 6AM because of discomfort, even though I bought a large size cervical collar and loosened it all the way possible. I might try another cervical collar as I suspect the one I bought cheaply off amazon could be a low quality and firm one, since it sounds like these things help a lot of people (and I can testify it prevented my jaw from dropping, but alas it was too uncomfortable).
I usually sleep on my back, sometimes on my side. I would prefer sleeping on my side but I find that sometimes the pillow puts pressure on the mask and the seal gets broken and causes some leaks, so I try to sleep on my back, usually with 2 pillows to create a soft incline as that helps with my nose opening up.
I think that's all the relevant info for now, hoping to hear some advice on how I can improve my treatment and maybe reach sub 1.0 AHI. My sleep is better compared to no-CPAP, but I still wake up during the night and I feel like I'm missing on some deep rem sleep. There were 2-3 nights where I slept like I was dead and never woke up once, and those were possibly some of the best sleep I got in my life, so I'm trying to have more of those nights.
Attached are the last 2 nights from OSCAR, please let me know if I've left important data out of the screenshot. On 16 Dec, there were very little leaks, which is a bit out of the ordinary for me. The leaks on 15 Dec is more around the usual amount.
Cheers!
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