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Back sleeping
#1
Back sleeping
Last night I fell asleep about 11:00pm and slept straight thru till 3:at which time I woke up to go to the bathroom. As a matter of habit I looked at my AHI score and found it to be 0.60 which is pretty good for me. I fell back asleep in about 5 minutes and slept fitfully till about 7:00am- I realized I had been sleeping in my back and I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when I checked again and it was 3.75. I fell back asleep again for another hour and made sure I slept on my side and the number, as I had expected, came down to 3.20. When I checked my sleepyhead software report I had 17 osa’s from 3:30am till 7:00am. 

What I do not understand is that even though I realize that sleeping on my back is not good, why doesn’t the machine ( auto cpap)adjust the pressure to stop that amount of osa’s from happening?

Thank you!
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#2
RE: Back sleeping
The Philips Respironics Auto machines are notoriously slow to adjust pressure ahead of events. In addition, if your sleep is fitful or disrupted, more apnea are likely anyway. Sleeping on your back is not that bad as long as your minimum pressure is adequate, or your use a soft cervical collar to prevent mis-alignment of the head and neck. You are using a pretty wide range of pressure form 9.5-18, and your answer really lies in knowing what pressure is needed to prevent OA and H events in all sleeping positions.
Sleeprider
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#3
RE: Back sleeping
Thanks for your reply- do you mean that I need a higher minimum pressure or do I need a tighter range
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#4
RE: Back sleeping
I would not suggest a change based on a partial night of poor results or disrupted sleep. We need to make decisions based on longer-term trends. If we were making a decision only based on the latter half of the night, a higher minimum pressure would be the solution; but you did fine at least half the night. I presume that was not typical for you?
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com

____________________________________________
Download OSCAR Software
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing Therapy
Organize your OSCAR Charts
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How To Deal With Equipment Supplier


INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#5
RE: Back sleeping
No it was not but my results have been much more variable over the past 2 months or so- I have tried using a full face mask but I have never achieved the results that I have gotten with the Dreamwear nasal cushion with mouth taping. 

As you said, I guess I should re-evaluate based on some longer term trends. Thanks for your help!
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#6
RE: Back sleeping
It's not uncommon for a FFM to require higher pressure than nasal therapy due to the higher volume of the interface. There is no harm in trying a 1-cm increase in minimum pressure and seeing if the results improve. All we know from your post above is your settings. If your pressure needs to be higher, you probably can see it in the median and 90% pressure statistics...or post a chart. We will be glad to let you know what we see there.
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com

____________________________________________
Download OSCAR Software
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing Therapy
Organize your OSCAR Charts
Attaching Files
Mask Primer
How To Deal With Equipment Supplier


INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#7
RE: Back sleeping
I did check those pressures- my 90% was 12.20 and the max was 15.20- does that tell you anything?

Thanks!
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#8
RE: Back sleeping
Yes, I would move minimum pressure to 10.5 for now to bring minimum pressure closer to your therapeutic median and 90%. Particularly with the Philips machine, it's important to optimize minimum pressure. This would be consistent with the switch from the nasal mask to a FFM and hopefully gives you just enough more stability that your results can improve, particularly if you are on your back.
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com

____________________________________________
Download OSCAR Software
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing Therapy
Organize your OSCAR Charts
Attaching Files
Mask Primer
How To Deal With Equipment Supplier


INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#9
RE: Back sleeping
(10-30-2017, 09:10 AM)Sleeprider Wrote: Yes, I would move minimum pressure to 10.5 for now to bring minimum pressure closer to your therapeutic median and 90%.  Particularly with the Philips machine, it's important to optimize minimum pressure.  This would be consistent with the switch from the nasal mask to a FFM and hopefully gives you just enough more stability that your results can improve, particularly if you are on your back.

I would agree, the closer the pressure on LOW is to what you need the better.
At least that is what I have always found since I started playing with settings on my machines.
I find if it is set to 2 below what you normally need, you should get lees events.

I am at 10 and I need 11.7 normally, I have even had 0.0 with this setting.
My biggest problem is when I knock the mask (pillows) off Rolleyes
I am NOT a doctor.  I try to help, but do not take what I say as medical advice.


Every journey, however large or small starts with the first step.

Sleep-well
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#10
RE: Back sleeping
Again, Thanks very much! I did move the pressure up last night to 10.0 and also managed to stay on my side much of the night. My AHI seemed to reflect both of those changes as it showed a .30 for the night- very good, I think?

I am wondering, since I am a mouth breather because of a history of nasal congestion as well as moderate asthma, would it benefit me when using a FFM to continue to tape my mouth? What I presently do with the Nasal mask is that I wear a SomnoDent Classic mouthpiece, tape my mouth and also I have started using the Hannibal chin strap- It's quite a sight but if I can continue to get these type of results it is worth it.
As I mentioned previously, when I use the FFM, the results are never as good- it would be nice to use it periodically- particularly when I have a bad cold which I had several weeks ago.
Would wearing the mouthpiece and taping be ok with a FFM?

Thanks again!
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