History. I'd been a loud snorer, but very sound sleeper for years, disturbing only my wife. Following a sudden and otherwise unexplained jump in my blood pressure a year ago, my MD started sleuthing for possible causes and the snoring was a red flag. Screening, followed by lab test confirmed AHI of 34. I should mention that I wear a mouth guard to protect against teeth grinding; have done so for 5+ years, and that does not disrupt my sleep pattern.
Treatment and Tribulation. I was prescribed Philips Dream Machine with heated tube/humidifier, variable pressure set 4-16. I began with F&P Simplus mask under the assumption (I really wasn't sure) that I was a mouth breather. I am a side sleeper, and the Simplus mask got dislodged quite a bit. After considerable struggle and experimentation, I switched to nasal types and found that I did not have mouth leakage (Yay! I thought....). But the various masks I tried continued to dislodge during my sleep. And so while my AHI was reliably in the 4-6 range, I was still NOT getting what I considered a decent night's sleep; had great difficulty falling asleep (never a problem in my prior 60 years), and found myself needing to stay in bed 8-9 hours, where I previously (to CPAP) had been fine with 7-8 hours.
I have switched to ResMed P10 mask and .... AHI drops to 3-4.5, mask stays solid on my face, rarely dislodges, leakage stats great,and the mask is quieter than any of the others I had tried. Everything's perfect .... except I still have great difficulty falling asleep, wake up frequently during the night, and need to stay in bed longer to feel rested.
I should also mention I've been practicing good sleep hygiene - no late screen time, practice meditation & Taoist longevity breathing....and otherwise don't have a lot of stress in my life.
In short, I've tried just about everything I can think of, and still not getting a good night's sleep compared to what I "enjoyed" with an AHI of 34.
Questions. I'm a newbie here, and delighted to find the wealth of practical advice. Wish I had found this Forum months ago. For now, I am wondering:
- Any advice of other things I can/should be trying with the CPAP?
- Have other folks confronted this "ready to try oral appliance?" question? How do you know it's time?