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First night on autopap (central apneas)
#71
RE: First night on autopap (central apneas)
You wouldn't be the first to drive yourself nuts with this stuff. You'd be amazed how much better it gets once you only check every week. Don't sweat the details, it's just sleep. You're treated now and it gets better from here. Give it time.
Sleeprider
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#72
RE: First night on autopap (central apneas)
(03-03-2017, 10:18 PM)JohnnyGobbs Wrote: Guys thanks for all the feedback. Last night was definitely not a normal night. I would fall asleep, dream for a second, gasp for air and pull my mask off etc. Definitely lots of panic/adrenaline going on.

My theory is that the brain is the cause, here. If you're like me, your body has spent decades coping with obstructive sleep apnea. Your brain has been conditioned to wake you up repeatedly as soon as you fall asleep. It responds to the low-oxygen "alarm" and has been conditioned to do so repeatedly. The alarm doesn't go off now because the oxygen level stays high because the CPAP machine keeps the airway open, but your brain hasn't quite caught on to these new circumstances. It keeps expecting the alarm to go off and when it doesn't it wakes you up anyway.

Give it time. You will adapt. And you will adapt faster if you don't change settings too often. Just make sure you always wear the mask whenever you sleep, all the time you're sleeping, and let nature take its course.
Sleepster

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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#73
RE: First night on autopap (central apneas)
(03-03-2017, 01:40 PM)JohnnyGobbs Wrote: The ramp is always at 4. I started at min 5 and you said to go to 6. So now back to 5?

(03-03-2017, 10:18 PM)JohnnyGobbs Wrote: I would fall asleep, dream for a second, gasp for air and pull my mask off etc. Definitely lots of panic/adrenaline going on.

I think my anxiety just finally subsided. My best night ever though was with apap 6min 18max pressure and epr 1 so that's why I switched. The fixed 8 pressure zero epr also has worked well too.

Caveat Emptor: I am only a month and a half into this myself, so I'm a newbie...

I wonder if you need a higher starting pressure for falling asleep.  When I had a fixed pressure of 5, and especially when I was using the ramp (which would start me at 4), I had the same experience that you're describing: I felt anxious trying to fall asleep, I would gasp for air, I would intentionally mouth breath for a few deep breaths, etc.  I finally realized that I just was not getting enough air.  Moving my starting pressure to 6 (and not even bothering with the ramp) completely resolved that. 

Dancing

BTW I'm very similar to you, too.  I want to tweak tweak tweak to get the right setting.  Waiting a week feels like forever!  But now that I've been on it for almost a couple months, and especially since my access to my laptop with Sleepyhead is limited (others in my household use it, and sometimes leave it away from home for several days at a time), I'm only checking my data once a week or so, and that's been nice to not over-think it (as much). 

Sorry to hear of all of your chaos going on.  I don't know what you've got going on, but I've got the {weird living spaces, drinking lots of alcohol, and dealing with lots of stress} going on, too, while trying to get used to this whole breathe-through-a-mask-while-you-sleep thing.  But hey, better treating our apnea than not!
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#74
RE: First night on autopap (central apneas)
Thx for the wisdom and encouragement guys.

Somewhat reassuring was yesterday in the afternoon, I was thinking about watching a movie and possibly nappping so I threw on the mask and watched the movie but didn't nap at all. I pulled the data and there was like 20 clear airways over the 2 hr period. I'm going to disregard them in the beginning and end of my sleep and just worry about the middle when I know I'm actually asleep.
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#75
RE: First night on autopap (central apneas)
Hey guys,

Here's the last 3 nights. For the last week I've had my range at Auto ramp 5. Min 6 Max 12 EPR1 (only cause the best night I've ever recorded was at this setting but I haven't been able to replicate it). The settings seem okay though overall, I guess. What do you guys think? My main thing i'm noticing now are the leaks as they wake me up etc. About a week ago I switched from the med to large pillows as the large was way more comfortable for airflow and comfort (I'm probably in-between sizes). Are these leaks considered large? I've changed my hose position to over my headboard hoping it would fix it but it is what it is. 

http://imgur.com/a/rGs1t

http://imgur.com/a/JqJho

http://imgur.com/a/et1vV
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