Intro and questions

[retired_guy]

WX, you do not want to wait until your appointment. Call your DME and Doc now. You have an Aircurve machine, so it should be perfectly capable of taking care of you. But do not wait. Do it now.

[retired_guy]

On re-reading your sidebar, they may need to swap your machine for an Aircurve ASV. But call them now and get the process started.

It is not acceptable for you to hang out with CA's in the mid 30's.

[wxmcpo]

WX, you do not want to wait until your appointment. Call your DME and Doc now. You have an Aircurve machine, so it should be perfectly capable of taking care of you. But do not wait. Do it now.

Thanks for the advice I may give her a call on Monday. I have been able to get into the super secret menu where I could actually change the settings myself, but am hesitant to and the reason why is I am active duty military and this will eventually be a part of my disability rating when I retire from the military next year so I want the docs to be able to properly read the information and tell me what I need to do.

It's weird because although my CA events and AHI are still really high I feel better these last three days. I think part of it is I am getting the mask dialed in and getting more comfortable with it. I just need to find the right adjustment for it so it fits a little more comfortably without leaving marks on my face.

[quiescence at last]

And the duration of each of your CAs may have gotten shorter, which means your TTIA (total time in apnea) has probably reduced. This may have something to do with you feeling better. Your Sleepyhead overview tab should show that measure and how it has been changing.

Based on RG's comments, I re-read [commercial DME link removed, please go to Supplier #1 product page for the Aircurve 10 vauto-bilevel] and it seems to suggest the machine senses your pattern of inhales and exhales and does make some adjustments in pressure in order to help. It may be that those adjustments it is making have caused your brain to rebel. This looked way too squirrel-ly to be only therapy-induced, but your numbers may gradually get better as you get used to the machine. That would be great news.

If you are getting AHI consistently below 20, you are still going to make progress, so keep it up!

Let us know what the doc says.

QAL

-----
Moderator Action: Link Removed

To maintain our status as an educational organization, the only commercial links allowed in this forum are to CPAP-related manufacturer websites. This is stated in the Apnea Board Rules with details given in the Commercial Links Policy section.

-----

[wxmcpo]

If you are getting AHI consistently below 20, you are still going to make progress, so keep it up!

I had one night where my AHI was below 10 and then right back up in the 20's. Last three nights it has been 23.71, 27.15 & 22.62. Can't wait to get this figured out.

[wxmcpo]

And then I had my best night last night. AHI was down to 8.0. Not understanding how it fluctuates so much. Anyone else experience these type of number changes?

[quiescence at last]

dunno. positional apnea (where you may have worse apnea on your back or one side) may be one reason. less pollen blowing around, or nights you shower before bed, may be a factor. some sufferers have worse episodes trying to get into REM sleep, and those nights when the brain wants to favor REM sleep would have higher AHI. amount of exercise or amount of stress that day could affect the sleep. food types - high AHI from spicy foods or big sugary desserts.

But, glad you are getting a few better nights, and that you are feeling rested.

QAL

[retired_guy]

Chief, you can keep bouncing around, or you can get with your docs to get the settings you need on this machine. You're not doing too badly, but it could be a lot better for you. The variances you notice probably are differences in sleeping positions, so you should be able to minimize them by raising the head of your bed, or avoiding back sleeping. But in the end, if you will get your machine adjusted properly I think all of this silliness will be resolved.

[wxmcpo]

So I had my follow-up with my doctor and she adjusted my machine from a set 9 over 5 pressure to VAUTO. She said she didn't understand why when they put the mask on me during my sleep study it worked, but it doesn't seem to be working for me at home. After one month of being on BiPAP my AHI averaged 22.2 with a low of 8 and a high of 44.6.

Anybody else just on auto for a pressure setting? If so how is it working out for you? Thanks

[drgrimes]

Sad thing is that the getting used to CPAP process is trial and error for most of us. My doctor was of little help about mask problems or hardly anything else. My DME was more help because he is a CPAP user himself.

You will have to experiment with varying mask tightness. I think the tendency is to over tighten. It should be slightly loose until the pressure inflates the mask. Should not be so tight that it hurts or leaves indentions.

The other big factor for me was mouth breathing. That screws everything up whether you are using full face or nasal pillows. I use a pad between my chin and face because i could not tolerate one more strap on my face.

Be patient, don't get discouraged. With the help of others it will finally work for you. There were some night that i tore my mask off in anger and threw it on the floor, followed with obscene amounts of cursing. It's sad that this process has to be so much trial and error. The error part can be painful. You will be happy when this phase is passed. It's a bit like boot camp.