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[Symptoms] Gasping for air at wake up
#11
RE: Gasping for air at wake up
(02-25-2014, 06:31 PM)me50 Wrote: FYI: I never saw a sleep doc on a consistent basis...I didn't even have one when I got my first sleep study. I was given a machine and a mask and turned loose. If only I knew then what I have learned from this forum...life would have been a lot better with my therapy.

I feel ya! I know a doctor was involved at some point, but I never met them. My HMO sent people to this general "class" and you go home with a home study "kit". Now bear in mind that was back in the late 1990s and I'm sure things have changed. Once they looked at the results you were sent to another "class" at the DME where they handed you a machine and a mask. They did not fit it per person, they showed you how to put it on, and they sent you out the door. I don't want anything to do with them now because I have been solely responsible for my own treatment for so many years. I just call the DME department when I need a new mask or something and they send a note to the fulfillment folks. I don't even go in for a fitting or anything, they just mail it to my house. In fairness that was my choice because the fulfillment folks are HORRIBLE! I find ways around prescriptions by ordering "parts" and such so if I need something and don't want to deal with DME, I just do it on my own!
As always, YMMV! You do not have to agree or disagree, I am not a professional so my mental meanderings are simply recollections of things from my own life.

PRS1 - Auto - A-Flex x2 - 12.50 - 20 - Humid x2 - Swift FX
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#12
RE: Gasping for air at wake up
I'm not a doctor, I'm new to this whole apnea treatment thing, so please don't think my opinion is informed by the amount of experience many here have.

I was gasping for air when I woke up; turned up the minimum pressure on the auto cpap machine and that did the trick.

I don't believe in the numbers generated by my cpap machine. It's a high end machine and can't even keep time. When you think about it, you realize that the machine has absolutely no way of knowing how much of the air it's pushing is reaching your lungs. There are mask issues, etc.

I purchased a recording pulse oximeter - read about it on this board. It records the blood oxygen saturation and pulse rate. This gives an actual record of the efficacy of the treatment, not the product of an algorithm programmed into a machine. Set me back a few dollars but the peace of mind, and actual data, is well worth it IMO. YMMV.

Of course, consulting a physician as other members recommended is never a bad idea. You can even bring along the results from the pulse oximeter when you go for a consultation.

Best of luck!

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#13
RE: Gasping for air at wake up
Welcome robofthreelittles, hope you have found some help so far and will continue to visit forum.

I learnt all I needed from this forum, and that is without a word of a lie, and I continue to learn every day.
No one showed me how to set the machine up or put a mask on. I was just basically handed one lot of equipment and they sent me on my way and the other lot arrived from overseas.
Without the help of the good people here I would not have had a clue in hell as to what I was doing.
I think a lot of it is trial and error.
Good luck with the rest of your journey.
Sleep Tight...
Gabby
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#14
RE: Gasping for air at wake up
(02-25-2014, 06:31 PM)me50 Wrote: when you make changes, it sometimes takes a while to adjust to those changes. I recently was put on a VPAP Auto machine and after 30 days, we tried it for a week on a set pressure. I was not happy with the results (I sent the report each night to my RT). Now I am back on VPAP Auto and will, for one week, at the request of my RT, send a report each night.

Even though my AHI was below 5, it was a whole lot higher than it was on the auto setting and the events were a lot and one right after the other. To me, even though it was under 5 (one night, it was close to 5), I suspected not having the auto pressure that could go higher if it was needed and not having the lower EPAP, that came in to me having more AHI's.

We will see what the next week brings.

I said all of this to say that give your body and you a chance to adjust to the new mask and for sure talk with your doc about your symptoms.

For almost 3 years I was using a Quattro FX ffm and was not having good results. Almost immediately after I got a nasal mask, I had a lot of improvement. I will get there and so will you. The main thing is to not give up and stay with your machine.

FYI: I never saw a sleep doc on a consistent basis...I didn't even have one when I got my first sleep study. I was given a machine and a mask and turned loose. If only I knew then what I have learned from this forum...life would have been a lot better with my therapy.

Yeah, I was finally titrated correctly after several years using the Quattro nasal mask. I couldn't believe the difference it made. BUT, I still tore it off in the middle of the night, likely because I was trying to mouth breath. The full face mask is very comfortable. I even kind of like firing it up, so that's a pretty huge difference. My suspicion is that I'm waking up from crazy dreams then tearing it off because of the anxiety. But, I'm going to keep watching it.

Just being able to tolerate the mask for an entire night is a huge adjustment, weird as that sound.

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