Nighty Night!

[Ugly]

So now I sent my loaner APAP back and I'm going back to my S9 tonight. I'm taking the average reading of 10.2 and I'll try that setting tonight, up from my longtime pressure of 8.0. Hopefully it'll get me a better night's sleep. Except I shouldn't be up as late as I am. See y'all tomorrow.

[zonk]

See y'all tomorrow.

[Ugly]

See y'all tomorrow.

Okay. I'm up. I'm up.
Feedback. Let's see.....
I awoke after....
Ah nuts. The data's gone. Let's rev up ResScan.
6.47 hours.
Still quite tired and lay dormant for another hour or two.
Do I feel rested now? No. But nor am I exhausted. As with all experiments I know I'll give this a few days. Weeks. I'm still alive. I survived the dastardly deed of changing the pressure to something more in line with my averages. Of course ResScan shows very little data with this "escape" model but I'm stuck with it until the doctor decides otherwise.

[Ugly]

It doesn't take long to feel defeated. I've had headaches. I've woken up gasping for air and I've been told I still snore and stop breathing while asleep. The pressure of 9.2 seems to really have little effect - and oh these headaches. I admit defeat. I'm defaulting back to 8.0 until I hear from somebody. I really am feeling that things won't get any better. I know it won't help me breathe any better at nights but I hope it will alleviate the headaches at least.

-Ugly Sean

[Sleepster]

It doesn't take long to feel defeated. I've had headaches. I've woken up gasping for air and I've been told I still snore and stop breathing while asleep. The pressure of 9.2 seems to really have little effect - and oh these headaches. I admit defeat. I'm defaulting back to 8.0 until I hear from somebody. I really am feeling that things won't get any better. I know it won't help me breathe any better at nights but I hope it will alleviate the headaches at least.

This is a perfect example of why the ResMed S9 Escape, and all other bricks, suck.

Without data there's no way you can effectively get relief from the symptoms of sleep apnea.

[TheWerkz]

It doesn't take long to feel defeated. I've had headaches. I've woken up gasping for air and I've been told I still snore and stop breathing while asleep. The pressure of 9.2 seems to really have little effect - and oh these headaches. I admit defeat. I'm defaulting back to 8.0 until I hear from somebody. I really am feeling that things won't get any better. I know it won't help me breathe any better at nights but I hope it will alleviate the headaches at least.

-Ugly Sean

Ugly,

In your first post you said you were going to up your pressure to 10.2 cm but in a subsequent post you said you were using 9.2 cm and still experiencing headaches.

The headaches (and gasping for air) are usually indicative of a lack of oxygen as it relates to OSA, so, did you try going up to the average you were getting with the S8 AutoSet - 10.2 cm?

Were you snoring and gasping and waking with headaches when you were on the S8 AutoSet?

For 20+ years I woke-up every morning with headaches and thought there just wasn't a cure until I started using CPAP, I vividly remember my first nights on CPAP 4 1/2 years ago (S8 AutoSet II) and the very first night I only slept for 2 hours but I woke-up, ripped my mask off, figured-out what it was (it wasn't really an octopus on my face) and jumped out of bed for the first time in years without a headache and I was so full of energy I was almost manic, after 4 or 5 nights I was up to 4 hours of sleep but felt like I hadn't felt since I was a child - bursting with energy!

Now, the only time I've woke-up with a headache in the last 4 1/2 years was when I've slept without CPAP, like the 4 days of hell I went through a few months ago when my beloved S8 AutoSet II died and I was scrambling to find another machine I could afford, I finally found my S9 on craigslist and had to drive 180 miles rt feeling like a zombie to get it, that night I slept 11 blissful hours and my morning headache's still haven't returned.

I can only state that this is what works for me but it should stand to reason that you're not getting enough oxygen while you're sleeping, especially if the S8 was delivering an average flow of 10.2 cm and you only set your S9 up to 9.2 cm from the previous setting of 8 cm.

The other possibility is your pillow could be causing your headaches, that's a whole different thing but you're the only one that can determine that, I was on a pillow quest for many many years before I found the one that actually helps my neck not hurt - 13 years ago I opted not to have the neck surgery my doctor wanted to do.

Ren

[Ugly]

Ugly,

In your first post you said you were going to up your pressure to 10.2 cm but in a subsequent post you said you were using 9.2 cm and still experiencing headaches.

People had suggested that the average of 10.2 as calculated during my three weeks on the S8 would be too much of a jump. I took the advice and bumped it down to 9.2 - and yes, the headaches continue and I'm told that I'm still snoring and gagging. It's not helping. So yes I am discouraged and went back to the "prescribed" setting, faulty as it may be, I didn't have the headaches.

The headaches (and gasping for air) are usually indicative of a lack of oxygen as it relates to OSA, so, did you try going up to the average you were getting with the S8 AutoSet - 10.2 cm?

Were you snoring and gasping and waking with headaches when you were on the S8 AutoSet?

Actually I didn't have that trouble with the S8 and the average pressure was gradual increasing most nights.
Nov 16 pressure: 8.4 AHI 5.1
Nov 17 pressure: 11.0 AHI 2.3
Nov 18 pressure: 10.6 AHI 5.3
Nov 19 pressure: 8.8 AHI 4.0
Nov 20 pressure: 10.6 AHI 4.6
Nov 21 pressure: 10.2 AHI 2.5
Nov 22 pressure: 11.2 AHI 5.7
And so on. I see no point in the whole listing.

For 20+ years I woke-up every morning with headaches and thought there just wasn't a cure until I started using CPAP, I vividly remember my first nights on CPAP 4 1/2 years ago (S8 AutoSet II)

An awkward looking thing compared to the S9 line but it worked.
As usual my RT made sure I didn't see the clinician menu settings but apneaboard was helpful there I didn't change any pressure settings in the duration of its use - I just recorded the output. Oh she had a data card that she used to read from the machine but didn't lend it to me. I had to transcribe everything by hand.

and the very first night I only slept for 2 hours but I woke-up, ripped my mask off, figured-out what it was (it wasn't really an octopus on my face) and jumped out of bed for the first time in years without a headache and I was so full of energy I was almost manic, after 4 or 5 nights I was up to 4 hours of sleep but felt like I hadn't felt since I was a child - bursting with energy!

An octopus I think my wife tried it on and found it intimidating, but lucky me, I tried on nasal "pillows" first and found a mask afterwards to be superior, at least in my case. Try something worse and then what you thought was bad isn't so bad after all.
I may have had lots of energy at one time in my initial CPAP trials back in the late 1990s, but I was left to fend for myself. As is typical for the doctor, if he doesn't see a patient for over a year, you're on your own. And you have to be referred (by another doctor) if you want to see him again. Even though I was given an SD card with my S9, nobody is really interested in the results except me. Even my own GP seemed reluctant to refer me again and - as of yet I don't know when the appointment is going to be.

Yet, I may have felt better during the time after I got my CPAP. But over a decade has gone by. It feels that my needs have changed although the pressure delivered has only been changed twice.
Once from 6 to 7. Once from 7 to 8, and with that ancient analog device, it was probably difficult or impossible to really adjust it to anything but the nearest whole number.

I can only state that this is what works for me but it should stand to reason that you're not getting enough oxygen while you're sleeping, especially if the S8 was delivering an average flow of 10.2 cm and you only set your S9 up to 9.2 cm from the previous setting of 8 cm.

Unfortunately 10.2 didn't seem quite right and I listened to the others who suggested that it was quite a jump from my old setting which is why it was short lived and I changed it to -- half way. And finding that it isn't helping me at all - waking up choking, apnea during the night as observed by my wife - it's clear that 9.2 isn't working (I couldn't do 9.1, it seems only to do .2 increments). If my return to 8.0 is worse then it will give me all the more reason to harass the powers that be. I've suggested that the fluctuations I've had (see my list above) could mean that I'm so unstable that I need an AutoSet, but I'm at the mercy of the doctor.

The other possibility is your pillow could be causing your headaches, that's a whole different thing but you're the only one that can determine that, I was on a pillow quest for many many years before I found the one that actually helps my neck not hurt - 13 years ago I opted not to have the neck surgery my doctor wanted to do.

That is something I have never considered. It may be long overdue. Both of my pillows (I've used two pillows ever since a lengthy bout in the hospital where I kept my head elevated) are probably in need of replacement.

Ren

While visions of angry Chihuahuas danced in their heads. "You EEDIOT!"

[Dawei]

Ugly--What got me a Rx for an S9 Autoset from my doc was exactly what you've been experiencing--snoring, continuing apnea and (in your case) headaches on a straight CPAP machine!
I had been using a new S9 Elite (straight CPAP) and both my wife's reports to me as well as the data from the machine were showing that the pressure derived from a recent sleep study was not getting the apnea under control. After trying a couple different pressure settings above the sleep study's pressure, the doc could only think of another sleep study, which I politely refused. Then, I suggested he put me on an autoset, which he did.
The point is that unimproved results from a CPAP machine set to sleep study pressure can result in requesting and getting an APAP prescription.

[Sleepster]

For 20+ years I woke-up every morning with headaches and thought there just wasn't a cure until I started using CPAP,

I too suffered from headaches for over 20 years and thought there was no cure. I tried sinus surgeries and later amitriptylene. It wasn't until I started CPAP therapy a little over a year ago that I started getting some real relief.

I vividly remember my first nights on CPAP 4 1/2 years ago (S8 AutoSet II) and the very first night I only slept for 2 hours but I woke-up, ripped my mask off, figured-out what it was (it wasn't really an octopus on my face) and jumped out of bed for the first time in years without a headache

I was not so lucky. I struggled with CPAP therapy and my improvement was, and still is, slow. But I'm doing so much better now. I still get the headaches but I also get a lot of relief from them. And when I do get a headache I can usually treat the pain with advil, something that never really worked before CPAP therapy.

[Shastzi]

I those of you that are having issues might want to start checking your O2 saturation every night.
If the O2 is good, then the headaches might be something else.
Or maybe the machine has a roach wing caught in a pressure sensor...