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One Week Check-In
#1
One Week Check-In
I'm a week into this process (my original thread is here: http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...ea-Therapy) and thought I'd get some opinions on my numbers and how I'm doing.

SleepyHead from last night:

[Image: LOxgtoul.png]

8 nights stats:
[Image: SG4Pughl.jpg]

Are there any obvious changes I should be making to settings or pressure? The N20 mask is working a lot better for me than the DreamWear, and seems to be sealing nicely. I also seem to be doing better with mouth-breathing, and the numbers look pretty good.

With that said, I'm still waking several times each night. I get back to sleep quickly, but I still don't feel like I'm ever really hitting deep sleep. I'm also still very tired in the mornings and also later in the afternoons. So, the numbers look okay and I'm sleeping better than at the start, but overall am not feeling any better than before the CPAP.
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#2
RE: One Week Check-In
Hi, It most likely won't happen over nite as far as feeling better. Some of us take anywhere from 3 to 6 months sometimes longer. It takes awhile for you body to repair itself from all the damage. So have patience it will improve.
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#3
RE: One Week Check-In
Leave your pressure where it is at for a while.. Right now it's about how you feel.
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#4
RE: One Week Check-In
Hi Esq.,

Your numbers look pretty good, but.....

I believe you could lower the Clear Airway events, which make up a good part of your AHI by setting the EPR to 1 or preferably off.

I would also narrow the pressure range by lowering the Max down to 12cm.
So a range of 8-12 with EPR at 1.

As far as waking up, that is normal for many of us and should settle down as you get used to therapy.  Everything is new, and your not used to having something attached to your face. Smile

Pay attention to your schedule and try to go to bed around the same time each night.  Be sure your room is comfortable and your not too hot or cold, as there could be many reasons that we wake up.  The important thing is you are keeping your mask on and falling back asleep.
OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

_______________________
OSCAR Chart Organization
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Soft Cervical Collar
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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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#5
RE: One Week Check-In
(08-23-2017, 07:29 AM)Gary1of2 Wrote: Hi,  It most likely won't happen over nite as far as feeling better.  Some of us take anywhere from 3 to 6 months sometimes longer. It takes awhile for you body to repair itself from all the damage. So have patience  it will improve.

Good advice. I've read enough to know that for many, it's not an immediate fix and takes some time.

(08-23-2017, 08:54 AM)bonjour Wrote: Leave your pressure where it is at for a while.. Right now it's about how you feel.

(08-23-2017, 08:57 AM)OpalRose Wrote: Hi Esq.,

Your numbers look pretty good, but.....

I believe you could lower the Clear Airway events, which make up a good part of your AHI by setting the EPR to 1 or preferably off.

I would also narrow the pressure range by lowering the Max down to 12cm.
So a range of 8-12 with EPR at 1.

As far as waking up, that is normal for many of us and should settle down as you get used to therapy.  Everything is new, and your not used to having something attached to your face.  Smile

Pay attention to your schedule and try to go to bed around the same time each night.  Be sure your room is comfortable and your not too hot or cold, as there could be many reasons that we wake up.  The important thing is you are keeping your mask on and falling back asleep.

Thanks to both of you. SleepRider suggested lowering EPR last week (and reducing max to 10), so I think I'll go ahead and lower that to 1 and give it a few days. I'll drop max pressure to 12 as well and what that does.
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#6
RE: One Week Check-In
Everything is moving in the right direction, and I agree with the changes you have outlined. Your pressure does not use much of the range you have set, so dialing down maximum pressure will have no effect. Reducing EPR is probably going to help with the number of CA, but they are at a low enough level, that being comfortable counts too. Do what you "feel" is best. Good start!
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
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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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#7
RE: One Week Check-In
I have three nights of data now since lowering max pressure to 12 (from 20) and EPR to 1 (from 2).

8/23:
[Image: EdOfZmbl.png]

8/24:
[Image: zHwJ8Tcl.png]

8/25:

[Image: KurHxpcl.png]

My observations: AHI is perhaps a bit lower, or at least holding steady below 2, but CA's continue to dominate events. I didn't notice any negative change in comfort from lowering EPR, so that's good. I'm still waking up several times a night and still feeling very tired in the morning and afternoon, waking up with headaches, etc. Leak rate has been pretty good, but wasn't great last night. Overall, I don't "feel" any different after making those changes, for better or worse, other than possibly worsening aerophagia.

I've noticed some aerophagia since going on CPAP, but it seems to be getting worse and was particularly bad the last two nights. Perhaps that is what is causing me to wake up?  I'm not really sure what to do about that. I am within my DME trial period, so I could try a FFM, but from what I've read that doesn't usually do much for aerophagia. My min pressure is already pretty low, so I'm skeptical lowering that would do anything to help.
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#8
RE: One Week Check-In
Aerophagia (swallowing of air) could be the reason you are waking up so much.  

Some things you can try if you haven't already:
Sleep on your side as much as possible.  When laying on your back, your airway can start to collapse more so than sleeping on your side.

Use a "soft" cervical collar to help support the jaw/mouth from dropping open at night, thus eliminating mouth breathing.  

Also, try sleeping slightly elevated.

Moving to a full face mask doesn't always solve the problem of mouth breathing.  You can still swallow a lot of air.

Have you tried using the Cpap mode instead of Apap?  Possibly a steady lower pressure would help with the Aerophagia.  I'm thinking around 8cm. Then you can always inch it up slowly if need be.
OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

_______________________
OSCAR Chart Organization
How to Attach Images and Files.
OSCAR - The Guide
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing therapy
OSCAR supported machines
Mask Primer



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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