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Hi All,
This looks to be a great community. I have been on CPAP for the last 4 weeks. Still feel like needing a nap during the day, getting some afternoon headaches. Looking for some help with my current oscar output and settings.
You have what we call positional apnea. This means that you are tipping your chin toward your chest while you sleep. This has the same effect as kinking a hose. It makes it hard for the air to get through so you end up with more apnea than you would otherwise have. This cannot be fixed by changing any settings. You need to either sleep on a much flatter pillow or wear a soft cervical collar (like people wear for neck pain). I tried various soft collars and found the Caldera Releaf Collar on Amazon worked well and was more comfortable than the rest. Then I bought a child-size pillow with a raised front edge that tips my head back a little. This works wonderfully and is very comfortable, and I love it. My pillow is no longer made but there are other pillows on Amazon that I think would work the same way. Here are two:
The first I would do is set min 7 EPR full time set at 3 to see how this feels and how it events react to the new setting. You also have some positional apnea You can see positional apnea where either H or Oa events are clustered together. Getting rid of as many as you can will lower your AHI. Positional apnea can NOT be controlled by pressure changes. You have to find out what position you are getting into and cutting off your own airway. Have you changed your sleep position? Sleeping on your back? Using more (or new) pillows? These things can cause positional apnea by chin dropping to your sternum and cutting your airway. Think of it of a kinked hose – nothing can get through – you have to unkink the hose…
IF you can’t make a simple change like changing to a flatter pillow helps then you will need a collar. I have a link to collars in my signature at the bottom of the page. It shows people who are not wearing a collar and the SAME person wearing a collar. There is a huge difference between the two.a.
Thanks for all your suggestions Deborah K and staceyburke. Since Deborah K's reply I have set my EPR to 3 fulltime, started using a much flatter pillow and trying to sleep on my side. My energy levels have been much better the last 2 days -Thank you. I have attached some updated OSCAR data, which I think looks much better.
I just saw Staceyburkes reply now with the suggestion to up my minimum pressure from 6.4 to 7, so will try that. Are there any further adjustments you would suggest from the latest data?
