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cant BREATHE!
#1
cant BREATHE!
im a new cpap user, like four nights in, with a RESmart cpap unit with the Reslex and heated humidifier. I use a Wisp nasal mask. Still trying to find the right size. I feel like i have to struggle a bit to pull air in, and find i need to take gasping breaths by lifting the mask every once in a while while im awake. Takes me HOURS to fall asleep (even before cpap) and if i have to stop and do something, like, say, pull on a mask and start a machine, i have to start all over in the "falling asleep" hours.. so i spend a lot of time wearing it awake. But if im having this much trouble when im awake them arent i likely having some trouble asleep as well? My AHI is 3.9 with the cpap, no idea without as my lovely doctor moved in between my sleep studies and next scheduled appt.. and i have no new doc yet ::eyeroll:: so im flying blind here and dont even know if that is an improvement, though i guess it would have to be. I know the tech said i had more problems not breathing deeply enough so my sats would drop into the 80s than actually not breathing so i dont know if that counts in the AHI.

Oh and they have me on 6cm of pressure.
so sleep deprived, i didnt say "hi" "how are ya" thanks for reading" nothing.. bad manners, im sorry!!! Hi, my name is Marie, Thank you for reading, how are you today?? Smile
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#2
RE: cant BREATHE!
I had this same problem for the first two weeks of my trial, and I have to preface this with the usual I'm not a doctor and I really am new to this, but it sounds as though you're minimum pressure might be too low. Mine was set at 5.0 for the initial trial but got bumped up to 6.2 and it's a lot better.

I don't know if your machine is a constant pressure or an auto pressure device, but it might pay to ask your provider to check the settings. It's a horrible feeling to not have enough air...
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#3
RE: cant BREATHE!
Could it be that cpap or the mask is causing you nasal congestion? If not, try turning off A-flex or C-flex.
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#4
RE: cant BREATHE!
(07-27-2014, 06:53 AM)magdalene74 Wrote: I feel like i have to struggle a bit to pull air in, and find i need to take gasping breaths by lifting the mask every once in a while while im awake.
Sounds like the pressure at the beginning of the night is too low for you to be comfortable.

If you are using a ramp, quit using it. If you are not using a ramp, consider raising the pressure on your machine a bit. Start with a 1cm increase in pressure and see if that helps the problem. If you still feel like you can't get enough air into your lungs after several days with the new setting, increase the pressure by 1cm a second time.


Quote:Takes me HOURS to fall asleep (even before cpap) and if i have to stop and do something, like, say, pull on a mask and start a machine, i have to start all over in the "falling asleep" hours.. so i spend a lot of time wearing it awake.
You are going to need to deal with the sleep onset insomnia as well as learning how to sleep with the hose on your nose. That's not easy for some people. (I know, I had a very tough time learning how to get to sleep with a CPAP machine.)

If you want self-help advice on things to try for overcoming the insomnia problem you are dealing with, you can start by reading my Taming the CPAP-Induced Insomnia Monster. While some of what I write about in that essay won't directly apply to you, my guess is that you will find a lot of what I have to say useful.
Questions about SleepyHead?  
See my Guide to SleepyHead
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#5
RE: cant BREATHE!
Hi magdalene74,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I'm sorry you are having such a rough time with CPAP therapy right now. It sounds like your pressure is low which could give you the problems with feeling like you aren't getting enough air.
I'm not realy familiar with your machine and it's settings, but hang in there for more suggestions.
Best of luck to you with your CPAP therapy, just stick with it, it does get better, I know, it doesn't seem like it, but it really does, it just takes time and sometimes lots of it.
trish6hundred
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#6
RE: cant BREATHE!
I agree with the others. The "struggling to pull air in" suggests that your starting pressure is too low. I find it difficult to breathe when the pressure is below 6. Back when I was using the Ramp function, I was better able to breathe and fall asleep when I reset the Ramp minimum pressure from 4 to 6 and shortened the Ramp period to 5 minutes.
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#7
RE: cant BREATHE!
Thanks guys! Ive got a request in to get the manual for my machine, never did get to sleep last night, the email function with win 8.1 NEVER gives me my junk mail so im hoping it didnt get shuttled there. As soon as i figure out how to do the settings im gonna follow your advice. About the onset insomnia, yeah, its part of my M.E. just another lovely symptom lol. im like a baby who has her days and nights mixed up and never the twain shall meet, but i keep trying because i cannot sleep all day, ive got 4 kids! :Confusedigh:: Anyway, thanks again, as soon as im able to try those suggestions ill let you know how it worked Smile
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#8
RE: cant BREATHE!
HA! As i feared, my instructions, if they were sent, have been eaten by my junkmail, but after reviewing some of the other ones here on the board, i found that in my frantic search yesterday i was using the wrong terminology (looking for physicians menu) when i should have been looking for CLINICIAN menu! Anyway i found what i needed, and it is amazingly simple to take care of. Now i just have to remember to REset it before 60 days (or do i?) when i have to turn in my compliance thingy. I havent tried it out yet (am about to) but i followed the advice above and turned it up 1cm, i ALSO found that on this unit, there is a handy feature that the clinician can choose to set, that allows the PATIENT to adjust one to two cm of pressure up or down WITHOUT the clinician setup (which mine wasnt set for, but IS NOW) so i wont have to go back in for further tinkering as long as i can find a sweetspot in that range Smile Makes it a little easier later on. Not that its necessarily hard to unplug the machine, press and hold the ramp and power button at the same time, and plug it back in heh. ::eyeroll:: (feel free to delete that last part if there is some reason its not allowed on the board) Hopefully tomorrow i will be giving reports of a better nights sleep Smile Even though i found the info on my own, i cant thank you guys or this board enough for giving me the advice, power, and confidence to take my treatment into my own hands, even if its just a little bit Smile (not just here, but reading the posts youve made to others, ive been doing a lot of reading Smile All that downtime from not sleeping lol) Thanks again!!
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#9
RE: cant BREATHE!
(07-28-2014, 05:38 AM)magdalene74 Wrote: Now i just have to remember to REset it before 60 days (or do i?) when i have to turn in my compliance thingy.
In my experience, during the 90-day compliance appointment, I was seen by the PA who took no notice of my tweaking. When I visited the DME clinician, she rolled her eyes but didn't make a big fuss. The doctor had prescribed straight CPAP at a set pressure of 4. I'm guessing they prescribed the minimum pressure to encourage compliance. Anyway, I couldn't breath, so I went back to the sleep lab and was told the doctor said I couldn't make any changes until after 90 days. Like you, I came to the forum for help, enabled the autoset feature and eventually changed the pressure to a range of 9/14. It works for me and the sleep lab is interested only in compliance.

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#10
RE: cant BREATHE!
Glad you figured it out, Mag!
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