drugs and cpap

[readyforsleep]

Hey guys, I have been doing great ahi below 3 most nights. Small hiccup though. I am on percoset for a recent procedure and of course my ahi is sky high. Tonight I am going to raise my max pressure and see if it helps. Any other suggestions?

[justMongo]

Sedative drugs tends to lower the brain's central ventilator drive causing central (open airway) apneas. Increasing pressure is unlikely to help; and may actually make CAs worse.

What does sleepyhead say about your type of apnea?

[Mosquitobait]

Hey guys, I have been doing great ahi below 3 most nights. Small hiccup though. I am on percoset for a recent procedure and of course my ahi is sky high. Tonight I am going to raise my max pressure and see if it helps. Any other suggestions?

I periodically take codeine, and the PA told me that if I'm only on them for a week, there is no need to change pressures. If I was going to be on them longer, they would want to hear from me. Now, in my case, it's because they can't get my oxygen level above 91%.

In my opinion, no reason that I can see why you couldn't raise the max one night and see if there is any difference. But then, I'm a newbie and have done some stupid things.

[zonk]

Percoset is narcotic pain reliever, opiad meds known to cause central sleep apnea
Increasing pressure may not help lowering AHI, if centrals predominates

Talk with your doc, decreasing the dose or moving to other types of pain relief

As for pressure increase, I recall you had the maximum pressure at 20 at some point or maybe that was someone else

[PaulaO2]

Nah, leave it. Unless you are feeling like crap during the day due to lack of adequate sleep, leave it.

In the meantime, ensure you are sleeping on your side.

Check your data to see what the increased events are. If they are obstructive, then sleeping on your side and, if you are maxing out the pressure every night, a slight increase in pressure might be warranted.

If the events are central, then a pressure increase may actually make them worse. You never gave specific numbers other than to say the AHI was "sky high". If the central events are, say, higher than 15, you may want to ask your doctor to prescribe a different pain medication. Perhaps your body just reacts strongly to the one you have now.

[readyforsleep]

Half oa/half central. Looks like I am breathing thru my mouth big time.

[zonk]

Looks like I am breathing thru my mouth big time.

Some use tape, but I have not tried or recommend this method

Chinstrap or full face mask
I like the Ruby chinstrap

[PaulaO2]

Yeah, the medication is knocking you out and you are sleeping deep. Leave the pressure alone and try a chin strap to see how it works. If you have leaks that bad, the numbers are invalid anyway. You can make your own chin strap out of an ACE bandage. You want it tight enough it holds your mouth shut firmly but not so tight you cannot chew with effort.

Lip taping is dangerous and not recommended, like Zonk says.

[readyforsleep]

I am using a chin strap. Might have to dust off my ff mask. Are there any pain killers that work with cpap?

[PaulaO2]

You can ask the doc about it. I regularly take Vicodin and don't see a big jump in numbers except for when I take it more than 3 nights in a row. I get higher AHI when I take benedryl, actually.

Ask for another one, one of a different "family" of pain medications.