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Night 4 was TERRIBLE!
#11
RE: Night 4 was TERRIBLE!
(06-05-2016, 08:11 PM)trish6hundred Wrote: Hi SylviaT,
I know you are having a bit of a rough time right now with your CPAP therapy, but I encourage you to just stick with it. Don't be shy about asking to try different masks, 'till you find one that works for you.
All of this can take time to get used to but just hang in there, it does get better over time.
Good luck.

Thank you! I know the technician was adamant with regards to the mask he put me in. I am not sure which mask will be the best FOR ME! Too bad you can bring a few different ones home to try!
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#12
RE: Night 4 was TERRIBLE!
Sylvia, your setup is for straight CPAP pressure with no exhale pressure relief. Most of the useful information was not included. I'd like to see the events, flow, leaks and pressure. I'm going to stand by what I suggested in an earlier post. Your RERA is probably a major reason that you do not wake refreshed. I think you'd do much better using EPR (exhale pressure relief) which can help reduce RERA. In addition using the Auto mode with a pressure range that brackets your CPAP pressure will improve your hypopnea results. Something like 7.0-10.0 might be interesting to see if it helps. I also don't think ramp pressure of 4.0 does you any favors in getting a good mask fit early as you first go to bed.

Your technician does not wear the mask, why would he/she be making the choice? If you're able to avoid mouth breathing another option is certainly worth a try. Your leaks are okay, but not great, so by the criteria of both comfort and leaks, I think your technician may not be right. Good luck, and hope you take control of this sooner than later.
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com

____________________________________________
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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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#13
RE: Night 4 was TERRIBLE!
(06-05-2016, 09:26 PM)Sleeprider Wrote: Sylvia, your setup is for straight CPAP pressure with no exhale pressure relief. Most of the useful information was not included. I'd like to see the events, flow, leaks and pressure. I'm going to stand by what I suggested in an earlier post. Your RERA is probably a major reason that you do not wake refreshed. I think you'd do much better using EPR (exhale pressure relief) which can help reduce RERA. In addition using the Auto mode with a pressure range that brackets your CPAP pressure will improve your hypopnea results. Something like 7.0-10.0 might be interesting to see if it helps. I also don't think ramp pressure of 4.0 does you any favors in getting a good mask fit early as you first go to bed.

Your technician does not wear the mask, why would he/she be making the choice? If you're able to avoid mouth breathing another option is certainly worth a try. Your leaks are okay, but not great, so by the criteria of both comfort and leaks, I think your technician may not be right. Good luck, and hope you take control of this sooner than later.

Thank you SleepRider and hope you know some of this is still like a foreign language to me! You have a lot of knowledge and I am hopeful I will understand all this one day soon! I am asking for a new mask today or to at least try something different!
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#14
RE: Night 4 was TERRIBLE!
SylviaT, all of this is new and was to us also. A bite at a time.
"your setup is for straight CPAP pressure with no exhale pressure relief"
straight CPAP means you machine is set for a steady pressure regardless of if you need that much pressure or not. some people need this, most don't. Some people do not react well to changes in pressure. Most people use these machines in APAP mode and this provides a range "Something like 7.0-10.0 " this way the machine provides a pressure of 7 unless it detects a reason for higher pressure and if so it increase the pressure as needed. Many find this more comfortable.

"no exhale pressure relief" What this treatment does is put pressure in our airways, this pressure holds the airways open. It's called splinting the airway open. They found that many people have a hard time exhaling into this pressure and that they can have the machine reduce the pressure during exhale and the airway still remains open. There is a setting on your machine EPR that is used to adjust just how far the pressure is reduced when you exhale-3, 2, or 1 cm of pressure reduction. Many find this reduction very helpful.

RERA-Respiratory Effort Related Arousals this just means that you are finding it difficult to breathe and this is waking you up, maybe not wide awake, but not sleeping soundly also. This is many times caused by finding it difficult to exhale into pressure. see my last paragraph.

"I also don't think ramp pressure of 4.0 does you any favors" many people, myself included, find that starting off at a pressure of 4 is not comfortable. I have found that I need at least 5.8 or I feel starved for air. Also if you get your mask working perfectly at the start, once it ramps up to therapy pressure you mask may leak a lot.

All of these things above are "comfort" settings and vary from person to person. Most medical staff just don't have the time to adjust all of these for every patient. It is trial and error, make little adjustments and try it out, keep doing this until you find your sweet spot. You will not sleep well if you are not comfortable. Pick one to adjust, keep a journal so you can remember what each setting was like, and then fine tune all of them once you get each setting close.

You can do this, one bite at a time, Please, Please do not expect the medical staff to make everything perfect for you. experience says they just don't have the time to do this. Experience also tells us that anyone, even you can do this.
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#15
RE: Night 4 was TERRIBLE!
Good explanations PoolQ. It is a lot of information, which is why we sometimes shorten our answers to acronyms and suggestions.

SylviaT, by all means ask questions, and if you are reluctant to make changes on your own, be assured that you can always put things back where you found them. Success at CPAP will involve some trial and error...what do you think a clinical titration is? Answer, it is one night of trial and error by a technician. Every night after the sleep study, you have to do it yourself.
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com

____________________________________________
Download OSCAR Software
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing Therapy
Organize your OSCAR Charts
Attaching Files
Mask Primer
How To Deal With Equipment Supplier


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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