Hello Guest, Welcome to Apnea Board !
As a guest, you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use.
To post a message, you must create a free account using a valid email address.

or Create an Account


New Posts   Today's Posts

[CPAP] Struggling to sleep longer than 4 hrs
#1
Struggling to sleep longer than 4 hrs
I am a fairly new user 4.5 months. I don't have coverage or a RT - I had two consultations when I bought the air sense 11 with the dream wear full face mask. 
The first two weeks I was a rock star sleeping through the night, but at the end of those two weeks my mask started to burp and wake me up.
Setting were humidity on, Pressure was prescribed as 4-20 
the RT lowered it then to 4-18 and that was my last conversation without paying more. since then I have struggled to sleep through the night. Usually around 3.5 hrs I rip the mask off because I can't get it to seal properly again.

things i have tried 
took the humidity off as I live in Mexico and we have lots. Played with the pressure. I changed it from 4-20 again, 4-17 all the way down to 4-16 but I saw a rise in the events per hour increase.  When diagnosed I was having 39 per hour. I was going up to as high as 18 per hr when I lowered the pressure. 

What I have done recently and really thought this was going to work or had hopes. I bought the nasal pillow and a chin strap.  I don't know which is worse now. Tried the chin strap with full face dreamwear mask - and between the chin strap and the mask everything felt so tight on my face. I tried the nasal cushions and chin strap but I am a mouth breather so even with the chin strap and I would open my mouth of course it's going to wake me up and I felt like I couldn't breath properly with just breathing through my nose. Oh I also bought a pillow to keep me on my side. 
I can't keep buying masks they are expensive and because I live out of country there is all sorts of fee's associated with ordering from the USA and having it shipped. I can not seem to find anything local but those masks are expensive. 

any other ideas? other than a mouth tape. 

thanks I appreciate all answers - I am willing to try all kinds of settings.
Post Reply Post Reply
#2
RE: Struggling to sleep longer than 4 hrs
Welcome to Apnea Board,

You'll want to follow up the question with attaching an OSCAR chart.

I can make a guess right now, your pressure minimum 4 is too low. There's been frequent edits to the max pressure, but the CPAP only hits the max if there's real issues.

I would try these 2 things together, edit pressure minimum to 7 and add EPR 3 full time. Try it one night then post with comments tomorrow with the overnight OSCAR chart.
Mask Primer

Positional Apnea

Attach OSCAR, etc.

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
Post Reply Post Reply
#3
RE: Struggling to sleep longer than 4 hrs
Thank you! I slept longer than I have in months. I changed my pressure from 5 -16 to 7-16 with full face mask. I also started out at 7 instead of 4 and my EPR was already set at 3 full time.
 I have attached the report for last night.  It seems at the same time every night the same things happen. I have events and then the mask does leak. It did leak last night but I think it was because I was drooling. I got up wiped my face and mask (maybe not great) and tried again but it started that burping noise again just not as bad. 

I am wondering because I am a side sleeper mostly that I move and it moves the mask that is why I bought the nasal cushions ( can I use the same settings with the nasal as full face?) 

I am very grateful and I am hoping you can find more things I can tweek. Can't believe it was over 5 hrs of sleep in total with mask. 
I have attached 3 pictures I was not sure what info you needed
thank you


Attached Files Thumbnail(s)
           
Post Reply Post Reply
#4
RE: Struggling to sleep longer than 4 hrs
You're welcome.

Starting pressure 7 and EPR 3 gets you back to min 4, as seen in the charts. That's what EPR does, it reduces min pressure. This now would look in the charts to be a bilevel. Very helpful to users.

Also any pressure under 7 paired with EPR 3 hinders the EPR action until pressure crossed 7, because of the math involved.

Just educational info for you.

The mask? Going from full to nasal, some edit things, some don't. I would try just changing mask type for a night if you can, edit pressures if it's disruptive.

Otherwise try that a few days, monitor OSCAR and compare to how you feel.
Mask Primer

Positional Apnea

Attach OSCAR, etc.

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
Post Reply Post Reply
#5
RE: Struggling to sleep longer than 4 hrs
It would be helpful if you could change your Oscar chart a little.  When you go to copy your chart, hit f12.  That will generally show the items we need to see, such as the left panel and the five chart items we need; Event Flags, Flow Rate, Pressure, Leak Rate, and Flow limits.

Also, we need to be able to read to the very bottom of the Flow Limits.  Thanks. Smile
Machine:  ResMed AirCurve 10 Vauto
Mask:  Bleep DreamPort Sleep Solution and F&P Nova Micro

Link to thread about switching from Autoset to Bilevel:
https://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread...+a+bilevel

Post Reply Post Reply
#6
RE: Struggling to sleep longer than 4 hrs
scubagirl: in Oscar Daily -> View -> take snapshot or as said hit F12
Post Reply Post Reply
#7
RE: Struggling to sleep longer than 4 hrs
Hi

sorry for taking so long to get back.

So I have attached two files - the 16th before I changed the settings from 4 to 7 for start pressure. 
Last night was not as good as the night before, I loosened the straps a little because the night it was so good it was tight on my face. Today I woke up with a bit of a headache and that is not typical.

I did buy nasal mask cushion and a chin strap. I thought that was going to be the miracle but I am mouth breather and that chin strap didnt hold my mouth closed. When I wore it with the full face mask - it was way to much on my head and then I couldn't get a good seal with the mask. I only used the nasal one once and then was given this solution of increasing the starting pressure. I thought I would try and use this for a bit to see if i could get it dialed in. Still 5.58 hrs is an increase of the typical 3.5 hrs I usually sleep with it on.

I am not sure what changed the first two weeks of treatment I was a rock star sleeping through then night.


Attached Files Thumbnail(s)
       
Post Reply Post Reply
#8
RE: Struggling to sleep longer than 4 hrs
Leaks were a bit of an hindrance as you probably were aware.

If you want, you could edit Min pressure to 7, leaving EPR 3 full time in place. This makes EPR work without the delay of waiting on events to force pressure past 7. Effectively you'll start at exhale pressure 4. So if you rather would have 5 as your absolute minimum, change minimum pressure to 8 and you'll start at 8/5.
Mask Primer

Positional Apnea

Attach OSCAR, etc.

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
Post Reply Post Reply
#9
RE: Struggling to sleep longer than 4 hrs
Ok I will change the min pressure to 8 and see if that makes a difference. I was originally prescribed 4-20 and I have been playing with the max pressure - do you think I should change that back to 20 - I believe the RT lowered it to 18 because I was starting to complain about mask leaks. I am currently at 16
Post Reply Post Reply
#10
RE: Struggling to sleep longer than 4 hrs
On the max pressure, the CPAP shows by the pressure being pushed to the top and staying there, it wants higher pressure. Info from the chart 2 hours ago.

You can try pushing Max pressure up, but like you indicated, it may make leaks worse. If you get leaks down and introduce a bit higher Max pressure, certainly a big win for you. That pressure increase may reduce Obstructive Apnea events.
Mask Primer

Positional Apnea

Attach OSCAR, etc.

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
Post Reply Post Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  New User struggling, help please The Good Captain 12 240 7 hours ago
Last Post: JCinPA
  Sleep Pillow (Hack for less leaks and a good sleep) Canuck 2 12 1,218 Yesterday, 06:21 AM
Last Post: gymrat
  [Treatment] AHI lower than ever, still struggling in my late 20s davigalindo 33 4,170 02-01-2025, 12:36 AM
Last Post: myratan
  Struggling After Switching from ResMed AirSense 10 to 11—Anyone Else? happyguardian 5 507 01-27-2025, 10:03 PM
Last Post: REMmi
  Back to CPAP after 15 yrs, struggling this time kkvdogmom 11 497 01-25-2025, 10:46 AM
Last Post: SeePak
  Struggling with Sleep Problems Despite CPAP Use ketan3536 12 499 01-25-2025, 09:32 AM
Last Post: G. Szabo
  Struggling with OAs stardew 3 273 01-22-2025, 03:55 PM
Last Post: Jay51


New Posts   Today's Posts


About Apnea Board

Apnea Board is an educational web site designed to empower Sleep Apnea patients.