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03-03-2022, 02:23 PM (This post was last modified: 03-03-2022, 02:25 PM by Acetaldehyd3.)
Have not slept well for over a month, any assistance appreciated
Hello,
I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in December 2020. I've been using a Phillips Dreamstation, which was replaced with a Dreamstation 2 because of the recall.
Treatment was working well most of the time with the occasional "off" periods. However since January I have been unable to get a good night's sleep. I've had an appointment with my sleep doctor but I don't think he was very helpful besides tweaking the settings on my CPAP.
I've attached a screenshot from OSCAR, please let me know any additional information I can provide. Thanks in advance for any help or advice.
RE: Have not slept well for over a month, any assistance appreciated
I think we need to address the "clusters" of Obstructives. What I see is "positional apnea", and is usually caused from "chin tucking".
Many here have used a "soft" cervical collar to help with this. Take note of how you are sleeping. A too tall pillow can cause your head to tilt forward into your chest. This cuts off your air and can occur while sleeping on your back or side. A thinner pillow works better.
This link will help guide you in choosing the right collar to use.
I do think you need a higher minimum pressure, but know that it may not help much until you get the positional apnea under control. It's worth a try to use a minimum pressure that's closer to your median pressure. So let's move it up to 10cm for now.
Once the chin tucking is under control, the Obstructives and Hypopnea should lessen.
Also, lower the AFlex setting from 3 to 2. A setting if 3 has shown to be disruptive and seems to cause variable breathing.
Minimum pressure 10cm
Maximum pressure 15cm
AFlex 2
Work on getting a collar, as you are adjusting these settings.
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.
RE: Have not slept well for over a month, any assistance appreciated
Small advice i can give you from my own experience with obstructive apnea would be to sleep on the side and pull down the pillow under your neck, as to force position your chin upt ( until you get a collar, or if you cant use one like me ).
I've did multiple adjustments with one pillow , two pillows, a big one and a smaller one until i found a good sleeping position where my back would not hurt after just a few hours of sleep; and as of late i even got myself an ergonomic pillow that works ok with how i sleep.