Feeling as if I am not getting enough air and not sleeping well anymore

[RosieB08]

The past couple of weeks I have been feeling as if I'm not getting enough air throughout the night. It starts when I lay down to go to sleep and I feel as if I am suffocating and have to jerk my mask off to catch my breath. Then throughout the night I wake up gasping for breath and have to sit up on the side of the bed to regain my breath. I have attached a screenshot of my Oscar data from Friday. On a rotating shift schedule so I sleep at different times of the day and night. Can anyone read this and tell me what you feel may be the issue?
Thanks!

[Sleeprider]

You are using your Vauto in fixed pressure mode with those settings. Maybe set the maximum pressure to 18 and allow the machine to change pressure a bit? You also seem to have some chin-tucking or positional apnea going on. This is characterized by obstructive events in clusters. We can see your flow limits rapidly increase as you tuck your chin and it leads into obstruction. If you are using multiple or a firm pillow, you may need to find a way to drop your head back or use a soft cervical collar. http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...onal_Apnea

[RosieB08]

You are using your Vauto in fixed pressure mode with those settings. Maybe set the maximum pressure to 18 and allow the machine to change pressure a bit?  You also seem to have some chin-tucking or positional apnea going on. This is characterized by obstructive events in clusters. We can see your flow limits rapidly increase as you tuck your chin and it leads into obstruction.  If you are using multiple or a firm pillow, you may need to find a way to drop your head back or use a soft cervical collar. http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...onal_Apnea

Thanks for your quick response! So, just to be clear, I should set the Max IPAP to 18 and that will allow the machine to change the pressure? Will that take it out of fixed pressure or what?

Also I can only sleep on my side as laying on my back literally feels like I can't breathe. I have been sleeping on a second pillow these past few weeks due to allergies and congestion and never thought that could be causing an issue, but have noticed I tend to wake up with my chin pointing downward into my chest (I'm thinking from sliding down on the pillow). I will try tonight without the second pillow before looking into the cervical collar. I tried one many years ago and felt so claustrophobic with it around my neck and also very hot. I am a hot sleeper and sleep with a fan on and the thermostat set to 58 degrees when sleeping. Lol it's gotten worse as I get older.

Thanks again for your help!

[Sleeprider]

Yes. By increasing max IPAP to 18.0, and frankly change your PS to 4.0 (I don't see the point of 3.8), your range of pressure will be 13.0/ 9.0 to 18.0/14.0 (IPAP/EPAP). As your flow limitations increase, the Vauto will respond with higher pressure to try to keep your airway open. I think there is a chin-tucking or positional element at work here as well. Based on your results we can also increase PS if needed, which will give you a stronger inspiratory pressure signal.

[Hydrangea]

I get that feeling when I use the F30. Here's my personal experience - the quiet elbow doesn't vent out enough of my exhaled air (perhaps I'm a weak exhaler?), so I end up rebreathing my exhaled air... which my body rejects, and then I force off my mask, etc.

When I use the older elbow that's not quiet (it came on the older F20s), I don't have this problem at all.

Perhaps you could experiment with masks to find one that vents more. (I have this problem with several masks that are known for being quiet in their venting.) Or perhaps pull out that white gauze that makes the quiet elbow so quiet. Or ask your DME for their old not-quiet elbow.

[RosieB08]

Yea I quit using the elbow with the fiber inside a couple years ago when I noticed it was hard to dry after cleaning and growing mold. I have a post on here with pics of it when I noticed it. I’ve ordered a cervical collar to help with the chin tucking and it should be here on Tuesday and hopefully that will help with my issues. Thanks for you reply.

[mesenteria]

You have more than likely discarded the old elbow long since, but for future reference, there is an easy way to keep mold out of such things.  And you'll be amazed at how cheaply you can do it.  Go to your U-Brew It wine store and purchase a bag of potassium or sodium metabisulphite for a whopping $5.  They're both white powders that you mix into water, a heaping tsp per 1.5 quarts.  It should be in a Winchester, some kind of large dark green bottle that you might find emptied where they use a lot of chemicals.  I use a 1.5 liter Grolsch beer bottle, green, with that fabulous porcelain cap.

You can dribble some through the filter, or if it's feasible, soak the filter in a small volume of the solution.  Thirty seconds is all it takes.  The metabisulphite is lethal in small doses to bacteria, molds, and viruses.   Stinks like aitch, especially if you get your nose into the bottle for a good whiff (I don't recommend it), but after a good rinse, your filter, hose, and cushions will be cleared of all pathogens.