[Health] RESMED APAP tuning

[sleeper2460]

Attached data from last 2 nights with EPR full time (no ramp). Trend is not getting any better. Still using low pillow and sleeping on right side. Any thoughts? Is 5 days of data enough for a valid trend?

[gainerfull]

Have you tried a soft cervical collar yet? Your events suggest your experiencing positional apnea and no amount of pressure will help solve it.

[sleeper2460]

Thanks for the reply. I did try a soft collar for several nights. It felt like it fit, but actually my ahi was higher both nights. I guess that means it wasn't fitting right. I'll keep trying to work on my positioning. Thanks again.

[TechieHippie]

Soft collar needs to be pretty loose. It's often better to adjust it when you are laying down in your sleep position.

[sleeper2460]

Thanks. I'll try a bigger one. The one I had was fairly tight to start.

[Deborah K.]

I tried several soft collars, and some worked pretty well.  Then I bought a child-size pillow with a raised area in the front that tips my head back slightly which solved my positional apnea altogether.  The pillow I have is no longer made but I have found a couple on Amazon that I think would work in a similar fashion.  Here are a couple of links:

https://www.amazon.com/MLILY-Adjustable-...127&sr=8-5

https://www.amazon.com/Hcore-Adjustable-...r=8-6&th=1

[BigWing]

I too had worse - MUCH worse - results from use of a SCC (hypopneas increased ten-fold). It's been suggested that this may have been because it was pushing into the soft area around my throat, rather than pushing the jaw up. I don't know how to prevent that, so I gave up on the SCC. Fortunately, pressure changes seem to have done the job instead - they have dropped my events to around zero.

[TechieHippie]

Deborah, I did buy the second of those pillows, the h core, and it's not bad. Unfortunately you can't wash it (only the cover), and the inserts all had a fragrance added, not the smell of the foam itself, but a fragrance on top. I left it out in my sunroom for over a week and it didn't change. I gave it to my son who doesn't care about that, but I just thought I'd let you know. I've been thinking about getting the mlily but I don't think I need it right now and it also says that is not washable. I've been taking my regular pillow and scrunching it up against the front so that it has more of a round edge, but maybe I could just find a half circle of foam to add in front or something. Oddly enough, I found the cheap $4 dorm pillows at Target to be my favorite at the moment.