New to CPAP, hoping for help dissecting OSCAR data, looking for advice to improve!

[ZeldaIsAGirl]

Hey all,

I started CPAP therapy about 3 weeks ago, and I'm not feeling any better at all. I know part of it is because it takes me ages to fall asleep with my mask on so I'm only getting 5-6 hours of sleep a night. The mask is comfortable, fits well, I feel fine with it on, but my brain just seems to refuse to sleep with something attached to my face. Hopefully I'll get over that with time. I have a few concerns, primarily with why my respiratory rate gets wildly high at night sometimes. I've also seen that while I have my machine set to pressures of 7-11, I'll need to be increasing that. I saw a few nights were I hit the 11 mark so I probably need to increase it to 12 or higher to make sure I'm getting the pressure I need. Also thinking of increasing minimum to 8 but I'm curious how y'all feel about that. I feel mostly fine with 7 but I do often get an insatiable need to yawn when I first put my mask on, and that persists until I get really super duper relaxed, so I'm wondering if 8 would be better, or that I'm air-starving myself a bit. Anyway, here's charts for the last 3 days (minus the 17th because I ended up sleeping without the mask because I couldn't fall asleep and was so, so tired)! Thanks in advance.

[SarcasticDave94]

Welcome to Apnea Board,

You can try Min pressure 8 if you want to see what it does. No harm. I think I'd include pushing Max up 1 also.

The foreign thing on your face feeling will go away with time. No person I know of was born with the weird alien octopus thing suctioned onto your face, expelling moist air on you, with the umbilical cord attached to Mama CPAP.

See images with my sincerest apology





You can experiment with mask with CPAP running during the day if you can fit it into your schedule. Just to get used to mask and therapy. It might help.

PS we should make these alien CPAP masks. Then take them to your next Lab Sleep Study or Titration!  

[Rickyricardo]

Try the lightweight ResMed P10 mask if your provider allows trying options, which they should.