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Pokey49,
You maybe putting your mask before you are ready for sleep.
Many need that deep exhale and breathing to calm down and get our minds off of our struggles.
This may help before you put your mask on.
Wow Pokey, just wow. I can only dream of getting such a great OSCAR report as in your last post. It looks like the feeling of being starved for air is the thing to address. I have often read posts containing complaints of "starved for air," feeling.
I have also read of PAP therapy causing CO2 imbalance problems which could be the source of why by breath 7 or 8 you get a starved-for-air feeling. Higher pressure is often suggested to those with the sensation but I don't think higher pressure addresses the problem for some and the superior functions of a BiLevel machine may.
I only give suggestions from experience as a fellow CPAP user, not professional advice.
J Doug: I do calming acts every night. First I read for a while with the sound of "rain on my Alaska tent" :o) from the CALM App ( I lived in Alaska 25 years. My favorite place) and then I do a guided meditation/breathing exercise, then turn out the lights, put on my mask, do another 15 minutes of mindfulness breathing to nature sounds and then roll over to go to sleep. Last night as usual I was sleep in a few minutes only to be awakened later 'needing air". But I am starting to get what might be called cpap anxiety, expecting another failed night. I'm going to contact my RT tomorrow and talk with her and ask if BiLevel might be better. I sent a message to my sleep doc asking for her thoughts as well on the situation. I'm going to try a pressure of 8-12 EPR 2 tonight
In reading about how BiLevel v APAP work I’m not understanding what the big advantage of a BiLevel is over APAP in how they both work. Seems the APAP has more flexibility if respiratory conditions change during night.
04-06-2025, 01:10 PM (This post was last modified: 04-06-2025, 01:13 PM by jdougc. Edited 1 time in total.)
RE: Pokey49 - Therapy Thread
Bilevel has the APAP mode also
Bilevel has a better "EPR", no delay in starting the inhalation that the normal EPR has. Less starving for air.
The bilevel EPR is called Pressure support, the difference between inhalation and exhalation.
Bilevel can treat the Flow Limitations much better and the CAs also.
Ok. Thanks for clarifying. One thing I’ve noticed and maybe it’s not important but with my AS 11 I don’t physically notice any difference in pressure between inhalation and exhalation. If it’s occurring, and OSCAR says it is per the daily reports, I sure don’t sense it. Often I even check to see if air is flowing as that’s not always readily noticeable either.
Attached is last nights OSCAR report. Something weird is going on in my sleep. I did everything by the "book" last night. I did my usual meditation exercises, put on my P10 with chin strap and mouth tape and rolled over to go to sleep about 10:15. I was asleep within 5 minutes I'm pretty sure. Earlier in the day I experimented with various pressure setting to see if I could eliminate the feeling of being starved for air that I have been complaining about. I concluded 9-20 EPR 2 would work for me. I easily went to sleep with those settings . I awoke a little after midnight, not feeling air starved at all but with a set of very uncomfortable & bizarre symptoms: groggy headedness, stiffness, multi-point body pain, headache. Like I was coming out of a coma is how I would describe it, though I've never been in a coma :o/.........I expected a ragged OSCAR report, but it appears almost perfect if I am reading it correctly, albeit it was for a short period of time. After I awoke with the above symptoms I couldn't tolerate keeping my mask on my face and took it off. I had to get up for a few minutes and "wear it off." I then went back to sleep only to awake about 6am with the same bothersome symptoms. Im curious how you EJ, JDOUG and SUPER PILOT read my OSCAR report??
Can you post the whole night and a zoomed in when when you took the mask off?
Maybe a zoomed in before the end of the night.
I am not a fan of the extremely high maximum pressure.
You obstructive events are welcon controlled here, so set the max a little above your median, 9.2 cm.
You will have less pressure swings and hopefully less arousals
The suggested pressure might be changed after viewing your new charts.
