CPAP making me feel very tense while I'm asleep

[jlpool]

Small update; after making those changes since the last post, I was sleeping a bit better the few nights after - still not solved, but improved from how it had been the previous nights. Unfortunately, last night I only got 6 1/2 hours again for the same reason as usual, and I'm not really sure why (annoyingly I had my SD card sitting in my computer again so I wasn't able to check). I'll keep experimenting and try to actually collect data though - might try the VAuto mode tonight with the pressure settings set higher than before and see if that is viable or not.

[jlpool]

So using the old nasal mask, I still haven't really been able to avoid this problem even if it's not as a bad as it was with the full-face... You can see in the attached reports the leak rate (as i understand it) is not bad, especially last night (the 25th), but I still had some issues - last night I didn't even reach 6 hours of sleep (some other reasons probably didn't help that) and the night before I did sleep longer thanks to a sleeping pill but I still could tell I was somewhat stiff that night.

I have wondered about the style these Resmed masks deliver the air, through the sides of your face starting at a tube at the top of your head. It's easier on the neck but sometimes I get suspicious of whether laying on one of my sides and obstructing one of the sides is making the air flow worse - I know it's supposed to just come through the other side if that happens because that's the point of the design, but it does feel like more air is coming through when neither are blocked. I've only had one mask that wasn't this style [the Quattra] which I had the least problems out of any with restless sleep, but that one is impossible to keep strapped without leaking unless I nail it to the back of my neck.

I still haven't messed with VAuto since I was trying to recover from last week's bad sleep with a few good days, but I probably will tonight. Also trying to schedule another mask fitting appointment, but I'm not sure how long that will take. If anyone has any other theories or advice I would love to hear them.

[jlpool]

(Also, i've wondered if maybe the problem is it's making me take too big of a breath, or too often? It does put a ton of pressure right on your nose and really want you to take in a lot of air compared to normal breathing)

[HalfAsleep]

You might not want to hear this, but I think you might need to try more masks. Maybe many! At least one online supplier has a mask-fit return policy, if the mask doesn't work out, and I've also used this method to check out several masks at a time. My DME was quite useless in this regard, since they rarely had ANY masks in stock that would fit.

[Deborah K.]

Your PS (pressure support) setting is really low. I suggest that you raise it to 4 and see if that helps you feel better.

[jlpool]

HalfAsleep - I've been in the process of that, though my insurance company only will help with so many per month. I tried a new one recently that didn't work out and I'm going to be trying another pretty soon.

Deborah - I recently have tried raising the IPAP as a whole, both to see if more air pressure helps vent the air in the mask's sides better and for the pressure relief like you said. Recently though I've had new problems crop up from that - mainly that once the pressure is around 9, it starts leaking out of my mouth and drying it up, which has been my big battle this last week. I keep waking up constantly from this, and I've experimented with using full-face masks or tape but so far I haven't found the right solution here. I do hope the new mask might be less prone to causing the problem I've been having so I can lower the pressure a bit, because I'd really rather avoid needing to wear a chin-strap or tape my mouth every night unless that's the only good option.