Thoughts on sleepyhead data for the last few nights

[RaveledSleave]

So, the first half of this week was hell, but at this point I'm back to feeling normal (for me) - sleepy and inclined to nap during the day, but not walking death like I was for the first five nights after starting the CPAP. I've played around with the pressure settings a bit but I'm planning to leave them as they are (Min 8 Max 12) for at least a week now. I'm conscious of leaks in the night, waking up and adjusting the mask, but I'm a bit stumped as to what to do about it. I sleep on my side, and I've tried arranging pillows so the mask hangs over the edge, but I find that sleeping like that gives me neck and ear pain. I've tried both tightening and loosening the full face mask, and tried different combinations of tightening the upper and lower straps. The leaks are clearly bothering me enough to wake up because I remember a number of occasions of feeling air on my face and adjusting the mask until it stopped. I also can't really see much reduction in apneas or hypopneas over this time, but increasing pressure doesn't seem to have done anything about it except increase the leaks. Any thoughts?

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[Jas_williams]

I think you need more minimum pressure than 8 to treat the hypopnea,osa and snores, the Phillips is slow to respond upwards and you need a slightly higher starting pressure possibly closer to 9 but in small increments 0.2, but on the whole your not doing bad, just small tweaks and your AHI is likely to come down further.


Your leaks are great I would not worry about them, hopefully you will settle down further and the leaks will stop disturbing you, the shaded leak on the graph is sleepyhead hilighting leaks over 24l/min that is not correct for the Philips machines, a conservative figure is 70 you can go into preferences and change the value for the red leak line upwards.

[RaveledSleave]

Thanks for the info on the respironics numbers, I will adjust SH for that I think. I’m less worried about the numbers than the fact that the leaks, however small, seem to be waking me up.

[Mikebear]

Thanks for the info on the respironics numbers, I will adjust SH for that I think. I’m less worried about the numbers than the fact that the leaks, however small, seem to be waking me up.

Are you really using the Amara FFM mask? If so, and you are sure leaks are causing waking issues, try a mask liner. You can get the appropriate sized one here. If it works for you, you can even then make your own if you'd rather. Old cotton t-shirt material works well.

http://www.padacheek.com/PAC_Maskliners.html

[LSAT]

Watch some of these videos for suggestions.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/v ... a&fr=yfp-t

[Mikebear]

Watch some of these videos for suggestions.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/v ... a&fr=yfp-t

Did YOU check those videos? They aren't what you seem to think...

[RaveledSleave]

Are you really using the Amara FFM mask?

Yep, this one:

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It’s a small size and I was wondering if maybe I need a medium, but I used the printable fitting gauge and it does put me firmly in the small size. I feel like maybe it doesn’t quite fit right around my mouth when my jaw relaxes in sleep, not sure.

Watch some of these videos for suggestions.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/v ... a&fr=yfp-t

Did YOU check those videos? They aren't what you seem to think...

Haha, I was a bit confused! But searching for videos is a good idea, just with a few more keywords I think.

Also, last night's data, with pressure upped to 8.5. AHI noticeably down, but it felt like a restless night. Still, it's promising!

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[Okie bipap]

Keep the pressure where it is for a few nights. It may take a few nights to get used to the higher pressure. I never noticed pressure increases, but my wife did. It usually took her a few nights to get used to the new pressure every time they increased her pressure.