Pressure Issue?

[SyCoREAPER]

Hey everyone,
New APAP user here since last Saturday. As profile States I have an Airsense 10 Auto with the Humidifier set to Auto and Heated Tube. My prescribed range is 5-20. I have a Normal size F30i that fits securely.

I put my SD card in the PC and used SleepHead or OSCAR (not saying which unless it's relevant, I know at least in the past this is a touchy subject).

I noticed that my pressure seems to peak and stay between ~17-20 almost all night yet there are no leaks reported. It's not uncomfortable nor wakes me up but do find it odd that it is pinned in that range most of the night.

AHI is in the 2's every night.

Is there something I am missing here?

(Ignore the leak before 11:30, the mask wasn't sitting right and I was playing around with it)

Full-Size Image

[Jas_williams]

An AHI of 2 is great how do you feel.

[SyCoREAPER]

I've always had sleeping issues but overall if i had to sum it up since starting PAP, I'd say a little more refreshed.

[ChicagoGranny]

Airsense 10 Auto

You need to correct the machine in your equipment profile. AirStart is a cheaper model with fewer features.

My prescribed range is 5-20.

I noticed that my pressure seems to peak and stay between ~17-20 almost all night yet there are no leaks reported.

Is 5.0 your minimum pressure setting or your ramp beginning pressure setting?

I put my SD card in the PC and used SleepHead or OSCAR (not saying which unless it's relevant, I know at least in the past this is a touchy subject).

No longer touchy. OSCAR is an improved version of SleepyHead.

[Miss Emerita]

I'd suggest posting a daily chart from Oscar or Sleepyhead, whichever you use, so the experts can take a look. You are off to a great start, and if there's a way to do a little fine-tuning, so much the better.

(If you're using Sleepyhead, you might consider switching to Oscar. SH is no longer supported, but there's an excellent team working on Oscar pretty much all the time.)

[SyCoREAPER]

Airsense 10 Auto

You need to correct the machine in your equipment profile. AirStart is a cheaper model with fewer features.

My prescribed range is 5-20.

I noticed that my pressure seems to peak and stay between ~17-20 almost all night yet there are no leaks reported.

Is 5.0 your minimum pressure setting or your ramp beginning pressure setting?

I put my SD card in the PC and used SleepHead or OSCAR (not saying which unless it's relevant, I know at least in the past this is a touchy subject).

No longer touchy. OSCAR is an improved version of SleepyHead.

You're correct, I did have the wrong one selected.

I stopped using Ramp, 5 is the minimum. EPR is off.

I am using OSCAR

I'd suggest posting a daily chart from Oscar or Sleepyhead, whichever you use, so the experts can take a look. You are off to a great start, and if there's a way to do a little fine-tuning, so much the better.

(If you're using Sleepyhead, you might consider switching to Oscar. SH is no longer supported, but there's an excellent team working on Oscar pretty much all the time.)

I am using OSCAR. What's the best way to post the daily chart? I am tech savvy but not sure what information or sections are useful.

All that info's in the stickies.

Thank you. Incredibly helpful /s

I'm new to this and don't even know what to look for. Just because you've been doing this for 14 years doesn't mean everyone else knows what to do or look for.

Imagine you came on one of my tech forums and I gave a response like that.. just remember that everyone is a noob at something.

[Julie]

All that info's in the stickies.

[Pugsy]

Look down in the R's for the selection choice for your machine. It's down there.
Somehow or other it got ResMed stuck in the front of the listing and the listings are in alphabetical order.

[SyCoREAPER]

Look down in the R's for the selection choice for your machine. It's down there.
Somehow or other it got ResMed stuck in the front of the listing and the listings are in alphabetical order.

Got it, fixed. Thank you

[Pugsy]

I covered most of the basics in the "newbies please read before posting" topic at the top of the announcements sections.

Do you not have that section showing on your computer?

If not...here's a link to my topic. It is a bit of a read but if someone takes just a bit of time I covered most of the basics.
viewtopic/t158560/How-to-post-images-for-review.html

[SyCoREAPER]

Was having issues viewing with my tablet but switched to laptop.

OP updated with screenshot. Hope I didn't miss anything. (Ignore the leak before 11:30, the mask wasn't sitting right and I was playing around with it)

[Pugsy]

What position do you normally sleep?
How much of a chance you were on your back when the machine went a lot higher?

That would be my best guess as to why the pressure went up and stayed up.
And then maybe other parts of the nigh you were on your side and you didn't need as much pressure.
It's quite common for OSA to worsen and/or need more pressure when we are on our back.

You might be able to keep it from going so high with more minimum pressure. It's setting a new minimum for you anyway.
Probably at least 10 ish.

[SyCoREAPER]

Thanks for the quick reply. I would like to say I was on my side, as when I fall asleep I tend to stay on my side and likewise if I fall asleep on my back I stay on my back. BUT I cannot be certain as I take 4 different medications to put and keep me asleep and I am basically a vegetable and remember very little if at all of when I wake up in the middle of the night.

[Pugsy]

I tend to promote sleeping in whatever position a person wants to and let the machine sort it out unless the sorting it out causes a problem. Sometimes people need a LOT more pressure when they are on their back or even just in REM sleep stage. My pressure needs don't seem to vary much with sleeping position but sometimes I might need 6 to 8 cm more pressure during REM. This was confirm by my sleep studies...my OSA is 5 times worse in REM.

REM and supine sleeping ....pretty much the only real reasons for marked differences in pressure needs. The reason I didn't think REM in your situation is that REM doesn't last that long in each stage...it would be highly unusual to have a REM stage that lasted an hour...much less 3 or 4 hours.

Now sometimes I have heard of people who tend to sort of tuck their chin to their chest and this scrunches the airway even more and can cause a need for higher pressures. The wearing of a cervical collar has helped a lot of people when this happens and the need for more pressure causes a problem.

Unless you are having a problem with the pressure itself like maybe bad aerophagia (gas pains in the belly kind of thing) I wouldn't worry about what the machine is needing to do. There are people who need pressures over 20 all night long...so if you compare your pressure needs to theirs they would probably consider your pressures a walk in the park.

Unless you are having a problem of some sort with the pressures it doesn't really matter what the cause is. Let the machine sort it out and merrily go on your way.

Now if it seems to be causing some problems....explain the problem and we can see what might be done so you don't have the problem anymore.

[SyCoREAPER]

There's no issue that I am aware on my end, I just didn't know if the machine was working as intended. From what I've read and my limited understanding of APAP machines, I thought they were supposed to be constantly adjusting and thought it's a bit odd that my machine likes to keep the pressure pegged up and I didn't see anything in the graphs (in my opinion) that should keep it pegged up. I read that too high of pressure can cause central apnea and didnt want to be at risk for that.