Tired apap user

[kobster123]

Hi folks,

I am new to this forum,and looking for help.I found out in May that I had sleep apnea.,30 ahi.I received my machine July 27,22.I have a full mask and I have no problems using it.My ahi now is under 3.The only thing is I have not had an alert day since I have been on apap.I sleep on both sides.Is there any sense trying to adjust pressure on an apap?

[LSAT]

With a low AHI and sleeping well, I don't see what changing the pressure would accomplish. What are your pressure settings?

[kobster123]

Hi,
Thanks for answering.My machine is set at low 4 and high of 20.I wake up a few times a night to use bathroom.When I wake in the morning,I am not refreshed or alert during the day.Thanks

[zonker]

Hi folks,

welcome to the zoo!

it would help us to help you if you could give us more information. we are each of us different in out cpap journey. pls see this thread for help in what you will need to give us-

viewtopic/t172378/Sticky--Newbies-PLEAS ... STING.html

also, robysue1 has this bit of text that would also help you to help us-

"How to accurately describe your problems.

A lot of new PAPers come here and describe the problems they are encountering in vague language along the lines of "I can't breathe with the mask on" or "the mask is uncomfortable" or "I can't get to sleep with the mask on." But many different problems with different solutions can be described using the same vague language such as "I can't breathe" or "the mask is uncomfortable" or "I can't get to sleep with the mask on."

In order for us to help you, you need to really listen to your body and figure out exactly what kinds of things make it difficult to get to sleep with the mask on your nose and air blowing down your throat. And then you need to accurately describe those problems as best you can.


Common comfort complaints that can lead to problems with getting to sleep include:
"I can't breath problems"
Feeling like there's too much air coming in through the mask making it hard to exhale fully. So you feel like you "can't breathe."
Feeling like there's not enough air coming in through the mask making it hard to inhale fully. So you feel like you "can't breath."
Feeling like the machine is trying to force you to breath by making you inhale (or exhale) before you are ready to.
The air coming in through the mask is too hot, too cold, too dry or too damp for you to easily breathe.
Mask problems
The mask is uncomfortable because you think you have to tighten the headgear to the point where it hurts.
The mask irritates your skin.
The headgear gets trapped in your hair.
Leak problems
Your mask leaks. And the leaks wake you up. But you can't seem to fix them.
Your mask leaks and you're aware of air blowing into your eyes.
Your mask leaks and you're aware of air blowing out around the edges on the mask or onto your lips or chin.
Your machine data indicates you have leaks and even if the leaks don't wake you up, you have dry eyes or a dry mouth when you wake up.
Your machine data indicates you are leaking, but you can't feel any leaks, you don't wake up, and you don't know if the problem is the mask coming unsealed or if you are mouth breathing while using a nasal mask.
You are wondering if the leak data you are looking at is acceptable or not. All masks have built-in intentional leaks. Some machines report total leak, including the intentional leaks; some machines only report unintentional leaks.
Humidifier related problems
Your nose and/or mouth are too dried out when you wake up. (If your mouth is too dry, that could be a leak problem instead of a humidifier problem.)
You have a wet nose because there's water in your mask.
You hear a gurgling sound with each and every breath because there's water in the hose.
The air coming through the hose is too hot, too cold, too dry, or too warm for you to be comfortable.
Your humidifier seems to not go through any water at night.
Your humidifier seems to go dry before you wake up.
Aerophagia problems
I wake up with a stomach full of air. (Tell us how bad it hurts and how often it happens.)
CPAP seems to make my acid reflux worse.
I wake up needing to fart--a lot.
I wake up needing to belch--a lot.
I feel like air is being forced into my stomach as well as my throat.
Miscellaneous comfort problems that can lead to not being able to get to sleep easily
Your nose itches. And you can't scratch it. So it itches even more.
The exhaust vents blow air on your arms, your chest, bounce off your bedcovers and into your eyes, etc.
The back of your throat tickles like it's never tickled before when you are going to sleep.
You can hear the sound of your own breathing and it sounds like Darth Vader. And that keeps you from getting to sleep.
You just don't see how to make CPAP and your favorite sleeping position play nice with each other. (Yes, you can stomach sleep with a CPAP mask on your face.)
You get trapped in the hose every time you try to change position.
You lie there as still as possible because you're worried moving will trigger leaks or you'll get trapped in the hose or you'll pull the machine off the night table when all you really want to do is move around in bed.
If I didn't manage to list your biggest pet peeves about trying to sleep with a CPAP machine, then try to articulate as best you can what specific things make it hard for you to get to sleep when you are trying to use your CPAP machine. Because as crazy as you think they sound, someone here will have experienced something similar. And you'll find all kinds of suggestions on what to try.


Efficacy questions/problems

We also get a lot of new posters who have questions about the efficacy of their CPAP therapy. Most of the time these questions come from people who have been PAPing for a while, but who are not feeling any better than they did before they started CPAP, and in some cases, people feel worse than they did before starting CPAP. Again, it's important to describe the full problem if you want us to help you. If you are not feeling better, but you think you should be, it helps us help you if you include the following information:
Your original sleep disordered breathing diagnosis: How bad was/is your untreated apnea? What were your daytime symptoms prior to starting therapy.
How long you've been PAPing in terms of days, weeks, months, or years.
How long you use your CPAP/APAP each night.
If you sometimes or frequently sleep without the PAP, that's critically important information
Any data you can provide about your treated OSA: What's your machine reported AHI? How has it changed over time? Downloading OSCAR or joining SleepHQ will allow you to post detailed daily data that will help us help you a lot more than just the summary data off the machine or from a site like MyAir will.
Information about your other medical conditions or medicines if they can affect the quality of your sleep: PAP fixes nothing except sleep disordered breathing (aka OSA and related conditions), and it only fixes sleep disordered breathing if you are sleeping well with the mask on your face.
Information about what you've already tried (if anything) to increase the efficacy of your PAP therapy and improve your sleep. Also give us an idea of why things failed if they didn't work."

good luck!

[palerider]

Hi,
Thanks for answering.My machine is set at low 4 and high of 20.I wake up a few times a night to use bathroom.When I wake in the morning,I am not refreshed or alert during the day.Thanks

Well, your machine isn't set at all.

So, while your AHI isn't bad, it's not great, and there's quite possibly room for improvement.

wiki/index.php/Oscar:organize

[robysue1]

Hi folks,

I am new to this forum,and looking for help.I found out in May that I had sleep apnea.,30 ahi.I received my machine July 27,22.I have a full mask and I have no problems using it.My ahi now is under 3.The only thing is I have not had an alert day since I have been on apap.I sleep on both sides.Is there any sense trying to adjust pressure on an apap?

and

Hi,
Thanks for answering.My machine is set at low 4 and high of 20.I wake up a few times a night to use bathroom.When I wake in the morning,I am not refreshed or alert during the day.Thanks

I'm assuming that you are using the APAP for the whole night's sleep. If you're not, that could be the answer to your questions.

It could be that there's something else that is keeping you from getting a restorative night's sleep. And if you're waking up more than once or twice during the night needing to pee, that could be part of why you are not waking up refreshed or able to stay alert during the day. While sleep apnea is known to cause nocturia (need to go pee multiple times in the night), sleep apnea is not the only cause of nocturia. So it may be worthwhile to get that checked out to see if there is something else wrong.

Or it could be that you would do better on a tighter APAP range. In other words, increasing the min pressure might help. But without seeing any data, there's no way for us to tell what's going on.

What other medical conditions do you have? And are you on any daily medications for them that might affect the quality of your sleep?

[kobster123]

Thanks folks for your informative repies.I use a rented for now F and P APAP.This machine does not have wifi access.There is only the stick in the back.Is there a way to transfer data from this to computer for Oscar!!Background,I have low hypothyroidism,that is under control and I have a deviated septum.Before cpap at night I use net pot and salene.

[Miss Emerita]

The Oscar wiki includes this:

Fully Supported by Oscar

Sleepstyle

Partly supported by Oscar

Icon
Icon+

--Note: Fisher & Paykel Icon does not store a "Flow Rate" signal, so no waveform graph, nor analysis is possible. Events, Pressure, AHI, Snore, Leak Rate, and Time at Pressure graphs are available.

If you have one of those machines, there should be a slot for an SD card. Do you see one?

[Janknitz]

Your settings on your APAP are "wide open". Often when the pressure starts out so low, your machine has to "chase apneas" and it doesn't happen all that quickly or efficiently, it's better to PREVENT apneas in the first place. Most of us achieve an AHI of well under 1.0 with optimal settings (my average, for example, is 0.2). An AHI of 3.0 means you stop breathing 24 times a night if you sleep 8 hours. So it is likely that your settings aren't optimized for your needs and that's affecting the quality of your treatment. That may not be the only reason for your fatigue, but it's certainly one factor that can be improved.

[ChicagoGranny]

I use a rented for now F and P APAP.

If there is any opportunity to switch machines, get a Resmed AutoSet.

[kobster123]

How different do you you find Resmed from F and P?

[kobster123]

Folks,

Thanks for everyone’s advise,very informative.My machine was set by the RT at the provider of the machine.I was shown how to clean the mask etc but vert little about the F and P APAP.When I did have trouble with fatigue,the RT said all there clients do not have any trouble with the machine and that I should see a doctor.lol.
I have a APAP with ahi of 3,so I should raise the lower pressure of 4 to a higher number,to bring down ahi.The machine auto adjusts with events,so how does this work,thanks.

[ozij]

I have a APAP with ahi of 3,so I should raise the lower pressure of 4 to a higher number,to bring down ahi.The machine auto adjusts with events,so how does this work,thanks.

An automatically adjusting machine will do nothing at all, unless something in your breathing indicates adjustment is needed. First something happens (you have an obsturctive event, you snore, there are indication of imminent collapse of your airway) then the machine does something.
After the machine has raised your pressure, and you cruising along happily, the machine says "oh, no problems, great, lets drop the pressure" and it drops the pressure, until you have another indicator that justifies raising the pressure.

Those events and the pressure changes (up or down) may disrupt your sleep.

If you want to prevent events, you need to have the minimal pressure at a level that prevents most of them. Not at a pressure that lets them happen.

[Midnight Strangler]

My machine was set by the RT at the provider of the machine.

The RT didn't set the pressure. He left it on the wide-open factory setting. He has to follow the doctor's prescription.

[robysue1]

My machine was set by the RT at the provider of the machine.

The RT didn't set the pressure. He left it on the wide-open factory setting. He has to follow the doctor's prescription.

Which means the doc wrote the script for 4-20cm

So kobster123: Did you have a titration sleep study? Or just a diagnostic one?

Some doctors will opt to use an APAP running wide open instead of a formal titration study. They will typically have the machine gather data for a week or two and then look at the machine's data to determine a more appropriate, narrower range of pressures or a fixed pressure for a CPAP instead of an APAP.