Newbie here! Staying positive, but I keep waking up right as I doze off

[Brysleeps]

lets see what happens tonight with more normal settings and go from there.

Last night seemed a little better with the new settings(Vauto mode, 7EPAP with PS of 4). But ultimately I had the same issue of waking up as soon as I doze-off, because I'm not taking a breath. Here's my report from last night. I wore the mask for 2hrs 30mins until I had to take it off and get some sleep.

https://i.imgur.com/dGf7eAC.png

Looks like a lot of central sleep apnea events. Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Pugsy]

Reduce PS from 4 to 2.
Keep everything else the same....for now anyway.
Try to make only one change at a time when possible so that we can best evaluate the results of that change.

[Brysleeps]

Ok! Thanks again!

[Pugsy]

The idea is to see if PS is maybe impacting the central production or not.
As in triggering the centrals. In a small percentage of people it can.
The best we can hope for with this machine is maybe reducing the number of centrals by reducing PS...and that will help only if PS is the trigger.

At this point we don't know for sure what the trigger is. We are just making educated guesses.

[Brysleeps]

The data from last night appears to be better! I could only tolerate the mask for 2hours, but better thank nothing, I guess.

OSCAR chart: https://i.imgur.com/hnWY0y6.png

Last night my settings were: PS of 2 with EPAP at 7 (Vauto on). I had 5 Central Apnea events and 1 Obstructive Apnea event.
The night prior, my settings were: PS of 4 with EPAP at 7 (Vauto on). I had 29 Central Apnea events and 9 Obstructive Apneas events.

So, it looks like reducing the PS to 2 helped decrease both CA's and OA's. I guess I just have to force myself to wear the mask longer throughout the night.

Any additional suggestions or advice?

[Pugsy]

Any additional suggestions or advice?

Nothing at this point beyond what you already realize.
Practice, practice, practice so you can use the machine all night instead of just a couple of hours.
2 hours is not really long enough time frame to evaluate accurately....but PS of 2 does seem promising....maybe try lowering again but not right now. Don't go changing things too quickly because the body needs time to adjust to a setting change.

Try to figure out why you have to quit using the mask/machine after a short length of time....if you can...and fix it.
Why quit using it after a short period of time?

Perhaps some sort of sleep aid to help you over the hump.....do talk to your doctor.

Without sleep....none of it matters.

[Brysleeps]

Thank you Pugsy. I'm going to try my best tonight to keep the mask on longer tonight. Now that I can see the PS of 2 is helping, I feel better about keeping it on. I think I was used to taking it off due to all the CA's, but now that I can see my CA's are way lower, I will just keep it on and see.

Thanks again!

[mp6617]

Not sure if this is helpful but I have an AirSense 11 and I'm able to turn off the ramp time. It's still on auto but instead of waiting til I go to sleep it starts upping the air as I need it right away. I was having the same issue of waking up all the time when I quit breathing. I am starting to actually sleep with it now that I turned the ramp time off. Good luck.

Thank you! I've turned off ramp mode.

Is it helping at all?

[Brysleeps]

Is it helping at all?

I think so. I'm only about a week in, but I've turned off Ramp Mode. Seems like a common suggestion.

[Brysleeps]

Kind of off-topic... but I informed my doctor of my findings and he changed my settings to PS of 4, EPAP of 9 and IPAP of 18... According to what I have learned, since the PS is set to 4, my IPAP pressure will never get to 18, it will cap out at 13. Because 9+4 = 13. Is this right?

Just curious because he said that's not how it works... Can anyone confirm?

Thanks!

[Pugsy]

I informed my doctor of my findings and he changed my settings to PS of 4, EPAP of 9 and IPAP of 18... According to what I have learned, since the PS is set to 4, my IPAP pressure will never get to 18, it will cap out at 13. Because 9+4 = 13. Is this right?

Just curious because he said that's not how it works... Can anyone confirm?

It depends on the mode being used if PS of 4 means 9 plus the 4 and inhale being 13 and I have no idea what the doctor was referring to with "that's not how it works"....I have no idea what "it" he is referring to.

Auto bilevel mode....if Minimum EPAP is 9 and PS is 4 then you have 9 cm for exhale and 13 cm for inhale and what it might go to will depend on maximum IPAP setting. If max IPAP is set to 18 then IF IPAP has to go up then it will drag EPAP up with it and the difference is always going to be 4....like if you hit 18 IPAP then EPAP will be at 14.

[Brysleeps]

Auto bilevel mode....if Minimum EPAP is 9 and PS is 4 then you have 9 cm for exhale and 13 cm for inhale and what it might go to will depend on maximum IPAP setting. If max IPAP is set to 18 then IF IPAP has to go up then it will drag EPAP up with it and the difference is always going to be 4....like if you hit 18 IPAP then EPAP will be at 14.

This answers it. Thank you!

[zonker]

Kind of off-topic...

not off topic and don't worry about it. this is YOUR therapy thread. ask any questions you have in here, please. it helps those giving advice to see your history.

good luck!

[Brysleeps]

Ya'll! I slept good last night! I took the mask off after 4 hours & 15 mins, but that's double the amount of time I've been able to tolerate it. I only had 2 CA's and 2 OA's with an AHI of 1.18!
I'll try harder to keep the mask on longer/through-out the night. I'm actually pretty comfortable in the mask, but I move a lot during the night. Different positions, pillow setup, etc...

I noticed that small leaks are annoying me. My mask is nice and tight, but not too tight. However, I noticed when I move around, sometime it open a tiny leak on my lips that I can feel and hear.

Any advice?