dataq1 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 8:52 pm
Steerpike58 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 8:38 pm
pressure of 4 was too low and I was struggling to breath.
I've heard this remark occasionally before and always wondered if I'm missing some nuance. Do you "struggle to breath" when you
do not have your mask on (literally at zero pressure support)?
If not, do you feel as if there is insufficient
volume of air when you have your mask on?
I can only give a very subjective answer. When I first got the machine, it was set with a ramp setting of '4', and a min pressure of 5. My general sensation was one of not getting enough air for quite a while when first putting the mask on. Later, min pressure was raised to 7, then 8, then 9 over time, and ramp was disabled. With ramp off, the machine immediately kicks in at the low pressure setting, and I felt like I was getting more air right off the bat, and that was a good feeling - better than when ramp was on and set at 4. I could have experimented with leaving ramp on but at a higher start level, I guess, but didn't.
As for when not wearing a mask, I'd say in general I only get 'just enough' air through my nostrils. I tend to find one or the other nostril is partially blocked at night, and I've been wearing 'breath rite' strips for some time to combat this at night (with only slight success). I had to stop wearing the breath-rite strips once I started with the CPAP as they interfered with the mask seal. This phenomenon is somewhat disturbing, because I'm not currently suffering from any obvious allergies. I've had allergies for years at various seasonal times, and know what they are like - runny nose, sneezing, blocked nose, etc. Currently, I simply find that one nostril or the other is partially blocked and this blockage moves from side to side as I change position; I have no other allergy indications like sneezing, runny nose, mucous, etc. I'm actually seeing my regular Dr this week to see if I can pursue this with an ENT.
Overall, I'd say breathing with mask (Ramp=4) was less enjoyable than breathing naturally (no mask), while breathing with the mask (ramp off) was an improvement over no mask. I suspect EPR may have been a factor but didn't experiment with that - turning off EPR was such a problem, I only tried it for half a night.