Mask Pressure

It seems that I wake up every time my mask pressure drops during the night. Coincidence ?

Has anyone else encountered a similar situation or has suggestions on how to fix it?

I've attached data from two different nights, each with different pressure settings, to illustrate the problem.

Both screenshots seem to show that you're holding your breath and then having arousal breathing. I don't know what causes you to hold your breath; maybe you're turning over?

It appears that your mask pressure changes in response to your breathing pattern.

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 07, 2023 12:40 pm

Both screenshots seem to show that you're holding your breath and then having arousal breathing. I don't know what causes you to hold your breath; maybe you're turning over?

It appears that your mask pressure changes in response to your breathing pattern.

How can I fix this ? This happens almost every night. I never get more than 3-4 hours of sleep.

I always start on my left side and try to avoid turning on my back. I put a thick blanket behind my back.

I use Airtouch n20 nasal mask and tape my mouth, have a deviated septum, some congestion. I do use humidity.

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 07, 2023 12:40 pm

Both screenshots seem to show that you're holding your breath and then having arousal breathing. I don't know what causes you to hold your breath; maybe you're turning over?

It appears that your mask pressure changes in response to your breathing pattern.

I changed my cpap pressure last night back to auto cpap and woke up again after my mask pressure decreased. I'm seing a pattern here but what is causing me to wake up ? Any insights ? https://postimg.cc/DJMB98pk

Your focus remains on your mask pressure, but I'd recommend that you pay more attention to your flow rate, where you'll see that again you were holding your breath. Starting at around 3:05, your breathing looks as though you might be partly awake. (It's not nice and regular, like the breathing before 3:05.)

It'd be good if you could try to keep your mask on and go back to sleep after these wake-ups. Can you put your finger on why you find that difficult?

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 08, 2023 12:05 pm

Your focus remains on your mask pressure, but I'd recommend that you pay more attention to your flow rate, where you'll see that again you were holding your breath. Starting at around 3:05, your breathing looks as though you might be partly awake. (It's not nice and regular, like the breathing before 3:05.)

It'd be good if you could try to keep your mask on and go back to sleep after these wake-ups. Can you put your finger on why you find that difficult?

I don't see anything that looks like asleep breathing in that screenshot.

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 08, 2023 12:05 pm

Your focus remains on your mask pressure, but I'd recommend that you pay more attention to your flow rate, where you'll see that again you were holding your breath. Starting at around 3:05, your breathing looks as though you might be partly awake. (It's not nice and regular, like the breathing before 3:05.)

It'd be good if you could try to keep your mask on and go back to sleep after these wake-ups. Can you put your finger on why you find that difficult?

This occurs every night around the same time. I get 2 to 4ish hours of sleep every night.
What should I be looking at, how can you tell that I was holding my breath, how to fix this (change pressure or epr settings, switch to a full face mask (currently using AirTouch N20 with tape on my mouth)...) ? once I wake up I'm unable to fall back asleep.

Here is a screenshot capturing the entire night. https://postimg.cc/1g6ZXcQ3

The leak occurred because the tape peeled off as a result of excessive humidity (I'll be reducing that tonight).

palerider wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 08, 2023 12:59 pm

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 08, 2023 12:05 pm

Your focus remains on your mask pressure, but I'd recommend that you pay more attention to your flow rate, where you'll see that again you were holding your breath. Starting at around 3:05, your breathing looks as though you might be partly awake. (It's not nice and regular, like the breathing before 3:05.)

It'd be good if you could try to keep your mask on and go back to sleep after these wake-ups. Can you put your finger on why you find that difficult?

I don't see anything that looks like asleep breathing in that screenshot.

I'm so interested to know more about your thoughts here. If the regular breaths on the left of the screenshot are waking breaths, what is the give-away? The lack of pauses between breaths? The curviness of the exhalation trace? Or something else?

CPAPExplorer wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 08, 2023 1:43 pm

This occurs every night around the same time. I get 2 to 4ish hours of sleep every night.
What should I be looking at, how can you tell that I was holding my breath, how to fix this (change pressure or epr settings, switch to a full face mask (currently using AirTouch N20 with tape on my mouth)...) ? once I wake up I'm unable to fall back asleep.

In the flow rate graph, any part of the line that's above zero is inhalation, and anything below zero is exhalation. Right at zero is a pause in breathing. When you see the line go above zero and then immediately stay at zero, what has happened is that an inhalation has been followed by a pause in your breathing, aka holding your breath.

Changing your settings will almost certainly not make a difference to whether you hold your breath or not. As I mentioned in an earlier post, you might be holding it as you turn over. Or you might be holding it during REM sleep, as happens sometimes. I don't know the cause, and nothing about your Oscar graphs is really telling us.

When you wake up, do you try to fall back asleep? If not, give it a try. If you do try, what exactly happens next? Is your brain churning with thoughts? Is your mask feeling uncomfortable? Are you experiencing body aches and pains? Really try to put your finger on the exact experiences you're having.

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 09, 2023 12:02 pm

I'm so interested to know more about your thoughts here. If the regular breaths on the left of the screenshot are waking breaths, what is the give-away? The lack of pauses between breaths? The curviness of the exhalation trace? Or something else?

Yes, the pauses before inhalation is one of the characteristics of asleep breathing. Without seeing more data, which the OP seems incapable of, that's just a guess based on 'normal data'.

Thanks, PR!