Apnea Newbie CPAP adventures (so much yawning?)

[zonker]

I have not tried to mess with autoramp because I was scared to change the settings, but I will try to change it tonight if someone gives me a recommendation after looking at the data below.

would you be okay with changing your minimum pressure? imho, it's too low. if you look at your pressure chart, you can see that you get from a start of 5 (your current setting) up to 9 + fairly quickly. that's because the machine is trying to help out. if you started at a higher minimum pressure, you'd get better therapy more quickly.

it would make sense to set that minimum at 9. if that's too big of a leap for you, try 7.

good luck!

[lynninnj]

Thanks to those who posted for taking interest in my Journey, I really appreciate everyone's inputs

Here are two screen shots
The night before that I had the sleep with lowest AHI yet which I also have attached.

I have not tried to mess with autoramp because I was scared to change the settings, but I will try to change it tonight if someone gives me a recommendation after looking at the data below.

No expert here but some use no ramp at all. I use a five minute ramp so I have five min to settle in before it starts increasing pressure and registering AHI. It’s helpful if I turn iff for any reason and then come back to bed.

With your setting of auto it can take a very long time before getting up to pressure levels that are therapeutic.

Good luck.

[Steerpike58]

Thanks to those who posted for taking interest in my Journey, I really appreciate everyone's inputs

Here are two screen shots
The night before that I had the sleep with lowest AHI yet which I also have attached.

I have not tried to mess with autoramp because I was scared to change the settings, but I will try to change it tonight if someone gives me a recommendation after looking at the data below.

No expert here but some use no ramp at all. I use a five minute ramp so I have five min to settle in before it starts increasing pressure and registering AHI. It’s helpful if I turn iff for any reason and then come back to bed.

With your setting of auto it can take a very long time before getting up to pressure levels that are therapeutic.

Good luck.

In my brief experience, ramp was a negative. The ramp just lets you start out with a lower pressure, giving you a chance to get to sleep first. But for me, the ramp start pressure of 4 was too low and I was struggling to breath. I felt much better when I turned ramp off and just started out with the nice higher pressure.

[dataq1]

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?

[lynninnj]

Thanks to those who posted for taking interest in my Journey, I really appreciate everyone's inputs

Here are two screen shots
The night before that I had the sleep with lowest AHI yet which I also have attached.

I have not tried to mess with autoramp because I was scared to change the settings, but I will try to change it tonight if someone gives me a recommendation after looking at the data below.

No expert here but some use no ramp at all. I use a five minute ramp so I have five min to settle in before it starts increasing pressure and registering AHI. It’s helpful if I turn iff for any reason and then come back to bed.

With your setting of auto it can take a very long time before getting up to pressure levels that are therapeutic.

Good luck.

In my brief experience, ramp was a negative. The ramp just lets you start out with a lower pressure, giving you a chance to get to sleep first. But for me, the ramp start pressure of 4 was too low and I was struggling to breath. I felt much better when I turned ramp off and just started out with the nice higher pressure.

I hear you. To each their own.

That short five minutes gives me time to settle in, flip over or whatever before it starts counting events. I don’t think of it as “time to fall asleep “ at all.

[ChicagoGranny]

But for me, the ramp start pressure of 4 was too low and I was struggling to breath.

That's a very common feeling. I'm not comfortable with inhalation pressures below 7.0.

[dataq1]

That's a very common feeling. I'm not comfortable with inhalation pressures below 7.0.

Can you tell me if your discomfort (or as said above "struggling") is something that you experience when you are not using your mask?

Do you feel that the mask, at a low pressure, is limiting the volume of air?

[ChicagoGranny]

I never said struggling.

[dataq1]

I never said struggling.

And I didn’t say you did, you said “not comfortable”; Steerpike said “struggling”. Both were in relation to lower pressures.

I’m trying to understand why/if folks might think they are not getting sufficient volume of air, regardless of the pressure.

[Steerpike58]

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.

[hungryguy]

So I raised minimum pressure to 10 and changed start pressure to 8 and ramp auto
I liked it and used it for a week.
Then I tried turning off the ramp time and found it too uncomfortable.
For the last 3 days I changed the start pressure to 8.8 and ramp to 10min.
I've been sleeping really great without any urge to go to the bathroom middle of the night. How wonderful it is to not wake up every 1 hour and use the washroom!!!

I have noticed during the last 2 weeks though, I wake up during middle of the night briefly and notice some air leaking around my mask and adjust it a little to fall asleep. (probably woke 15seconds at the most)
If I don't sleep completely flat on my back, I am prone to mask leak.
However in the morning when I actually fully wake up to check ahi, it always shows green face for mask leak. (does this mean it is ok and within limit of minimal leak?)
My AHI for the past week has been between 5-6.

[Pugsy]

However in the morning when I actually fully wake up to check ahi, it always shows green face for mask leak. (does this mean it is ok and within limit of minimal leak?)

Mr Smiley face (Mr Green) doesn't change to Mr Frowny face (Mr Red) until you spend 30% or more of the usage above 24 L/min excess leak.