APAP to CPAP?

[Wulfman...]

Den, the previous night when I did 9.5-12 belly was ok. Seems like shooting up over 12 pumps my up
Went higher as it had stayed at 12 so long wondered if higher max was better which it was not

Question. If 9-12 is ok is there any advantage to doing a straight 9.5-9.5 on auto
Will be a few days till I get bipap so in the meantime want to stick with something consistent

Thanks again.

Like I said (in one way or other)......it's YOUR therapy.
Didn't you say that 10 cm. (or slightly higher) also gave you aerophagia? I thought that's why "we" were tinkering with 9.5 at one point.
I just liked the looks of that one night at 9.0 cm.......up until you deliberately stayed on your back.
I also have my doubts that significantly HIGHER pressure is going to blast those clusters into submission.


Den

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[Sleepysuz]

Gotcha Understanding better

[Sleepysuz]

Checking in: Last night the best to date. Better sleep! 9.5-12.5 range. High enough to make more of a dent in the clusters. Low enough to keep the belly pain away. It's amazing what a difference 0.5 can make! The bipap comes next week. I can live with this in the meantime.

[Pugsy]

That's good to hear. Better sleep is what it is all about.
And yes, it's amazing what a little 0.5 cm difference will make for some people.

[Wulfman...]

Glad to hear that.
If you get a night without clusters (or minimal amounts of them), it would be interesting to see the report
I'm curious as to if there are events that trigger pressure increases.


Den

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[Sleepysuz]

Tried to see if going up from 9.5 to 13 was too much. It was but not the bad pain like when I was lurching from a minimum of 4. Going to track the next 4 nights at 9.5-12.5 that worked and then will report back Monday
Question: do people swallow less air when they go to a nose mask?

[Pugsy]

Question: do people swallow less air when they go to a nose mask?

I don't know. One of the worst times I ever had with aerophagia causing horrible symptoms the next day was after a night I used a full face mask...and one of the reasons I never used it again. So I can't say for sure but the experience was so bad that I decided right then and there that come hell or high water I would learn to keep my mouth shut some how so that I could use the nasal pillow mask.

[Wulfman...]

Tried to see if going up from 9.5 to 13 was too much. It was but not the bad pain like when I was lurching from a minimum of 4. Going to track the next 4 nights at 9.5-12.5 that worked and then will report back Monday
Question: do people swallow less air when they go to a nose mask?

I couldn't tell you. And, especially from personal experience......as I've always used a FF mask and don't really open my mouth or mouth-breathe unless I have a cold or am seriously congested.
I learned to keep my tongue to the roof of my mouth right from the start. I was always a mouth-breather before therapy, but now have trouble mouth-breathing with my mask. Go figure......


Den

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[Joyful Sleeper]

Question: do people swallow less air when they go to a nose mask?

I have found that I need lower pressures when I use a nasal mask than when I use a full face mask and the lower pressures mean less aerophagia pain for me; I also need lower pressures with nasal pillows than with a nasal mask and that also means less aerophagia pain. With a constant pressure range, my AHI's dropped when I moved from full face mask to nasal mask to nose pillows.

I appreciate the discussion and input from all!

[Sleepysuz]

Follow up a week later. There is no rhyme or reason to my stats.
Have had average AHI is 7.95 bouncing between 3 and 9. Have had hardly any FLs some nights and tons other nights The nights with more FLs had less OAs.

Did have the high AHI of 14.76 one night when I ate some chocolate so that might be a reflux thing. Have kept my pressures at 9.5-11.5 and had no problem with the aerophagia at these levels.
Am supposed to get the bipap later this week and switching to a nasal pillow. Hope I'm not jumping the gun on getting the bipap, but it's all a guess.
Suz

[Wulfman...]

Been wondering about you, Suz.

Thanks for the update. Since you're switching to Bi-PAP soon, there's no reason to make any recommendations or further comments at this point.

Let us know how the transition goes.


Den

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[Sleepysuz]

Another update.

Got a nasal pillow and the aerophagia is better. Increased the max pressure and went up to 13.5 without the pain I had at 12 with the FFM Now have less OAs so AHI is now driven more by centrals I have been tracking my numbers and sometimes have more centrals than OAs. This was the case all the time I've been on the auto Cpap but more obvious now that the OAs are down with the nasal pillows

Are 12 CAs a significant number?

Waiting on the bipap to be delivered. The DME reports insurance is waiting for an Rx change as the doctor that sent one didn't give them settings. She was going with an auto and I guess assumed the exhale settings would just be in a range below my 9.5-11.5 inhale currently working.

It was my (mis)? understanding that the bipap might be better for centrals or is that just a BipapST?

Checked with a 2nd dr. who says 1) get a sleep study so you know what settings you need then get the bipap
2) get the auto bipap now if there is a delay setting up the sleep study in an effort to control the CAs

Thoughts?

[Wulfman...]

Another update.

Got a nasal pillow and the aerophagia is better. Increased the max pressure and went up to 13.5 without the pain I had at 12 with the FFM Now have less OAs so AHI is now driven more by centrals I have been tracking my numbers and sometimes have more centrals than OAs. This was the case all the time I've been on the auto Cpap but more obvious now that the OAs are down with the nasal pillows

Are 12 CAs a significant number?

Waiting on the bipap to be delivered. The DME reports insurance is waiting for an Rx change as the doctor that sent one didn't give them settings. She was going with an auto and I guess assumed the exhale settings would just be in a range below my 9.5-11.5 inhale currently working.

It was my (mis)? understanding that the bipap might be better for centrals or is that just a BipapST?

Checked with a 2nd dr. who says 1) get a sleep study so you know what settings you need then get the bipap
2) get the auto bipap now if there is a delay setting up the sleep study in an effort to control the CAs

Thoughts?

It may depend on the number of hours you slept and the AHI (for CAs).

I think there's a "threshold" for which type of machine they prescribe for Centrals. The "ASV" machines supposedly can better address them. But, like I said, I don't know what the percentage or quantity of them is necessary for those machines. And, many times "standard" Bi-Level machines are prescribed for aerophagia.

It's something they'll have to figure out in your sleep study. If they use the Philips/Respironics "OmniLab" machine, it's a multi-mode machine and they can remotely switch modes and settings to see which configuration would work better.


Den

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[Pugsy]

Are 12 CAs a significant number?

Depends on hours of sleep. With 2 hours of sleep that would be a 6 per hour average but if 6 hours of sleep that would be a 2 per hour average.
6 per hour wouldn't be good but 2 per hour would be within acceptable limits. More than 5 per hour...every hour...every night...then the doctor needs to be contacted for sure.

Heck...I once had 17 of them within 17 minutes...one a minute. It was a fluke night though. Talk about one ugly flow rate for 17 minutes. Never did know why or what caused it so the aliens got the blame. They are the ones who get the blame for weird fluke things we can't explain.

[Meldixon]

Hi does anyone know how you change a cpap machine from apap to cpap??? My husband had surgery a mo ago and they RT hooked O2 to his machine for a cpl hrs while in recovery and now he says it smothers him at night and cant wear it but its on apap not cpap anylinger heeelp if ya can plz...