can never get a full night with cpap

[Mudrock63]

i will try the auto with 8 min and 12 max tonight!

what is sleepyhead? I have NEVER used the Sd card feature on my cpap, i honestly have no idea how it even works.

also, noob question..what does auto do? It gets set at 8 and depending on my breathing it goes up to 12? im confused.

Auto mode gives the machine a range of pressure with which to respond to obstructive and other events. It tries to intuit what you need for a good night's sleep. There is a LOT of information on this board you can pick up by reading when you have spare time. Don't feel bad about being clueless. Most of us are when we start.

Sleepyhead is software that will plot out what happens during your night's sleep. Shows you events, pressure levels, and a whole lot more information. It's easy to use and the SD card in your machine contains a whole lot of data that will help you manage your therapy. But you have to take some time to educate yourself. It's not as hard as it appears, just takes some effort. You will be glad you took the effort.

[OkyDoky]

The goal is to keep learning and trying to get comfortable using your machine always while asleep. It may take time but people here will help. Sleepyhead is a software program that one of our members wrote to help us see what the machine records during the night while we use it. You can learn how to download it here. https://sleep.tnet.com/resources/sleepyhead
Once you get some sleep and data you can if you want take a screenshot and post it here to see if members have any input on your data and settings. The way to do that is explained here. https://sleep.tnet.com/resources/sleepyhead/shorganize There are 3 pages total so at the bottom of the page be sure and click on the next section. (organize, screenshot, post)

[beanz1910]

The goal is to keep learning and trying to get comfortable using your machine always while asleep. It may take time but people here will help. Sleepyhead is a software program that one of our members wrote to help us see what the machine records during the night while we use it. You can learn how to download it here. https://sleep.tnet.com/resources/sleepyhead
Once you get some sleep and data you can if you want take a screenshot and post it here to see if members have any input on your data and settings. The way to do that is explained here. https://sleep.tnet.com/resources/sleepyhead/shorganize There are 3 pages total so at the bottom of the page be sure and click on the next section. (organize, screenshot, post)

i didnt even know my machine had a SD card! thank you! I opened it up in that program and saw the old settings that it was on auto from the sleep apnea guy who gave it to me! this could of been my issue the entire time. i tried to sleep with it on last night. i honestly fell asleep with it on for about 3 hours! i think i woke up and took it off tho i dont remember!

I am going to try and sleep with it for over 5 hours then post the screen shot so maybe yourself or someone can look at it and see whats best for me.

thank you and everyone on this forum so far its been VERY helpful and i am thankful everyone is so nice and helpful on here!

heres the changes of all the settings i used to try and mess with. im guessing the 1st setting is what the apnea people set it for me and i have NO idea when i started to change it though

[beanz1910]

so i tried to sleep with my mask on last night. I went to bed after 2am and maybe woke up and took it off around 4? When i went to bed the breathing in the mask was amazing on 8 pressure! I think i remember waking up and i think the pressure was higher and i was freaking out? I honestly dont remember though and looking in sleepyhead is so hard to see if my pressure changed =/ here are some screen shots, i think this is what you guys need to see. I am not 100% sure though. please let me know! Thanks in advanced.

[OkyDoky]

Your short period of data looks good. There is a period of large leak before you took your mask off and that may be the increased pressure sensation that you remember. You may have moved your mask by moving it on your pillow. Try sleeping on the edge of your pillow. Another thing you might try is a liner either http://padacheek.com/ or Remzz or make one of your own out of an old soft tee shirt. If your face gets oily it may cause the mask to slip and liners may decrease leaks. Remzz has a 6 sample pack they sell for 6.95 but if you call them they may send a trial one. http://www.remzzzs.com/default.asp They are made for single night use and are rather costly but some wash and reuse. I tried them and then ended up with PadaCheek because it stays on the mask until it needs washing.
Keep the pressures the same for now and work on preventing mask leaks which may be the cause of the wake up.

[beanz1910]

Your short period of data looks good. There is a period of large leak before you took your mask off and that may be the increased pressure sensation that you remember. You may have moved your mask by moving it on your pillow. Try sleeping on the edge of your pillow. Another thing you might try is a liner either http://padacheek.com/ or Remzz or make one of your own out of an old soft tee shirt. If your face gets oily it may cause the mask to slip and liners may decrease leaks. Remzz has a 6 sample pack they sell for 6.95 but if you call them they may send a trial one. http://www.remzzzs.com/default.asp They are made for single night use and are rather costly but some wash and reuse. I tried them and then ended up with PadaCheek because it stays on the mask until it needs washing.
Keep the pressures the same for now and work on preventing mask leaks which may be the cause of the wake up.

does all my info look right? I honestly cant remember what happened last night when i took my mask off i went to sleep with the machine on 8 and it felt AMAZING! then all of a sudden in my sleep it felt like it used to feel of me not being able to breathe and getting claustrophobic.

i dont really know how to read sleepyhead and i tried to read the tutorials on it all and its so confusing, should i be worried about all the red snore lines and blue hypopnea lines?

thank you in advanced.


also hate to keep asking questions in this thread but on my full face mask one of the clips is missing so i nomrally just loop the headband thru the spot the click goes. im looking to find the clips to buy online, anything cheaper than this?

http://www.easybreathe.com/Amara-Full-F ... p3702.html

they are 10 bucks on that site but theres a 10 dollar shipping fee, 20 bucks for one little clip is kind of outrageous lol

[OkyDoky]

Your AHI and number of events look very good for the couple of hours you slept. Don't worry about all the colored lines right now look at the AHI. Your machine shows almost 2 years of use were all those yours? Have you not been able to keep your mask on since beginning? You have to train your brain that this is a good thing. Do you mouth breathe and is that why you are using a FF mask?

[beanz1910]

Your AHI and number of events look very good for the couple of hours you slept. Don't worry about all the colored lines right now look at the AHI. Your machine shows almost 2 years of use were all those yours? Have you not been able to keep your mask on since beginning? You have to train your brain that this is a good thing. Do you mouth breathe and is that why you are using a FF mask?

yeah all of it is mine. i hardly used it in the beginning because i had NO idea how to use it and i changed it from auto to cpap with a pressure of like 15 and up until the other day i went back to auto and it felt better.


I am 25 years old and i dont think i EVER slept with my mouth shut breathing out of my nose. i originally was given a nasal mask 2 years back and i gave it back to the apnea people saying i cant even sleep with it on i keep my mouth open.


quick question....if i keep my machine on 8 min 12 max, it changes over night? was 12 too high for me last night and thats why i felt like i was not able to breathe and ripped it off? im looking at it and the pressure went up to 11 last night at one point.

[OkyDoky]

quick question....if i keep my machine on 8 min 12 max, it changes over night? was 12 too high for me last night and thats why i felt like i was not able to breathe and ripped it off? im looking at it and the pressure went up to 11 last night at one point.

If you look at your pressure graph you can see little pointed pressure spikes that is where the machine is checking to see if all is well. Then at just after 3AM you had events where the pressure went to 10 the little spike at top is just another check. The pressure didn't stay long at 10 and it looks like you slept right through the increase. To me it looks like the leak woke you up. The leak quit for a while then started again and the session ended.

[beanz1910]

quick question....if i keep my machine on 8 min 12 max, it changes over night? was 12 too high for me last night and thats why i felt like i was not able to breathe and ripped it off? im looking at it and the pressure went up to 11 last night at one point.

If you look at your pressure graph you can see little pointed pressure spikes that is where the machine is checking to see if all is well. Then at just after 3AM you had events where the pressure went to 10 the little spike at top is just another check. The pressure didn't stay long at 10 and it looks like you slept right through the increase. To me it looks like the leak woke you up. The leak quit for a while then started again and the session ended.

okay thanks! i honestly dont remember what happened i was so out of it when i woke up haha. I put the mask on pretty tight so it doesnt move or anything but i could of adjusted my body and it fell off. Ill try it again tn! excited to try it.

[beanz1910]

so i have been trying to sleep with the mask on every night with the auto setting. min 8 and max 12. Still cant make it over sleeping with it more than 30 minutes! i end up ripping it off feeling like i cant breathe! feels so claustrophobic to me, like im breathing and i can feel the air i breath out hitting the mask that is so close to my mouth and i start freaking out.

I honestly dont know what to do anymore =/. maybe another mask would help me? It HAS to be full mask since im a mouth breather. i honestly dont know. maybe my settings are wrong again?


i turn the humidifier off now since when its on i feel the air so thick and its just an odd feeling.


Its hard for me to describe my feeling when i wear my mask and try to sleep. It feels like if you would to try and sleep completly under your blanket with the blanket right near your face/nose/mouth

[Julie]

You may just be tightening the mask too much - it needs to be more relaxed so the thin little cushion strip that goes over your mouth can actually inflate when you sleep, and it won't be able to if everything's mashed down. If you tried on your mask (originally) while lying down and with the machine on you should have gotten some idea if it fit at all or if there were big leaks... lying down makes a big difference as your face changes then, so just trying it on while sitting won't tell you much.

And you still don't seem to understand about the auto and why there are two settings, or what they do. The high setting is not really as important as the low one... the low one's the one that will go higher to address apneas when they happen, or intercept them before they're dangerous. You could in fact have your high setting at 16 or even higher, but it's the low one that does the job. But try loosening up your mask a bit and if you get too many leaks, you need a diff. size or diff. mask altogether, not just 'tighter'.

[49er]

so i have been trying to sleep with the mask on every night with the auto setting. min 8 and max 12. Still cant make it over sleeping with it more than 30 minutes! i end up ripping it off feeling like i cant breathe! feels so claustrophobic to me, like im breathing and i can feel the air i breath out hitting the mask that is so close to my mouth and i start freaking out.

I honestly dont know what to do anymore =/. maybe another mask would help me? It HAS to be full mask since im a mouth breather. i honestly dont know. maybe my settings are wrong again?


i turn the humidifier off now since when its on i feel the air so thick and its just an odd feeling.


Its hard for me to describe my feeling when i wear my mask and try to sleep. It feels like if you would to try and sleep completly under your blanket with the blanket right near your face/nose/mouth

beanz,

Not to sound like I am belaboring the point but what about trying this mask, https://www.cpap.com/cpap-masks/total-f ... p-mask.php, as I previously suggested.

You may be ripping the full face off due it pressing on the nasal area and creating a feeling of congestion. So even though technically full face masks are supposed to let you breath through your mouth instead, if you have the feeling of your nasal breathing being shut off, that may be what is causing the feeling of claustrophobia. At least that was my experience with many full face masks.

The total face mask doesn't press against the nasal area and shouldn't cause claustrophobia even though it may look like it doe according to the picture.

Best of luck.

49er

[beanz1910]

You may just be tightening the mask too much - it needs to be more relaxed so the thin little cushion strip that goes over your mouth can actually inflate when you sleep, and it won't be able to if everything's mashed down. If you tried on your mask (originally) while lying down and with the machine on you should have gotten some idea if it fit at all or if there were big leaks... lying down makes a big difference as your face changes then, so just trying it on while sitting won't tell you much.

And you still don't seem to understand about the auto and why there are two settings, or what they do. The high setting is not really as important as the low one... the low one's the one that will go higher to address apneas when they happen, or intercept them before they're dangerous. You could in fact have your high setting at 16 or even higher, but it's the low one that does the job. But try loosening up your mask a bit and if you get too many leaks, you need a diff. size or diff. mask altogether, not just 'tighter'.

THIS might be my problem. i normally make my mask honestly as tight as it can be and i think it makes me more claustrophobic! I am going to try and sleep with it loose so it inflates. i always feel like if i make it loose its very easy for air to leak out.



49er, i saw the masks you posted before but i dont know if thats something id be interested it, pretty much wearing a space helmet to sleep lol . I want to ry and get the nose/mouth masks to work beofre i go ahead and try the full blown view masks

[49er]

You may just be tightening the mask too much - it needs to be more relaxed so the thin little cushion strip that goes over your mouth can actually inflate when you sleep, and it won't be able to if everything's mashed down. If you tried on your mask (originally) while lying down and with the machine on you should have gotten some idea if it fit at all or if there were big leaks... lying down makes a big difference as your face changes then, so just trying it on while sitting won't tell you much.

And you still don't seem to understand about the auto and why there are two settings, or what they do. The high setting is not really as important as the low one... the low one's the one that will go higher to address apneas when they happen, or intercept them before they're dangerous. You could in fact have your high setting at 16 or even higher, but it's the low one that does the job. But try loosening up your mask a bit and if you get too many leaks, you need a diff. size or diff. mask altogether, not just 'tighter'.

THIS might be my problem. i normally make my mask honestly as tight as it can be and i think it makes me more claustrophobic! I am going to try and sleep with it loose so it inflates. i always feel like if i make it loose its very easy for air to leak out.



49er, i saw the masks you posted before but i dont know if thats something id be interested it, pretty much wearing a space helmet to sleep lol . I want to ry and get the nose/mouth masks to work beofre i go ahead and try the full blown view masks

Totally understand. Best of luck to you in getting them to work.

49er