Do any CPAP/APAP users sleep on their back?

I have been using an APAP machine for the past 4 months and have been able to keep my AHI at or below 1.0 for the past 2 months.
I have been forcing myself to sleep on my side at all times because someone told me ( not sure who ) that it would make the APAP device more productive.
The problem is that my arthritis in the hips is getting worse and sleeping on my side makes it painful after about 3 hours.
Does anyone sleep on their back? do they have to set their APAP/CPAP at a higher setting when doing so? My machine is set at 9.0

I sleep the majority of the night on my back. Or one side. Because the APAP machine provides a range, it can take care of positional changes in pressure.

My current CPAP machine does not.

Golf016 wrote:I have been using an APAP machine for the past 4 months and have been able to keep my AHI at or below 1.0 for the past 2 months.
I have been forcing myself to sleep on my side at all times because someone told me ( not sure who ) that it would make the APAP device more productive.
The problem is that my arthritis in the hips is getting worse and sleeping on my side makes it painful after about 3 hours.
Does anyone sleep on their back? do they have to set their APAP/CPAP at a higher setting when doing so? My machine is set at 9.0

A lot of people are worse on their backs. If you are, you would probably need to raise your pressure if you want to sleep on your back. If you have an auto machine, you could set a range so that it only goes up when you need it to. You may need to experiment to find the right settings for you. The good news is that with the right settings, you CAN sleep on your back if that is what is more comfortable for you.

Golf016 wrote:Do any CPAP/APAP users sleep on their back?

Of course they do. Switch your machine to Auto 9-11 and see what happens.

I have been using cpap since 2002. I have always slept on my back. Like you, I have arthritis. It's in my hips, knees, shoulders, elbows, etc! I cannot not sleep in any other position than on my back.
I use an APAP, set at 11 - 14. My titrated pressure is 11 cm. This works very well, for me, keeping my AHI at below 1, almost 100% of the time.
I believe that almost anyone can sleep on their back and have success with cpap IF the have an auto machine, were titrated correctly and set the machine at a narrow range.

Hi

I too, sleep almost exclusively on my back, for the same arthritic/joint conditions. Hips & left knee kinda leave me few choices. My apap is set for 10-20, and my average pressure is 10.4. My AHI average for the past year is less than 0.50. Everybody is different but it can be done!

-Bill

I sleep probably 90% of the night on my back. Luv being naughty!!

Sheriff

The thing about avoiding supine sleeping is because our OSA can be made worse when we are on our backs (and also in REM sleep stage) and sometimes we might need more pressure than other times. It's really more important to people who aren't using cpap at all.
With a machine that is set up optimally there's no reason a person can't sleep in any position that they want to sleep in.

Not everyone will have marked differences in pressure needs based on sleeping position (or REM) but it's not uncommon at all.
When they do happen to need more pressure, say when on their backs, that is where the apap mode in these machines come in real handy. Give the machine a little room and if it needs to fight harder with a little more pressure it can do it. for
Now you may not need more than 9 cm even on your back. We don't know if that 9 cm setting can already do a good job holding the airway open when on your back. Often when titration sleep studies are done the person is told to sleep on their back so that the tech can get a worst case scenario pressure and that's what ends up being advised.

I did some experimenting and discovered that supine sleeping didn't seem to change my pressure needs all that much but REM stage sleep sure does. This doesn't come as a big surprise to me since my OSA is about 5 times worse in REM.
We can't control REM or any sleep stage for that matter. I just set my machine to cover the REM periods and sleep in any position I want and let the machine do its job.

While I know that we can to some extent try to control sleeping position by various methods I just don't see the need especially when doing one thing causes pain and when we have pain we can't sleep well and the name of the game with cpap use is more better sleep.

Just make sure the machine is set optimally to be able to deal with any special needs that might happen when sleeping supine.
It's easy to do with machines that have the auto adjusting mode (apap) available...give the machine a range to use and let the machine sort it out. If for some reason apap mode isn't available or causes problems then finding an optimal setting that covers supine sleeping pressure needs can still be done on a fixed pressure. Just might take a little bit of work to figure out what that setting might need to be but it can certainly be done.

If you want to try apap range...and sleep on your back then do it and just watch the software reports.
If you want to see what happens when you use 9 cm and stay on fixed pressure then just do it and see what the software reports say.
You may or may not even need more than 9 cm when on your back.

I only know of one person who had such a difference in his pressure needs that he opted for doing something extraordinary to keep him off his back and that was because when on his back he needed 19 cm and on his side he could get by with 9 cm...and he had no problem staying on his side like those of us with arthritis might have. His was an unusual situation in that the difference in pressure needs ended up being so big. I can't say as I blame him when given a choice between 19 or 9.

And if your OSA happens to be worse in REM like mine....we can't control REM so might as well just let the machine sort it out.

Now some people might have a problem with higher pressures (assuming the machine wants to go higher but it might not) and if that happens then we regroup and re-evaluate things and sometimes make compromises...but it can be done.

You need the available software though so that you can see the graphs which help us point to times when pressure needs might be different.
Do you know about the software?
https://sleep.tnet.com/equipment

Thanks for all your input, I will try it out and see what happens, my APAP machine is set for 9 with a top range of 15
I suppose the software you are referring to is "Sleepyhead" , which I use a lot, let me know if that was not the software you were referring to.

Golf016 wrote:Thanks for all your input, I will try it out and see what happens, my APAP machine is set for 9 with a top range of 15
I suppose the software you are referring to is "Sleepyhead" , which I use a lot, let me know if that was not the software you were referring to.

Yep, SleepyHead is indeed the software that is being referred to.

I sleep on my back more and more, I think. I have been using a less fluffy pillow. One that allows my head to fall back more. It really helps.

Pugsy nailed it; not much more needs to be said. That said, I'm going to say more. For what it's worth, my pulmonologist/sleep doc told me your airway is naturally in a better position if you sleep on your side. During sleep studies patients are usually told to sleep on their backs because (they told me) it presents a worst-case scenario for them to work with. So if you can get past the discomfort, try sleeping on one side, then the other and not so much on your back.

I usually sleep better on my side.

From last fall until this spring, I too needed to sleep on my back due to severe hip pain. It was tough to get used to it, because I'd always been a side sleeper. But as for my sleep apnea - when I switched to sleeping consistently on my back my AHI stayed virtually the same (average just under 1) with no significant change in my average pressure.

These days I can usually sleep on my side, sometimes need to be on my back, and therapy needs remain consistent.

But do use a flat pillow if you need to sleep on your back, otherwise you're partially obstructing your airway just by your head position.

Agree that an APAP will generally mean sleeping on your back is not a problem.

However, the other thing you could try (particularly if you still get some arthritis issues from sleeping in the one position all night) is to sleep in the falcon position.

http://www.uarsrelief.com/sleeppositions.html

I find it takes a lot of pressure off your hips, is quite comfortable and takes away the sleep apnea downsides of sleeping on your back.