Headaches almost gone

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
Cardinals45
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Feb 09, 2018 5:31 pm

Headaches almost gone

Post by Cardinals45 » Sun Feb 18, 2018 4:31 pm

Any advice here would be great. Was having headaches and foggy/dizzy feeling. My pressure range was reduced from 6-18 to 6-14 (average 13.5) with AHI not changing (around 3.5)

My headaches are much improved but still feeling it a little. I have been on the new treatment for only 3 days. Should I give it some more time or see if the range should be reduced even more???

I’m sure I’m leaving out some info here, but any general guidance would be welcomed.

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Additional Comments: 30 day mask fit - 99%; 30 day pressure - 13.4; 30 day therapy hours - 7.8

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greatunclebill
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Re: Headaches almost gone

Post by greatunclebill » Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:34 pm

you could try raising the bottom number to 6.5 or 7. ideally, the bottom and top numbers should be around 4 points or so apart so when the machine reacts to an apnea it doesn't have so far up to go to fix it. never make large jumps up or down. always allow time for your body to get used to the changes.

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ajack
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Re: Headaches almost gone

Post by ajack » Mon Feb 19, 2018 12:25 am

If you are averaging 13.5 on your screen readout, I think that is your 90% on dreamstation. I would have min 12 and max 16 and see how it went. It will take a bit to get use to the pressure. You may like to use the flex settings, to make breathing feel more natural.
(can you change it to a 7day readout? that would be more useful, while you set up the machine.)

I would get the clinical manual and download sleepyhead program from the links at the top of this page http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/index.php
It gives you so much info about your treatment

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Pugsy
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Re: Headaches almost gone

Post by Pugsy » Mon Feb 19, 2018 6:05 am

Cardinals45 wrote:
Sun Feb 18, 2018 4:31 pm
My pressure range was reduced from 6-18 to 6-14 (average 13.5) with AHI not changing (around 3.5)

My headaches are much improved but still feeling it a little. I have been on the new treatment for only 3 days. Should I give it some more time or see if the range should be reduced even more???
Where are you getting the 13.5 "average" that you mention? Is it off the machine's LCD screen or software median average?

If it is off the machine's LCD display that is what we call a 90% number and it's not an average of where you spent most of the night.
90% numbers are where the machine was at OR BELOW for 90% of the night. That "or below" part of the definition is real important.
You might only spend 20 minutes of the night up around 13 and the rest of the night significantly below 13. 90 % numbers are easily skewed upwards by relatively short periods of time at higher pressures.

So you need to look at the software pressure graphs to see just how much time you were spending up around 13 before even considering raising that minimum pressure up anywhere near 13. There is a real good chance that is way over kill on the pressure needs...kinda like using the atom bomb to nuke a fly when a fly swatter would do the trick just as well.
We really need to see the pressure and events graphs before offering ideas on changing the pressure.

Before changing anything I would want to know what that AHI of 3.5 is composed of.
How much of it was ClearAirway/Central and how much of it was Obstructive (OAs and hyponeas).
If it is mainly CA/Central...more pressure won't necessarily fix it.
If it is primarily obstructive in nature then probably a little more minimum pressure would help clear it up a bit more.
It would also be helpful to see the what the snores and Flow Limitation flags look like...both would point to needing a little more pressure.

See this thread for how to post images and what we like to see.
viewtopic/t158560/How-to-post-images-for-review.html

If your AHI is mainly obstructive in nature...narrowing the range might be helpful and most likely a small increase in the minimum pressure would be the way to go. Often when the minimum pressure is more optimal the machine won't go so high for as long.
With an AHI of 3ish even if it were all OAs...probably 1.0 cm increase (maybe a little more) will usually clean things up significantly.

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Cardinals45
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Joined: Fri Feb 09, 2018 5:31 pm

Re: Headaches almost gone

Post by Cardinals45 » Mon Feb 19, 2018 9:30 pm

Thanks all...I'm a work in progress....I need to get more data but to answer couple of the questions:

Sat
AHI of 3.1
1 clear airway
16 obstructive
6 hypopnea

Sunday
AHI of 3.8
3 clear airway
21 obstructive
5 hypopnea

Also, the pressure of 13.5 was 90% reading off the machine screen

_________________
Machine: DreamStation Auto CPAP Machine
Mask: DreamWear Nasal CPAP Mask with Headgear
Humidifier: DreamStation Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: 30 day mask fit - 99%; 30 day pressure - 13.4; 30 day therapy hours - 7.8

ajack
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Location: australia

Re: Headaches almost gone

Post by ajack » Mon Feb 19, 2018 9:53 pm

you seem to need more pressure, are you going to adjust the pressure, or asked the DME or doctor to do it?
12min 16max seems to be what would be a good start.
You can put up some sleepyhead charts if you want for better advice from others.

_________________
Mask: ResMed AirFit™ F20 Full Face CPAP Mask with Headgear
Humidifier: S9™ Series H5i™ Heated Humidifier with Climate Control
Additional Comments: S9 ST-A iVAPS and adapt ASV