More air on your back & less air on your side

Hubby is complaining that he does not get enough air on his side even though he admits that he does not have as many events when he is on his side vs his back. He tried to sleep on his back by propping himself up with 3 pillows last night. I told him that he needs to learn to sleep on his side bec the sleep study said that even at a pressure of 16 he was still having events.

Any suggestions? A different mask maybe? We have the machine near to the floor, instead of on a nightstand which is about level with his head. Maybe I'll switch it back to the nightstand tonite.

Thanks, Lee

It is normal to have more apneas when you are on your back than on your side because the weight of your tongue adds to pressure on the airway. A mask change won't do anything. What you need to do is increase the pressure setting on your CPAP.

A setting of 16 cm is pretty high, but I think most machine-mask combinations will go to 18 or 20 with no other problems. (The limitations are the capacity of the machine and the leak rate of the mask). Generally, if your machine accepts the setting, it will hold the pressure, and if it can't you will hear an alarm.

People on this forum have posted instructions for setting pressure of various machines. I am sure someone can help you with it.

I don't think it is necessary to have your husband sleep in a position he doesn't find comfortable. (Although I can imagine that from your point of view, having him change his behavior seems like the logical solution to everything!)

babydoss, I wonder if your husband has tried using a couple of extra pillows along his body in front of him when he tries to sleep on his side? One to drape his arm over and one between his knees. Cuddling the pillows in effect. That keeps the weight of the upperside arm and leg from just hanging down onto the mattress.

I sleep on my side almost exclusively, but it would not be very comfortable if I didn't have an extra pillow in front of me to lay my "loose" arm over.

I don't know if that would have any effect on his feeling of not getting enough air when on his side, but maybe it would. He might be in a somewhat strained, tense position if he's not using pillows to support his arm and leg when on his side.

I understand finding sleeping on your back to be more comfortable. Unfortunately for me, I have a lower back problem. One of the first things the physical therapist did is tell me to start sleeping on my side using a "body pillow" for support between my knees and along the upper body. Since I have short legs, I find a king sized pillow is enough for me and easier to find pillow cases to fit. It took some getting used to, but I was glad I had after the sleep apnea was diagnosed.

Julie

I side sleep also and find that I can fall asleep with my loose arm on my side instead of draped in front of me. Putting my arm in front squeezes my chest a bit making it harder to get a full breath.