Adjusted Machine per Recommendations - Results - Thoughts?

[Gator5000e]

I made some of the adjustments recommended by the great folks on this forum. Here are some of the results. For the earlier dates, I increased the lowest pressure to 10.5 and had lowered the Flex to 1. Last night I changed things a bit more. I kept the minimum at 10.5 but lowered the max to 12. I also turned off Flex altogether. The reason I lowered the max pressure to 12 is that when my machine gets above that, it tends to blow air out the sides of my Dreamwear full face mask and make that noise that sounds like you are air out of a balloon while pinching the neck. That wakes me up every time. So I lowered the max pressure to try to prevent that. It seemed to help.

BTW, I split the pics between 2 posts. Also, I have no idea what happened on June 18th to skew so badly.

I am anxious to hear folks thoughts. Thanks in advance.

[Gator5000e]

OK, I guess I was limited. I have added the last 3 pictures here.

[LSAT]

That mask, if adjusted properly should not "blow out the sides". Some people use it with much higher pressures. I would have stuck to 13 (or higher) for max and worked on mask adjustment.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/v ... k&fr=yfp-t

[Gator5000e]

Thanks, but I have gone looser, tighter, bigger, smaller, medium wide and it all does the same thing. At higher pressures, the air blows out the sides. No idea why.

[LSAT]

Thanks, but I have gone looser, tighter, bigger, smaller, medium wide and it all does the same thing. At higher pressures, the air blows out the sides. No idea why.

Try a different size or get a different mask

[Gator5000e]

I've tried the large, medium, medium wide and small Dreamwear full face masks. The small works the best but all leak air at higher pressure. I also tried the F20? and had the same issue plus the fact that mask moves up and down while I breathe.

[Pugsy]

Please add a link to your prior thread so people can see what it was like before. It's best to keep ongoing experiments in one thread so we can follow it better.
Also numbers or graphs without any comments about how you slept or feel makes it kinda difficult to offer any ideas.

Without knowing more about all I can say is that for some reason on June 18 you needed more pressure between 00:40 and 1:20...you were probably on your back would be my guess.
Similar pressure needs later in the night.

On June 17 your pressure settings were quite sufficient. Makes me again wonder about sleeping position being a factor.

Your AHI is still running about half obstructive and half open airway except for last night when you apparently turned Flex off...so maybe Flex is a factor in those centrals/CAs. More nights with Flex off needs to be documented.

At least 2 breaks in therapy last night where the machine was turned off and back on again so at least 2 significant wake ups.
Any idea why? Did you have more wake ups where you didn't turn the machine off and then back on again?
How is your sleep quality and how are you feeling?
And do you ever get more than 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night using the machine? Your quantity of hours is also low.

[OkyDoky]

I've tried the large, medium, medium wide and small Dreamwear full face masks. The small works the best but all leak air at higher pressure. I also tried the F20? and had the same issue plus the fact that mask moves up and down while I breathe.

Are you adjusting the mask to the higher pressure? Increase your pressure to your Maximum pressure when you put the mask on. Lay down in bed and make additional adjustments if needed. Then put your pressures back to your settings. Worth a try. Once you have a good fit these steps may not be needed every night.

[Gator5000e]

Pugsy, thanks for the recommendation. I will keep all the posts in one thread from now on.

Here are the links to my prior two threads.

Post #2 - viewtopic/t171725/Still-Having-Clear-an ... -Help.html

Post #1 - viewtopic/t171393/Hello--Newbie--First-Post.html

"Your AHI is still running about half obstructive and half open airway except for last night when you apparently turned Flex off...so maybe Flex is a factor in those centrals/CAs. More nights with Flex off needs to be documented."

My sleep PA is concerned about those central/CAs. She wants to consider a Bi-PAP machine and is also sending me for a titration study. When I had my initial sleep study, the insurance company ordered the Dreamstation APAP instead of having the second part of the study. She is now ordering that and it just got approved by the insurance company. That the titration study will happen in a couple of weeks.

Last night was the first night I had Flex turned off completely. I will continue to try it with Flex turned off. I was trying to get use to lowering the Flex before killing it completely as per the prior suggestions in my second thread. I made the jump to no Flex last night. I will continue to do that. I may raise the starting pressure tonight to 11 or 11.5 to see what happens.

"At least 2 breaks in therapy last night where the machine was turned off and back on again so at least 2 significant wake ups. Any idea why? Did you have more wake ups where you didn't turn the machine off and then back on again?"

I generally sleep on my back but sometimes roll onto my side. Side sleeping usually causes my mask to shift, leak, and then wake me up. I am a very light sleeper. I generally turn the machine off when I have to use the rest room or am having trouble sleeping. Should I leave it running when I get up? Sometimes I have to get up for more than just a minute or two. Consequence of another medical condition I have.

"How is your sleep quality and how are you feeling?"

I don't feel all that much better to be honest. When I first got the machine, I felt better. I wasn't jumping up and down but I wasn't falling asleep watching TV in the evening. But the PA was concerned about the AHIs (back then they still in the 12-15 range) so she adjusted the settings and I lost that feeling of improvement. So my feeling is my sleep quality is not great. As I said above, I have issues with both falling asleep and staying asleep.

And do you ever get more than 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night using the machine? Your quantity of hours is also low.

Sometimes on the weekends when I don't have to get up, I can stay asleep to much later in the morning. 6-17-18 is an example of that.

[Gator5000e]

I've tried the large, medium, medium wide and small Dreamwear full face masks. The small works the best but all leak air at higher pressure. I also tried the F20? and had the same issue plus the fact that mask moves up and down while I breathe.

Are you adjusting the mask to the higher pressure? Increase your pressure to your Maximum pressure when you put the mask on. Lay down in bed and make additional adjustments if needed. Then put your pressures back to your settings. Worth a try. Once you have a good fit these steps may not be needed every night.

I will try to do that. I just haven't had any luck with the higher pressures not blowing out the masks.

[MurrayNevada]

I've tried the large, medium, medium wide and small Dreamwear full face masks. The small works the best but all leak air at higher pressure. I also tried the F20? and had the same issue plus the fact that mask moves up and down while I breathe.

At first I had a bit of difficulty with my DreamWear FFM. The problem was that it came with what they describe as a "small/medium frame." Although I use a medium cushion, the "small/medium frame" made for a poor fit. I ordered a large frame from our sponsor and it works very well. The small/medium frame sent with the mask pulled the cushion too high causing leaks. My medium cushion with the large frame is very comfortable and leaks very little. Good luck.

[Gator5000e]

Thank you for the suggestion. I hadn't considered the frame to be an issue as it seems to fit comfortably.