Sharing a bed with a CPAP user and fixed pressure or auto ex

I’m a newbie and have two questions here!

So my boyfriend of two years has recently been diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, even his doctors said it was one of the worst they had seen. So bad we couldn’t sleep in the same room for the past two years, sadly.

He has started using cpap and would be onto his 4th week, and is a completely different person (in a good way! He actually looks and feels alive) but unfortunately I am an extremely light sleeper. We put the machine on the ground next to the bed, I can’t hear it. It’s his darth vadar breathing that is keeping me awake, which also doesn’t help as I suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome, so I’m even more tired than ever now. If I go to bed an hour or so before, that’s fine, but then when I wake during the night I’ll lay there for hours trying to fall back asleep and getting frustrated. Any suggestions?

Also I want to know what people use, fixed machine or auto machine? And what are your experiences if you have tried both? I’ve noticed that he tends to breath louder with the fixed machine and also seems to still snore a bit throughout the night with it. Auto works a charm, but I don’t think he wants to spend the extra $1000 on the auto because he said he can’t feel a difference and they feel the same. But the fixed pressure one drives me up the wall!

There isn't that much difference in price. Get him one as a present. Check the prices on cpap.com - you will be shocked.

Hi, the first thing to know would be which machine (all wording you can find on it) he's using and which mask (at least the type - nasal or full face), plus his pressure settings (not the ramp setting). The settings are important because you said he snores on the fixed pressure machine (Cpap vs Apap for the auto one) which leads me to wonder if the setting is lower on it, and might be changed. He may feel no difference when using one machine over the other, but that's irrelevant when it comes to which is more effective. You might not need to hear things so loudly once things are tweaked, but it shouldn't be done randomly but only after knowing more about his results.

I should tell you that on occasion someone just has to end up either using ear plugs or going to another room for actual sleep, though not often, but you sound like you need yours too, so maybe once he's 'out' you could do that for now til things are sorted out. It's at least as important to know settings on the Apap as well as the Cpap one to be able to figure things out... but I'd encourage him to keep the Apap as it can be set to Cpap mode, but Cpaps can only do Cpap, and it's usually to someone's (health) advantage to have an Apap for greater flexibility in treatment. There is also free software available to see what's going on overnight for both machines, but first provide the info asked here - in this thread please so we can keep track of the sequence - and we can go from there.

He is using the nasal mask, and the fixed setting pressure is set on 10.3 if I recall correctly

What are the auto settings?

sleepless92 wrote:He is using the nasal mask, and the fixed setting pressure is set on 10.3 if I recall correctly

er, you know, there are many different brands, and each brand has multiple models of "the nasal mask"

also, don't guess, it helps no one, while there may be a machine that allows one to set it to 10.3, I've never heard of it. (I'm sure someone will enlighten me if I'm wrong.)

Sorry, here are links to what he is using. We are currently renting the machine, and the company renting it to us has the machine set up to change between fixed and auto. I know that the doctor said his fixed pressure was set to 10.3.

I will have a proper look over the setting tonight after work.

https://www.cpapaustralia.com.au/shoppi ... 37352.html

https://www.cpapaustralia.com.au/shoppi ... 62904.html

Some masks are much quieter than others. The most popular mask around here and on cpap.com is the AirFit P10 nasal pillow system. They use many small holes for vents pointing in different directions to diffuse the air coming out of the mask. It works very, very well.

Since he has an especially bad case, it's highly probable that he has a high pressure setting. It's still not as loud as his previous snoring.

BTW, perhaps it's time for you to see a sleep doctor!

yaconsult wrote:Some masks are much quieter than others. The most popular mask around here and on cpap.com is the AirFit P10 nasal pillow system. They use many small holes for vents pointing in different directions to diffuse the air coming out of the mask. It works very, very well.

you might notice that she's claiming that the "darth vader" mask.... IS the p10.

stuff just doesn't add up, p10 is as near silent as makes no difference, and there's the pressure thing.

sleepless92 wrote:Sorry, here are links to what he is using. We are currently renting the machine, and the company renting it to us has the machine set up to change between fixed and auto. I know that the doctor said his fixed pressure was set to 10.3.

I will have a proper look over the setting tonight after work.

the resmed machines can be set in .2cm increments, 10, 10.2, 10.4, 10.6, 10.8, 11. 10.3 isn't possible, no matter what the doctor might have told you.

D.H. wrote:Since he has an especially bad case, it's highly probable that he has a high pressure setting. It's still not as loud as his previous snoring.

BTW, perhaps it's time for you to see a sleep doctor!

do shut up. you bleeding idiot.

palerider wrote:

sleepless92 wrote:Sorry, here are links to what he is using. We are currently renting the machine, and the company renting it to us has the machine set up to change between fixed and auto. I know that the doctor said his fixed pressure was set to 10.3.

I will have a proper look over the setting tonight after work.

the resmed machines can be set in .2cm increments, 10, 10.2, 10.4, 10.6, 10.8, 11. 10.3 isn't possible, no matter what the doctor might have told you.

Uh huh! YES! Thank you for rejogging my terrible tired memory.

His doctor did in fact say 10.3, but the people that set up his machine said 10.3 was not possible and set it to 10.4.

Will definitely have a look at the machine tonight and check out the rest of the settings.

You might take a look at secondwindcpap.com for a new AirSense 10 AutoSet...
$785 US dollars equals $1043 Aussie dollars.
See how that compares with your local price for the AutoSet vs getting the fixed pressure machine.
Using auto adjusting means he could probably get by with a lower pressure for part of the night until a higher pressure is needed.

D.H. wrote:Since he has an especially bad case, it's highly probable that he has a high pressure setting. It's still not as loud as his previous snoring.

BTW, perhaps it's time for you to see a sleep doctor!

STUPID>>STUPID>>>STUPID...That is ABSOLUTELY wrong. Severity of SA has NOTHING to do with the pressure prescribed.Why don't you learn about sleep apnea before you spread this crap to new patients. Perhaps we should start deleting your posts.