CPAP - Low AHI, still cannot sleep. Trouble determining beneficial pressure

I am a young, healthy male who exercises in the sun and weighs a healthy amount for my size. I don’t have any behavioral issues that should promote my apneas. I have a Resmed Airsense 10 with a Nasal Mask and am able to comfortably fall asleep with no issues. The mask fits comfortable and actually soothes me to sleep. The mask or my daily life aren’t the issue.

I have two issues with my Cpap that seem unsolvable.
1. Even though I have low AHI, usually around 0.1 or even 0 completely, I am only able to stay asleep for an hour and a half max.

2. When I use the CPaP, even after a long day of exercise and sun exposure, after waking up from only an hour of sleep the mask makes me feel wide awake. This makes falling back asleep difficult.

Originally I was giving the regular prescription for mild sleep apnea of 5-12 pressure, but as that did not work - I began moving my pressure around. I found some success with using 4 as a start pressure and having my max pressure at 20, but nothing works consistently.

If there is any advice out there for this I would appreciate it. I think my biggest issue is determining where my pressure range should be. Seems like there is no one online willing to tell you how to actually determine it yourself without relying on cheap sleep specialists.

So what happens after you wake up after an hour and a half? Do you take the mask off and go back to sleep?

Please go to the profile section and fill out your equipment info.

Sheriff

I'm curious about your test for apnea - do you still have the results, or if not, can you get them from your MD (yours by law)? I wonder if you really do have apnea, and/or what type, etc. Do you feel awake when you're up, or sleepy all day and were you tested for any other possible cause of it besides apnea?

Sheriff Buford wrote: ↑

Mon May 04, 2020 6:11 am

So what happens after you wake up after an hour and a half? Do you take the mask off and go back to sleep?

Please go to the profile section and fill out your equipment info.

Sheriff

After I wake up, I either restart my machine and try to get back to sleep, or I get up and do something then use my machine to sleep later. I have a Resmed CPAP 10 with a nasal mask f30

Julie wrote: ↑

Mon May 04, 2020 6:38 am

I'm curious about your test for apnea - do you still have the results, or if not, can you get them from your MD (yours by law)? I wonder if you really do have apnea, and/or what type, etc. Do you feel awake when you're up, or sleepy all day and were you tested for any other possible cause of it besides apnea?

This should be my Sleep study results. I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea. I do not feel sleepy throughout the day if I’m active, but I constantly wake up and can’t not get good sleep at night. Some people don’t need all of their hours of sleep apparently, but as my body keeps falling asleep and waking up - it seems that my body desires more sleep. I don’t know how useful the images will be but that was what they gave me

Thank you

Just a thought, but I wonder if PM'g K. Teague (member expert on leg movement disorders) might be an idea - she'd know what to ask you about re those, I don't, but in case it's meaningful...

The only thing that stands out to me in the test report is to start your ramp pressure at 5 cm. This is your minimum pressure setting, so ramp will do nothing. I use ramp, but my settings are quite a bit higher. My ramp starts at 14 cm and ramps up to 19 cm over a 15 minute period.

sounds more like insomnia

frustratedsleeper wrote: ↑

Sun May 03, 2020 11:17 pm

I am a young, healthy male who exercises in the sun and weighs a healthy amount for my size. I don’t have any behavioral issues that should promote my apneas. I have a Resmed Airsense 10 with a Nasal Mask and am able to comfortably fall asleep with no issues. The mask fits comfortable and actually soothes me to sleep. The mask or my daily life aren’t the issue.

I have two issues with my Cpap that seem unsolvable.
1. Even though I have low AHI, usually around 0.1 or even 0 completely, I am only able to stay asleep for an hour and a half max.

2. When I use the CPaP, even after a long day of exercise and sun exposure, after waking up from only an hour of sleep the mask makes me feel wide awake. This makes falling back asleep difficult.

Originally I was giving the regular prescription for mild sleep apnea of 5-12 pressure, but as that did not work - I began moving my pressure around. I found some success with using 4 as a start pressure and having my max pressure at 20, but nothing works consistently.

If there is any advice out there for this I would appreciate it. I think my biggest issue is determining where my pressure range should be. Seems like there is no one online willing to tell you how to actually determine it yourself without relying on cheap sleep specialists.

Are you taking any supplements, prescriptions, etc. that might be interfering with your sleep?

Why not post a couple of daily charts from OSCAR in this thread. (Check my signature for the OSCAR download page. Check out the "Newbies Start Here" link to gain more information about the forum and how you can help us help you. Check out the link on how to post graphics so you can post your OSCAR dailies.)

Also, as others have indicated, there may be more involved than sleep apnea.

Welcome!

Chris

Looks as if you have very mild sleep apnea and "jimmy legs". Your lower pressure is awfully low, but some people have their pressure that low. I have very bad jimmy legs, but it does not disturb my sleep. Doesn't seem that the mask/apnea treatment is keeping you awake. I am assuming you don't have issues with wearing the mask. Right? It appears you may have insomnia. If you go to a doctor wanting treatment for insomnia, the doctor may say, "seems you are having trouble with the sleep apnea treatment".
I would make sure I got used to the sleep apnea treatment so you could tell the doctor the mask is not an issue. Not going back to sleep is not an apnea issue as long as you are sure getting used to mask is not the problem.
Do you feel comfortable with the low pressure?

Sheriff

PS: Howdy fellow Texan!

Hi frustratedsleeper. Thanks for PM'ing me to let me know of Julie's suggestion. My expertise is pretty much limited to experience, but I've had a heck of a lot of that.

About the few limb movements noted on your study. While they are too few to be of clinical significance in their own right, they could be a red flag. If, and that's a big if, you were to happen to have an issue with periodic limb movements, it is not uncommon when experienced in conjunction with obstructive sleep apnea for either or both conditions to be underappreciated in a study as they can mask each other. Whichever is the strongest on any particular night will get the higher count, and we don't sleep the same night to night. Sometimes people see only a few limb movements in the lab, but once they resolve their sleep apnea with effective CPAP therapy and are sleeping better, the limb movements have the opportunity to more fully manifest. The question for you is if your legs are disrupting your sleep or not. If possible, video recording your legs (uncovered) while sleeping is one way to find out if there is significant movement. Is that something you are able to do?

Hopefully with the guidance of the machine and data gurus here you can make sure your treatment is optimized. Some of them can look at things like flow limitation graphs in the machine data and tell a lot. (Definitely not me.) I wouldn't worry too much about recording your legs until your OSA treatment is going pretty good and you have passed through the adjustment phase with all the new sensations. So many things can disrupt sleep. It's a process of elimination. Good luck with things.

DreamDiver wrote: ↑

Tue May 05, 2020 7:47 am

frustratedsleeper wrote: ↑

Sun May 03, 2020 11:17 pm

I am a young, healthy male who exercises in the sun and weighs a healthy amount for my size. I don’t have any behavioral issues that should promote my apneas. I have a Resmed Airsense 10 with a Nasal Mask and am able to comfortably fall asleep with no issues. The mask fits comfortable and actually soothes me to sleep. The mask or my daily life aren’t the issue.

I have two issues with my Cpap that seem unsolvable.
1. Even though I have low AHI, usually around 0.1 or even 0 completely, I am only able to stay asleep for an hour and a half max.

2. When I use the CPaP, even after a long day of exercise and sun exposure, after waking up from only an hour of sleep the mask makes me feel wide awake. This makes falling back asleep difficult.

Originally I was giving the regular prescription for mild sleep apnea of 5-12 pressure, but as that did not work - I began moving my pressure around. I found some success with using 4 as a start pressure and having my max pressure at 20, but nothing works consistently.

If there is any advice out there for this I would appreciate it. I think my biggest issue is determining where my pressure range should be. Seems like there is no one online willing to tell you how to actually determine it yourself without relying on cheap sleep specialists.

Are you taking any supplements, prescriptions, etc. that might be interfering with your sleep?

Why not post a couple of daily charts from OSCAR in this thread. (Check my signature for the OSCAR download page. Check out the "Newbies Start Here" link to gain more information about the forum and how you can help us help you. Check out the link on how to post graphics so you can post your OSCAR dailies.)

Also, as others have indicated, there may be more involved than sleep apnea.

Welcome!

Chris

Hello, I don’t take any other medications. And I downloaded the OSCAR software but my Cpap doesn’t have a chip in it to transfer the information over. Is there a way to use OSCAR without the chip?

frustratedsleeper wrote: ↑

Tue May 05, 2020 2:26 pm

Hello, I don’t take any other medications. And I downloaded the OSCAR software but my Cpap doesn’t have a chip in it to transfer the information over. Is there a way to use OSCAR without the chip?

OSCAR requires an SD card.
The only other options is the myAir app which only offers a minimum of information for looking at therapy.
Since you have an AirSense 10, you can buy an SD card. Let the machine format it, and you should be good to go!

Chris

Sheriff Buford wrote: ↑

Tue May 05, 2020 7:53 am

Looks as if you have very mild sleep apnea and "jimmy legs". Your lower pressure is awfully low, but some people have their pressure that low. I have very bad jimmy legs, but it does not disturb my sleep. Doesn't seem that the mask/apnea treatment is keeping you awake. I am assuming you don't have issues with wearing the mask. Right? It appears you may have insomnia. If you go to a doctor wanting treatment for insomnia, the doctor may say, "seems you are having trouble with the sleep apnea treatment".
I would make sure I got used to the sleep apnea treatment so you could tell the doctor the mask is not an issue. Not going back to sleep is not an apnea issue as long as you are sure getting used to mask is not the problem.
Do you feel comfortable with the low pressure?

Sheriff

PS: Howdy fellow Texan!

Howdy lol

The Cpap is actually very comfortable for me now that I’ve gotten used to it. It actually helps me sleep. I am not really sure of what pressures are good for me. I like to have my ramp pressure start very low and that helps me fall asleep, but once I’m asleep I don’t know what wakes me up.