Bed Pillows and CPAP

[ladylyzar]

Howdy folks...

My husband uses a CPAP. (I may be joining him shortly but that's another story...)

He's walking a delicate balance between AHI, aerophagia, and weight loss. As his weight drops, he finds his apnea gets worse. Weird, but it is what it is. However, raising the pressure causes painful aerophagia. He's trying to lose slowly and adjust the machine gradually.

We're trying some position adjustments to see if it helps. I bought him a Contour CPAP Pillow to see if it would help him stay on his side or at least tilt his chin up. He's only had it a week, and his AHI has gotten much higher since he started using it. Most of the apnea events are obstructive but there are a fair amount of hypopneas also. He's much sleepier during the day than he was before.

Could this still be an adjustment period for the pillow? Should we give up on the pillow and try a different one? How important is your bed pillow for lowering AHI?

[jimbud]

It is difficult to give solid information without Oscar graphs to refer to.

I use a cervical collar to hold my chin up.
It also holds your head in alignment with your neck and throat.
It makes a big difference with my AHI when I have tried to go without it.
It was surprisingly easy for me to get used to.
I was very sceptical that it would make a difference until I used it for a few days.
I no longer go to bed without it on.

It may or may not work for him.

I also use a buckwheat hull pillow. Not for everyone.

Anyway that is about all I have.
Good luck,
JPB

[chunkyfrog]

The contour pillow is also not for everyone.
I have the best results with my best non-cpap pillow.

[Miss Emerita]

In his place, I would now try going back to the regular pillow to see whether the AHI returns to the previous level. This kind of stuff can be pretty idiosyncratic.

It’d be quite helpful to take a look at his data. Any chance of using the Oscar software and the SD card in the machine? Oscar is here:

https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/

This could help with insight into whether raising pressure is the right approach for your husband.

[edatlanta]

I use the MyPillow as seen on tv. If it doesn't work for your husband you can return it. I have had mine for a little over 4 years and the last 1.5 years with my cpap and it works great.

[Wulfman...]

search.php?keywords=%22bed+pillow%22

search.php?keywords=aerophagia


Den

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[ladylyzar]

I have the Sleepyhead software - that's what we were advised to use when I visited last year. Is this other program preferred? How much data would you like to see?

[jimbud]

You could start with these and if something else is needed an expert will let you know.

Of course top is the Event Flags.
Then:
Flow Rate

Pressure

Leak Rate

Snore - Maybe if not too crowded

Minimize the Calendar

And maybe jet the Pie Chart

Just a recent representative chart should do.

That should get you started

The experts will then have something to study.

JPB

[ladylyzar]

OK! He slept on his regular pillow last night and his AHI was quartered.

Do you want to see a night with the CPAP pillow and one without?

[Okie bipap]

You can use either Sleepyhead or Oscar. Mark has quit working on keeping Sleepyhead updated, and a group of forum members have dveloped Oscar which is based on the latest release of Sleepyhead.

[Miss Emerita]

How about one CPAP pillow chart and one regular pillow chart?