There..... But Not Quite!

[AnnaS]

Hi All,

I have been prescribed a REMstar Auto A Flex CPAP for about a year now but I think I am still not getting the full benefits of the machine on my apnea. My doctor put me on a pressure range of 6-16. Currently my problem is this...I am waking up at least twice at night to go to the little girls room...once around 3 am and once at 5:15 am. So my 6 hour sleep is interrupted twice and I am waking up feeling extremely tired, groggy and with a slight headache. Thanks to members on this forum I was able to download Sleepyhead on my machine..where it looks like I am had 4 Hypoapnea episodes last night with the machine. Not sure how to share my graphs on this forum and too tired to figure it out...this has to get better!

Thanks
AnnaS

[Sheriff Buford]

How many times did you get up to go to the restroom pre-cpap therapy? Cpap therapy reduced my visits, but it did not eliminate them. That being said, some days... maybe once a month... I can sleep all night without getting up.

Sheriff

[Julie]

It sounds like a bump in low pressure might be needed, to e.g. 9 (what is the high setting btw?) because you're still having classic symptoms of untreated OSA.

[ChicagoGranny]

Not sure how to share my graphs on this forum

You can find instructions in the links on this page --> https://sleep.tnet.com/resources/sleepyhead

If you have questions about the instructions, just ask here.

[Chevie]

It sounds like a bump in low pressure might be needed, to e.g. 9

Without seeing her data, that's a wild guess.

what is the high setting btw?

It's listed right there in her OP.

Are you alright? Too many of your replies have careless errors or unfounded advice.

[LSAT]

Hi All,

I have been prescribed a REMstar Auto A Flex CPAP for about a year now but I think I am still not getting the full benefits of the machine on my apnea. My doctor put me on a pressure range of 6-16. Currently my problem is this...I am waking up at least twice at night to go to the little girls room...once around 3 am and once at 5:15 am. So my 6 hour sleep is interrupted twice and I am waking up feeling extremely tired, groggy and with a slight headache. Thanks to members on this forum I was able to download Sleepyhead on my machine..where it looks like I am had 4 Hypoapnea episodes last night with the machine. Not sure how to share my graphs on this forum and too tired to figure it out...this has to get better!

Thanks
AnnaS

If all you had were 4 hypopneas in 6 hours, you are doing fantastic...that's an ahi of about .65

[AnnaS]

[AnnaS]

Sorry about bombarding everyone with the images from last night but I am trying to figure out the process http://imgur.com/rAOuk91

Let me know what you all think.

Back to an earlier question.. before CPAP I dont recall getting up to go to the bathroom mid sleep at all. But what worries me most about this therapy is that I am still waking up with a headache about 2 days a week so that tells me something isin't working.

Thanks so much for your assistance.

Best
AnnaS

[robysue]

Sorry about bombarding everyone with the images from last night but I am trying to figure out the process http://imgur.com/rAOuk91

Let me know what you all think.

Your data looks good for the most part. But there is still enough snoring in the later part of the night to potentially explain your ongoing problems. Given the snoring, a small increase in your minimum pressure might help. I suggest going slowly and increasing the min pressure by only 1cm at a time. (But that's because my stomach is very sensitive to pressure). In other words, try increasing the min pressure from 6 to 7 and leave it at 7 for 4-7 days. If there's still a lot of snoring, increase the min pressure from 7 to 8 and leave it there for 4-7 days.

Back to an earlier question.. before CPAP I dont recall getting up to go to the bathroom mid sleep at all. But what worries me most about this therapy is that I am still waking up with a headache about 2 days a week so that tells me something isin't working.

How often did you wake up with a headache pre-CPAP?

You might try a headache log: Keep track of when you wake up with a headache, how severe the headache is, and how long it lasts. Then after a month of data you might have enough to clearly establish a pattern between the headaches (and their severity) with something in your CPAP data (too much snoring; too many bathroom breaks; a higher than average AHI; etc.) Once you know what the headaches are correlated with, you'll have a target of what needs to be worked on.

[Guest]

Thank you all and Ruby Sue. Will try your suggestions tonight and will report back.

[AnnaS]

As an update, I had a much better night last night....good but not excellent yet. Still woke up at about 1 am and 5:15 am to use the little girls room but slept after both trips.

I did raise the minimum pressure setting from 6 to 7 as Ruby Sue suggested. My body did not seem to mind it and slept with it.

Thanks

[Julie]

Your pressure stays at 10.6 for up to 95% of the time... I think I'd be a tiny bit more adventurous and bump it to 9 for a couple of days and see how that feels. It really is not a major leap.

[kteague]

Hi. Wondering if you have any issues with fluid retention and if it could be that the quality sleep you are getting with CPAP enables your body to flush more efficiently when sleeping? The more my legs swell during the day, the more likely I am to have to get up during the night. The better I sleep, the more efficiently I recover from the day and flush the excess fluids. When my sleep was poor, I seemed to never get flushed out. Just throwing that out there in case your potty trips aren't related to sleep apnea events. Also wondering if a bit more than 6 hours of sleep nightly would help you feel better. Not sure if you can't sleep longer or if your available sleep time is limited. Good luck with figuring things out.

[AnnaS]

Interesting about fluid retention. I will look into it. Thanks for the call out.

Best
AnnaS