Ready to quit CPAP

[Jacksie]

Hi Zonker,

it is an ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset reference number 37028

okay, then! <rubs hands together briskly>

so, may i suggest for your next steps two things-

all the stuff that pugsy gave you links to. this will help you going forward. it's software to gather data from your machine. it will present itself as charts. those charts full of data can be shared right here in this post so that people can make helpful suggestions. it's going to mean you will have to do some tweaking on your machine to make sure it's set up to do the best job for YOU.

second thing, could you please take the time to fill out your equipment profile? when you do that, it will show up at the bottom of each of your posts like it does on mine below.

i know this may sound like a lot. but we're here to help you.

you can do this. together, we will make it better.

good luck!

No prob, thanks a lot

[Jacksie]

You might want to go over the reports from your sleep studies for any helpful clues. For instance, is there a positional component to your events? What is your sleep position? If perhaps you have more events when supine and you back sleep, getting off your back could help you not need such a high pressure. Is there a significant difference in pressure needs when in REM? Using a range instead of a fixed pressure could help you not need to stay at a high pressure. Theoretically, one would think less pressure could help mouth dryness. Just trying to think of some little things that might make this more tolerable. I have dry mouth issues. A few years back I mastered the technique of keeping my tongue sealed to the roof of my mouth. While lack of movement inside the mouth can cause dryness too since there is no stimulus for salivation, for me this dryness is nowhere near as miserable as was the air blowing around in my mouth. Even when not mouth breathing, just the air going in there was incredibly drying. Good luck finding ways to help yourself. Maybe your machine data will prove helpful.

Hi,

thanks for your response. I'll consider these points. But I feel like I should follow the sleep experts advice too at the moment as well?

[Jacksie]

From personal experience, these are the things I've done to combat dry mouth.

The Airfit F20 is an awesome mask. It's designed to fit a wide range of faces.

If you're getting large leaks, you may need help figuring out how to seat the mask so it doesn't leak. If you had it fitted at a DME, it's likely the right size, but on the off chance, you may want to try a different sized pillow.

These are methods I use to reduce leak to a minimum:
Consider getting Pad a Cheek's anti-leak strap. It works wonders.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/pad-a- ... 0-f30-mask

Consider a papcap. It's my last defense against mouthleaks. I can't sleep without it.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/pursle ... rap-cotton

Things you can change in the settings menu that also cause dry mouth and stuffy nose:

• Take the climate control off Auto.
• Reduce your climateline temperature to 70 degrees F, 20.5 degrees C. Mine defaulted to 82 degrees F on Auto. It was burning my mouth dry. Had to stop that.
• Reduce your humidity level to 3 - If your nose is stuffy, it's often an indication that your humidity is too high. It's counter-intuitive, but it works for a lot of us.
• Make sure your water tank is relatively full.

I hope this helps.

Chris

Thank you Chris, I am going to take a look at your links and your advice

[zonker]

Hi,

thanks for your response. I'll consider these points. But I feel like I should follow the sleep experts advice too at the moment as well?

while that is totally up to you, of course, you may find that these "sleep experts" don't always know what they are talking about.

[Jacksie]

Hi,

maybe someone can help me out before I quit.
I am getting less sleep than before and feel much worse.
I'm a new user and have been using my CPAP every night for 3 weeks.
I wake up every night, every hour or so with severe dry mouth, to the point where it is painful.
I have the humidity up full on the machine and have tried all temperature settings for the hose.
The machine feels like there is no moisture coming from it, yet the tank is dry every morning.

Jack

Air Sense 10 Settings:
Mask - Full face
Humidity - 8
Climate Control Hose Temperature - have tried all variations
Air Pressure - 17

In addition, I have been using a chin strap, bioextra mouth gel and have a humidifier in my room with the windows open

Other than the super dry mouth, how is everything else? Are you congested when you wake up? Any other concerns?

In terms of the dry mouth, you likely have a trifecta going on -- mouth breathing, mask leak, and higher pressures.

A few things that have worked for me:
- Stay well hydrated.
- Try something like biotene before bed (not familiar with bioextra -- perhaps the same thing)
- Try a night guard (it can make you drool)
- Keep water with a straw near your bed -- you can disconnect the hose and take a sip of water when you wake up (without taking off the mask)
- Download OSCAR and look at your leak data -- I suspect you have significant leaks. Not every mask fits every person (I love a size large airtouch F20 but not the airfit, and it must be a large) -- others hate what works for me.
- Try using the machine while awake. Do you find your mouth open? As you shift around, do leaks start?

About pressures. Pressure needs are not determined by your untreated AHI -- but rather how much pressure is need to lower them. Higher AHI does not guarantee a need fr higher pressure. And pressure needs can vary night to night, by sleep position, and by sleep stage. Higher pressure is not a bad thing per se although it does make air swallowing and mask leaks more likely. The good news is you can do something about that. A good future discussion....

Thanks. No other issues except the dry mouth which is of a severity I've never experienced and I have been in deserts approaching 50 degrees C.
I am going to read over your points and see what I can gleam from them

[Jacksie]

Because of the number of episodes I have per hour, the professor wants me at 20
I have been studied in a lab overnight twice.
I started at 15, moved to 16, then to 17. Auto is disabled, as is ramp up.

Can you post your sleep study results (with personal info blacked out)? And can you post some of your Oscar data?


It would be helpful to see what worked during the titration. And also what results you are getting with your current settings.

Your doctor should already know that the pressure a person needs is NOT related to the number of events. Some people have a lot of events, but don't need much pressure to prevent them. I had a split night study, so I had an ahi of 79 an hour without reaching REM sleep. It is probably worse than that if checked for the whole night. Definitely severe. But my settings are 11-17, and I really don't go past 13 that much. Just for short times as I roll onto my back. It is quite possible that you don't need such high pressure. If you can post some data from your machine, we can see if you might do better at lower pressures.

Hi thanks,

I am looking into my sleep study results now and downloading Oscar. Regarding the pressure and number of events, this may be me misinterpreting things or remembering things wrong. I am new to this, but I am pretty certain that the doctor would like me to get to 20. Maybe I can try it on auto?

[Jacksie]

Thank you all for your responses.
I am going to take all your advice on board and read through it this evening and post back tomorrow.
It's good to hear from people with hands on experience.
I do have faith in the specialist and even their partner is a sufferer so they have a case study by their side at night.
I will download the recommended links and update my info for my signature.

I have had a zoom call with the doctor and the ResMed technicians. From my sleep reports or from my feedback, they feel that there may be a fault with the machine and are sending both a new humidifier and a new hose.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned here is drinking water with lemon juice. The resmed people said that this can increase saliva production but when I asked for how many hours or minutes, they could not say. The sleep specialist was not keen on this due to the acidity on my teeth.
The sleep specialist also mentioned distilled water. I have been boiling water and using that. The water in my area is soft though with a score of 68 mg/l of CaC03

Kind regards,

[zonker]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned here is drinking water with lemon juice. The resmed people said that this can increase saliva production but when I asked for how many hours or minutes, they could not say. The sleep specialist was not keen on this due to the acidity on my teeth.
The sleep specialist also mentioned distilled water. I have been boiling water and using that. The water in my area is soft though with a score of 68 mg/l of CaC03

Kind regards,

haven't heard of water w/lemon juice. so i don't have an opinion on that. others will be along to comment on it's validity or lack of. i wanted to mention xylimelts. i thought i saw you mention oral gel, but that must've been someone else.

xylimelts is what i use for dry mouth. it's a lozenge that fits between tooth and cheek. a slightly tacky coating keeps it adhered to the teeth to stay in place all night while it slowly melts, promoting saliva. you can find it in the oral health care of your drugstore. i know for certain it's at rite aid and cvs.

on that distilled water-that's a convenience, not really a necessity. plain tap water works, if your tap water is good for drinking. if you use tap water, the minerals will build up in your humidifier tank which would then have to be cleaned more often. distilled water isn't strictly necessary.