Tyrone747's therapy

[tyrone747]

Because I was unable to use the nasal dilator last night due to nose tenderness I decided to leave EPR on 1. I think EPR 1 does not significantly contribute to CA's for me and it does help to reduce FL's slightly. I did lower the pressure to 6 so my EPAP was 5 (below my titrated pressure). I experimented with sleeping in the prone position last night and it actually allowed me to get some great rest. Though it led to much more mask leaks. One pillow is sort of under my chest and the other is propping up my cheek and forehead. I may try it with a nasal mask tonight. My ultimate plan is to combine the cervical collar, nasal dilator, and prone position to minimize the amount of pressure I need to eliminate OA's.

[tyrone747]

Lowered the pressure to 5 last night with EPR1 so EPAP is as low as it will go. I honestly expected more hyponea's and perhaps an OA. Perhaps the prone position and cervical collar is letting me lower the pressure. But it's just one night. Too soon to tell. I used the Dreamwear nasal cushion and mouth tape which allowed me to really bury my face without as much discomfort as the FFM. I may try the P10 tonight and see how it compares though I don't think it performs well at very low pressure. I felt a bit spaced out on waking this morning but I think that may be due to the 75mcg time release melatonin I took. I'm very sensitive to melatonin. I could also be due to sleeping for almost 10 hours.

[zonker]

Lowered the pressure to 5 last night with EPR1 so EPAP is as low as it will go. I honestly expected more hyponea's and perhaps an OA. Perhaps the prone position and cervical collar is letting me lower the pressure. But it's just one night. Too soon to tell. I used the Dreamwear nasal cushion and mouth tape which allowed me to really bury my face without as much discomfort as the FFM. I may try the P10 tonight and see how it compares though I don't think it performs well at very low pressure. I felt a bit spaced out on waking this morning but I think that may be due to the 75mcg time release melatonin I took. I'm very sensitive to melatonin. I could also be due to sleeping for almost 10 hours.

well, this all looks great. as you say, one night, so it's hard to say.

if i may make a suggestion? why not leave things alone for a bit and see how this shakes out? if after a few days, you want to change masks, go ahead.

i'm just thinking that you don't want to change more than one thing at a time until you see for sure what each change brings.

make sense?

[tyrone747]

Would some of the more experienced members be able to take a look at my initial sleep study and my titration sleep study data and give their opinion? Unfortunately my sleep doctor has retired so I can't just go ask him about it. I used my CPAP for a few months religiously and didn't find it improved my sleep.

I can't get over the idea that any breathing problems that might be effecting my sleep are due to nasal congestion and not due to relaxing of my airway. Therefore I'm wondering if CPAP would ever be able to help me. Yet I still try my CPAP once in a while because I'm concerned about I really might have sleep apnea and it is causing my poor sleep and other health issues. Is it possible to infer from the data if it's the nose that's closing or the throat? From what I can tell I didn't have any apnea events but just hypopneas.

Sorry about the poor quality of the scans. It's what they could give me. The first image is my initial sleep study and the second is my titration study.

Kind regards.

[Julie]

If you are using the auto machine (as listed below your notes), why are you on plain Cpap?

And have you seen anyone about your nasal problems? Solving them won't fix your apnea, but it could help in general. And using humidity (if you do) may be making you and your nose congested... have you tried lowering it or even going without (it's not a mandatory part of therapy)?

And you posted so much of your study, but nothing much of what's going on now that you're on Cpap, so it's hard to say much to help.

You lowered your pressure to account for EPR, but it may not have been a good idea - even if AHI is a bit higher using EPR, it may otherwise still be worth it if it helps you to sleep better.

[tyrone747]

Hi Julie,

This thread is my treatment thread, if you would like to see how I do on treatment the previous pages have all my graphs. I haven't used CPAP regularly for a year or so. I noticed when I stopped my sleep and fatigue seemed to actually improve quite a bit. But I can't shake the diagnosis that I received from a trained doctor that told me I have (mild) sleep apnea so I guess I'm looking for opinions on why CPAP didn't work for me and if I really do have apnea caused by a collapsing airway.

Antihistamines before bed seem to help stop my congestion so that's another clue to me that it's histamine related. But even with them I rarely wake up feeling well rested and wake often during the night so I'm not sure if it might still be apnea.

[Julie]

Antihistamines can keep you from sleeping well... act like low level stimulants... have you tried not using them?

[khauser]

Antihistamines can keep you from sleeping well... act like low level stimulants... have you tried not using them?

Julie, could you mean decongestants? Antihistamines typically cause some level of drowsiness ... decongestants are stimulating (it's why those with high blood pressure are advised to avoid them).
- Kevin

[Julie]

You're right - I've mixed them up before!