Raised my minimum pressure but still experiencing lots of Flow Limitations

[UARSandApneaguy87]

I am on the Phillips Dreamstation Auto CPAP (APAP) and wear a full face mask. I increased my minimum pressure to 12 last night and still had a lot of flow limitations

I have attached the screencaps. I'm still waking up many times during the night. At one point my pressure went up to 16 which resulted in a large leak. So I had to change the machine to adjust to a max of 14 instead.

Now I have no idea what to do. I'm diagnosed UARS/borderline apnea. If I could get my mask to not leak at pressures of 15 or 16 or even 17, would this help? I am getting a bit desperate. Its my 5th day on PAP.

[zonker]

i don't have the answer you are seeking, but i do have a request.

could you please stay in one thread when asking your therapy questions? it makes it easier to follow what is going on.

thank you and good luck!

[Miss Emerita]

Do stay in one thread, as Zonker has said. You're in your initial period of treatment, with lots of different issues, and it can help people to be able to see the full context easily.

It'd also be helpful if you would include the left panel with your screen shots. It contains a lot of crucial information. Be sure to turn off the calendar and pie chart before taking the screen shot. In particular, I'd like to know what flex level you're using.

Several people mentioned the value of sticking with changes for a while before trying to evaluate them, unless of course they're a disaster. In addition, as you mention, you're just in your fifth day of treatment. It isn't realistic to expect dramatic improvement quickly. Your body and mind are adjusting to a new night-time experience, and that calls for patience.

In the zoom shot, your flow rate does suggest some flow limitation. It will be easier to see if you would reset the y-axis to, say, +/- 50. Just right-click on the graph label to do that.

But what is more striking to me is the profusion of obstructive apnea events. Do you have a guess about whether you were awake during the clusters between 4:30 and 5:30?

Clusters of events can suggest you may be tucking your chin toward your chest. If you're using a high pillow, or several pillows, consider using something flatter. One good way to eliminate events caused by chin-tucking is to use a soft cervical collar. But honestly, at this point I don't recommend loading yourself up with more gear.

Bottom line: have patience and stick to a given setting for a while to see what trends you can spot.

[zonker]

Bottom line: have patience and stick to a given setting for a while to see what trends you can spot.

+1

it's hard to have patience sometimes, but it's one of the best tools in seeing exactly what works for one.

[Okie bipap]

As the others have said, patience is a virtue when it comes to treating sleep apnea. We do not recommend making adjustments based on single night results, but make changes based on trends over a period of time. Normally, we recommend changes only after five or seven nights to see how things are doing. Also, your machine does not show how bad your flow restrictions are, and only shows it happened. Not trying to discourace you, but it may not be possible to eliminate all flow restrictions.

[UARSandApneaguy87]

As the others have said, patience is a virtue when it comes to treating sleep apnea. We do not recommend making adjustments based on single night results, but make changes based on trends over a period of time. Normally, we recommend changes only after five or seven nights to see how things are doing. Also, your machine does not show how bad your flow restrictions are, and only shows it happened. Not trying to discourace you, but it may not be possible to eliminate all flow restrictions.

Yeah you all have a point about the patience.

The FLs I posted weren't flagged by machine. My machine only flagged 2. Yet when I scroll through the entire night, the vast majority of my breathing was FLs. The screenap I posted is one where the machine didn't tag any.

[Miss Emerita]

Yeah you all have a point about the patience.

The FLs I posted weren't flagged by machine. My machine only flagged 2. Yet when I scroll through the entire night, the vast majority of my breathing was FLs. The screenap I posted is one where the machine didn't tag any.

Right, many FLs are not flagged. But we don't yet know whether the FLs make any difference to the quality of your sleep. Please do post another chart. It'd be good to know whether all those OAs were a one-night wonder or a trend.

[Pugsy]

Given the timing of that cluster of OAs and the fact that it is a very short sleep session...I would be wondering if those are real asleep OA flags or arousal/awake flagging.