Having Trouble Adapting to CPAP

[cashman]

I need some advice on adapting to CPAP. I'm a new CPAP user and am really having trouble getting used to it. I start out with the mask on but then after a few hours, I wake up feeling like I'm not getting enough air. So I end up taking off the mask and TRY to go back sleep - but am not always successful. I'm getting really frustrated and more tired.

I've talked with my doc and my CPAP tech but am not getting any useful advice. They've both told me to just keep trying and have prescribed Lunesta but it's not working. Any advice?

[cflame1]

do you know what your settings are?
are you using ramp or not... and if you are what is it set to?

[cashman]

The pressure is a 6. I've tried the ramp a couple times but it feels like it's harder to breath with less pressure (as it's ramping up). The problem is when i exhale (or try to).

[diboja]

The problem is when i exhale (or try to).

My pressure is set at 10 and I was having a hard time exhaling on my original test machine. After a month I obtained a M Series with C-Flex. With the C-Flex set at 3, I now have no difficulties exhaling. What is your C-Flex set at?

By the way, I am a newbie and have only been using CPAP for just over two months.....

[wcj1]

Is it that you feel like when you are inhaling, not enough air is coming in or is it when you are exhaling, it is too difficult to exhale?

If the first, I would say your pressure needs to be higher. I have an APAP and when I started, they set the low end at 6 and I told my doctor it was hard to get started, like I was not getting enough air. He agreed that I could set my initial pressure higher, so I bumped it up to 6.6 to start and that made that feeling go away.

If it is the second, then your C-flex should maybe be set higher (was is that at?).

BillJ

[Julie]

Who can breathe at 6? SO many MD's set a really low number when people start out (I don't know what they're afraid of) because anything up to 10-12 is very normal and I've never heard of anyone ever having a 'bad reaction' to those! It's a snap to bump it (try and lots of people here can help you do it. And most of us have stopped using the ramp altogether unless our pressure's really high (15-20).

[Muse-Inc]

Who can breathe at 6?

I can! I used to have 6 as my ramp pressure using my CPAP. We set my APAP range at 6-15 which was OK; currently trying 6.4 as the initial pressure to see how it affects my overnight numbers. When I home titrated, my 95thcentile ranged from 6.2 upwards...not everyone with sleep apnea needs a lot of pressure to stent open their airways. I find 4 difficult and 5 challenging.

[ozij]

Who can breathe at 6?

I can! I used to have 6 as my ramp pressure using my CPAP. We set my APAP range at 6-15 which was OK; currently trying 6.4 as the initial pressure to see how it affects my overnight numbers. When I home titrated, my 95thcentile ranged from 6.2 upwards...not everyone with sleep apnea needs a lot of pressure to stent open their airways. I find 4 difficult and 5 challenging.

I can breathe at 6. My AHI starts climbing if I have to exhale against anything more than 8.5 or 9. There have been others on this forum who need lower pressures, and did worse with higher.

When it comes to adapting your machines to your needs you through probability considerations out the window, and pay attention to how you feel. You may be one on a thousand, or one in 10,000 -- but your are your own, 100% of the population, and therefore what you feel is what is right for you.

cashman, wc1 asked a crucial question:

Is it that you feel like when you are inhaling, not enough air is coming in or is it when you are exhaling, it is too difficult to exhale?

O.

[Patrick A]

I need some advice on adapting to CPAP. I'm a new CPAP user and am really having trouble getting used to it. I start out with the mask on but then after a few hours, I wake up feeling like I'm not getting enough air. So I end up taking off the mask and TRY to go back sleep - but am not always successful. I'm getting really frustrated and more tired.

I've talked with my doc and my CPAP tech but am not getting any useful advice. They've both told me to just keep trying and have prescribed Lunesta but it's not working. Any advice?

Sorry to hear you are having problems with your CPAP; I see you have an auto. It should raise your pressure as needed. I don't understand why it's not raising your pressures up. Unless it's not a auto cpap. Don't give up keep trying it will work.

[cashman]

Wow! Thanks for all the responses. It's definitely EXhaling where I'm having difficulty. So after reading these posts, I remembered that my machine had a C-flex option and tried that out last night (set at 3). It was better and I kept the CPAP on for about 3 hours but I still felt like i was having trouble exhaling.

So, does increasing the pressure make it easier to breathe?

[DoninOrlando]

Cashman,
I had the same issues when I started a few months ago. They went away very quickly. My pressure is now at 11 and I cannot use the ramp as it feels like I am not getting enough air. I can't breath at 6 as it feels like suffocating. I also had difficulty exhaling. Now with the Cflex at only 1, it feels like not enough pressure. It just feels unnatural to inhale under pressure and exhale against no pressure. I may turn my Cflex off. I am barely at 2 months but I used daily no matter how uncomfortable or what issues. Cpap is like a long road trip, with many bumps and detours. But you can get through it.

You may try wearing the mask with machine on while reading a book or watching TV or reading on here, to get used to it. It is less threatening when you are not trying to fall asleep. You are also concentrating on the book or TV. When wearing it trying to sleep you will have a tendency to concentrate on your breath and the machine. You need a distraction to take your mind off it some and it becomes less difficult. Some use aromatherapy but that did not work for me. You will find one day a pressure of 6 feels very low. My ramp pressure started at 6 and I could not use it as it was not enough to breathe.
Good Luck
Don

[Hawthorne]

Actually, I think the OP has an M Series PRO, not an AUTO.

He can raise his pressure but it is not an auto and will not rise on its own, and cannot be set to a pressure range, but rather a single fixed pressure.

[cashman]

Yes when I joined yesterday, I listed the wrong machine (an auto) in my profile. I updated it today.

[jmelby]

So, does increasing the pressure make it easier to breathe?

This depends... you said in your first post that you don't feel you are getting enough air. In this case, increasing the pressure is probably what will help. If it is problems exhaling, it is the C-Flex/EPR (on Resmed) that will probably help. It sounds like you may have both issues. The main point here is that it is your treatment... so you should find what settings work for you. Try different combinations of settings with the pressure and C-Flex, but don't make drastic changes all at once (e.g. don't increase pressure more than 1 or 2 at a time). Give yourself a couple of days with each new set of settings. If there is one thing I have learned from reading this forum is that YOU own your treatment and finding what works for YOU is ultimately what will make your treatment successful.

[cashman]

Ok. Now my question is this: should my breathing be more restricted when I have the CPAP on? Or should it feel like when I'm just breathing normal (without the CPAP). Now that I'm paying more attention to it, it feels like I have a cloth over my mouth/nose and not getting enough air both inhaling and exhaling. It seems like I should be able to breathe as freely with the CPAP as without it. Or am I off-base?