Newbie Probs with pressure, not sleeping, short of breath...

[jduffeytx]

Help! Have an Airsense 10, Airfit p10 mask. Been using the machine since 9/26 and haven't been able to keep the mask on for a full night. Dr. prescribed 6-12 pressure but the first night was like a hurricane going into my nose and coming out of my mouth (involuntarily). I turned the EPR to 3 and that helped a lot, but then I started becoming very short of breath around 3am-4am. If I turn over it takes about 5-10min to get my breathing back under control (whether pressure is high or low). I get so frustrated by not being able to catch my breath or because the air is pushing my mouth open and usually end up ripping the mask off either between 3am-4am or around 6am-7am. I've been tweaking the pressure slightly trying to find the right "fit" but otherwise I'm at a loss. I'm more exhausted with this CPAP than I was without it. During my sleep study/titration the tech mentioned that I showed sensitivity to the changes in pressure.

Dr. diagnosed me with "mild sleep apnea." I'm 36, 6'3", 185lbs. My mother and grandmother had sleep apnea (untreated).

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Pugsy]

If it was noted in your sleep report that you were sensitive to the pressure changes why were you given an apap with a range of 6? It's not a huge range and it doesn't look like you spend much time at the upper end of the range but it's possible that the last little bit getting up to where it goes is the straw that broke the camel's back.
Maybe you would do better with fixed cpap or a tight range..like 7 to 8 or 9 because most of the time you are below that 9 anyway.

What is your pressure running right before you see the break in therapy from the mask removal?

[jduffeytx]

No clue why the Dr. prescribed a APAP or why he is doing what he's doing. The process has not been that transparent. Have asked him on several occasions to explain my sleep test results and he gives a generic run down that I could have figured out myself. Asked for his feedback on various machines and he told me to ask the DME. The two DME's he sent me to were unprofessional at best, and extremely corrupt at worst so I ordered my machine through a website and made the Dr.'s office write the prescription to match what I wanted.

Regarding pressure level when I remove the mask, at the low end when I feel like I can't get enough oxygen it was around 5.5 to 6. When I felt like pressure was too high and removed the mask it was 9.8, 9.6, and 8.5.