New to CPAP, I wake up suffocating

[cuibel]

Hiya, I wake up after an hour or two unable to breathe, as if I have forgotten to breathe. I have to strip the mask off in a hurry.

Is the CPAP set too low?
Thanks

[oldgearhead]

For me, if the minimum pressure is below 7.0 cm/H2O I have lots of
trouble breathing through my ComfortLite 2. However, my Hybrid is a
bit more forgiving in this area. I think it's because the Hybrid has a much larger manifold than the CL2.

[ladytonya]

I'm thinking about bumping my pressure up 1 cm because of this very thing. I switched to a machine with EPR and the Hybrid mask because of suffocation issues and i am still having those same issues. The first night, my mask stayed on for 5 and a half hours. Second night was 3 and a half and last night was only an hour and a half. While I had my mask on, my numbers were similar, but I'm taking the darn thing off during the night. I do notice that when I do the mask fit option that the pressure is bumped up to 10 and that feels much more comfortable. I am a strong believer in tinkering with pressure. Just because you titrated at a certain pressure in your sleep study, conditions in your own bed are very different so you may very well need a different pressure. Try bumping it up in small increments and see if that helps. Good luck to you!

[JWATT]

Hi,
I have the same problem your having. My pressure is set at 10 and they changed my mask to a Snapp nasal pillows to see if that would help.It didn't, I still wake up like I'm suffocating.I thought it might be because of the nasal mask making me feel confined. I have been trying shutting off my humidifier and that helped, but now I get dry mouth,but it did help. I also noticed when it's colder in the room that I sleep in, that helps too. I'll just keep trying different things as I go, because I know in the long run, the cpap will help me.I've only been on cpap for about a month or so and am a newbie to this. Let me know how you make out and I'll keep in touch to let you know how I do.
John

[krousseau]

Could be pressures-what are your settings? I was set at a sarting ramp of 4 when I first started CPAP and it felt like I couln't get air fast enough. I did have a cold at the time so assumed it was because of the cold-When the nose cleared up the feeling was still there so started bumping up the ramp-settled on 8 starting pressure. Now on APAP that is my minimum pressure.

But you also say;

unable to breathe, as if I have forgotten to breathe

Does your report mention central apneas? If you don't know find out from the doc.

[MaskedMechanic]

This is not something to mess around with. Something is very wrong. Contact your equipment provider to be certain that the machine is delivering the prescribed pressure. If it is contact your physician. You feel like you are suffocating because you are having airway events that should not be occurring. If your physician is comfortable that the prescribed pressure is being delivered, either a new cpap trial or a pressure increase will likely be prescribed.

Take the time to work through this. You will be glad you did.

[NightHawkeye]

Hiya, I wake up after an hour or two unable to breathe, as if I have forgotten to breathe.

Cuibel, your problem may actually be caused by the mask you are using. This because full-face masks can push your lower jaw backward, resulting in increased apneas, particularly if you have TMJ issues. A few of us here have noticed this problem.

Like you I used to use the Ultra-Mirage full-face mask, but discovered that it increased my apnea. As soon as I switched to a nasal mask, I was able to get my apnea under control. Of course, switching to a nasal mask forced me to work on getting my sinus blockage under control. Fortunately, nightly nasal irrigations and allergy meds helped with that.

Good luck, cuibel. Hope this helps.

Regards,
Bill