Couldn’t Breathe

[cpapgirl1318]

Hi everyone so I’m brand new to having a CPAP. Today is the first night wearing my machine (only other time I wore one was at the titration study). I have a ResMed AirSense 10 and the Dreamwear nasal cradle mask. I was eager to use my machine as I wake up in the middle of the night with my heart racing due to OSA. So tonight after wearing it for about it 2 hours, I woke up feeling like I couldn’t breathe. I did everything correctly though, I washed my mask, pillows (even though they still have that weird new smell), tubing and have the water chamber filled with distilled water. I have the heated tubing it came with and the ramp time, climate control, and tube temp are all on auto. My doctor has my pressure setting at a constant 7. I do have sinus issues where I’m usually congested, I have something called chronic rhinitis. I’m wondering if that has something to do with this feeling of what just happened, waking up not being able to breathe. The machine was on and working fine and I just checked and there was no leaks. And this did not happen at my titration study, although I have no idea what machine was being used there but it wasn’t this one but the mask was similar. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. After I took off the mask, the feeling of not being able to breathe lasted about 5 to 10 minutes and now here I am, on here, trying to figure this out and my breathing feels totally normal now. I really want to be able to use this machine. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. Oh and I am 40 years old and do not have any major medical problems.

[Julie]

Why are you not on auto?

[cpapgirl1318]

Auto meaning a range of pressure? If so I asked my doctor that and she said when I did my titration study at the sleep lab that they suggested one set pressure of 7.

[joeljjk11]

Seven is a low pressure. I think I would feel like I couldn't breathe if my pressure was that low. You can ask your doctor but if I were you I would raise the pressure a bit, to 8 or 9.

[Erlolhiasn]

So I posted two mins ago that I was going to try and help someone new as repayment for the forum helping me so much! So here goes...
It was a while ago I started my journey now, but my low (and pre-ramp) pressure was 6 and high was set at 9 or something.
I very quickly got used to this (within a night or two) and realised that 6 wasn't worth having on - I literally couldn't breath with it on either. So I started adjusting that night by night (or maybe a few nights at a time) - went 7 to 9, then 8-10 - continually checking what my nightly average was.
Eventually, and probably after about 6 months or so, I found that sweet-spot where I have it set (I think it's maybe like 9-11 or something for me).
You probably know this - but the kinda science behind this when the machine is set to auto is that the machine takes a bit of time to respond to breathing episodes, and you don't yet know what pressure is needed to keep you going all night - so say you are set at 7, and you need 10, by the time the machine realises it needs to increase the power and starts doing so, you have probably woken up. So the aim is to get that range as close to the optimal setting for you.
Well done for being so keen to get it working through - I am sure it will really quickly. Keep us posted!!

[Pugsy]

OSCAR https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... stallation
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... rpretation

I would use the available software and see if I could spot something going on that might explain the situation before I go blindly changing the pressures without knowing what I was doing or why.

viewtopic/t158560/How-to-post-images-for-review.html

People advising increasing the pressure....stop to think for a minute...what if this person is having a bunch of central apneas????
More pressure won't help with the centrals and might make things worse.
Before guessing how about trying to figure out what the problem might be first??
You can't fix a problem until you identify the problem. Not everything can be fixed with "more pressure".

[cpapgirl1318]

Do more people have a range (auto) or a fixed pressure? I’m guessing a range. Also I am a bit overweight and don’t like it hot in general, room temp I like 67 degrees but everyone says it’s so cold 🥶. My climate, tubing, and humidity are all set to auto and it felt like the air was too hot and humid for me but I have no idea what I should set it at. I don’t want to get condensation. My house is usually about 71 degrees. Any suggestions what I should set the climate, tubing, and humidity at? Wondering if that was part of the issue. Also just to note again when I put the mask on and it starts at 4 for the ramp, I could breathe just fine. It was when I woke up after wearing it for about 2 hours, I woke up feeling like I couldn’t breathe and had to take the mask off.

I also plan to download a software and look myself (I have an SD card) just waiting to get an adapter so I can put it in my old laptop.

[Janknitz]

CPAPgirl, did you feel like nasal congestion was the reason you couldn't breathe?

From your description, that doesn't sound like it was the issue. More than likely you were having some anxiety, panic, especially that you say it lasted about 10 minutes. It may have had to do with the pressure, but without the printouts we can't say for sure. So posting your data will really help.

In the meantime, when you feel that way, try to slowly breathe and count to 10. Then ask yourself if you really CANNOT breathe, or just feel like you can't. If you truly can't, you'd be sucking air in hard through your nose, or even opening your mouth. If you're having a panic attack, it's more like a perception of not being able to breathe.

I had a lot of these panic attacks at first. If you can keep the mask on, try counting slowly to 10 and see if it gets easier to breathe, then count to 10 slowly again. If you can't keep the mask on, calm yourself down and then put the mask on again.

It may be that your pressure is not optimal. One night's titration in the very artificial conditions of a sleep lab aren't like sleeping at home in your own conditions. The data will help us see, and in the meantime try to deal with that awful feeling. This takes time to get used to. Be kind to yourself.

[cpapgirl1318]

I woke up yes breathing hard through my nose and opening my mouth. I don’t think it was anxiety, I woke up that way. I’m not sure if it was congestion or not. I always have some congestion but no more than I did at the titration study and I didn’t wake up feeling like I couldn’t breathe there. I don’t have any anxiety about the machine. Could it be the EGR?

I will hopefully be able to print things out in two days. Which software should I use?

[Deborah K.]

Welcome to the forum! The folks here will help you figure things out, but keep in mind that it takes some time. NOBODY feels great their first night on pap therapy.

[zonker]

I will hopefully be able to print things out in two days. Which software should I use?

please see pugsy's response in this thread, the one about oscar.

[cpapgirl1318]

I missed that, thank-you so much. Oscar it is.

[zonker]

I missed that, thank-you so much. Oscar it is.

also, please see the link about how to post the image here. when you get oscar going, it's going to give a HUGE amount of data on one graph. but most of that data is irrelevant. the link will explain which data people here want to see.

good luck!

[coopbosses]

Have the same cpap machine as you, also get the sensation that I cannot breath after about 30 mins to an hour of having the machine on. Starting pressure of 4. I think I'll take some of the suggestions in this forum and increase my starting pressure to around 10ish and see if that helps?
Did you try any of the suggestions also, cpapgirl?

[cpapgirl1318]

I did not change my pressure because I know if a pressure is too high it can cause central’s. I turned off ramp and changed to a larger size mask (mine is the nasal cradle mask). I’m still wondering what I should set the tubing temp and humidity at, I have them both on auto and it just feels too hot and humid. I know people have said to move it just one but I don’t even know where to start. Also the EGR is on and I’m wondering if I should turn it off.