CPAP the amazing unexpected outcomes of a newbie

[LeaksArgh]

<t>Found your site today and it inspired me to tell this<br/>
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AMAZING EFFECTS OF CPAP THERAPY <br/>
Over a month in wanted to report on some unexpected improvements in 3 areas:-<br/>
>Insomnia<br/>
>Getting up to P multiple times a night<br/>
>GERD<br/>
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I had all three issues but literally only discovered this month how each of these can have links to OSA :<br/>
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My Insomnia has been a curse for years. Tried all sorts of techniques and none of them worked. Toss and turn, unable to ‘turn off’ my brain from a sea of irrelevant thoughts. My Apple Watch confirmed the many hours I’d be awake (sometimes crying with frustration at being exhausted but unable to sleep. Regularly just as I’d finally be drifting off, like a form of torture, I’d need to get up for a Pee. This would happen 2-3 times each night. I assumed it was age. Added to that was periodic Reflux. <br/>
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Hospital Sleep study in Jan confirmed SOSA - 43 ph and with a max of 80 seconds of breath holding. <br/>
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Read about CPAP failure rates and was determinded I had to make a success of the Therapy. It would not an option to give up. Before I got my machine began taping my mouth at night and visualised using the breathing tube. By the time I got the machine my first night (started with Fisher & Paykel) I slept even less than usual as I was so excited to wake up and see the result…<br/>
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To now I have not once removed the mask during sleep – averaging 8 hours use each night.<br/>
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Almost immediately my AHIs dropped to under 5. But it was around day 16 that I started to note that my Insomnia was not as bad. I still wake some nights, but my brain is ‘quieter’ and I can go back to sleep fairly easily. Then instead of getting up to P 2-3 times I realised I was started to sleep through. Most nights now I do not have to get up at all – which is wonderful.<br/>
Then there is GERD. This has always been an issue of decades for me - bad reflux at night - despite no food after 6pm (no alchohol and not a smoker)<br/>
And that too has all but disappeared.<br/>
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LESS AMAZING EFFECTS <br/>
Like so many new to this there are areas I’m struggling with:- <br/>
AHIs: On paper now under 5 - great! But still feel tired:-(<br/>
LEAKS: I have 3 months trial and am trying loads of masks (Nasal types – can’t do full face). One night leaks seem OK, the next with the same mask - I’ll get a bad result. <br/>
PRESSURE: Lanky Leftie & Nicko both say the ResMed APAP Algorythms are poor and lag. I’ve tried CPAP fixed at 8, then 8.4 – but my O2 Ring shows my SpO2 often still drops to 90, at times even lower. (Specialist very nice, but not bothered about my being tired or SATs so long as AHIs are under 5 – everyone say this about Specialists!)<br/>
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In an effort to keep my SATs stable and to stay in the 95-100% range I upped the pressure. Set to:- APAP min 8.4 / MAX 10 Start 6.8 RAMP 5 mins / No EPR. <br/>
( am in Australia and able to alter pressures myself)<br/>
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So these are a couple of questions I have if anyone could help please: <br/>
<br/>
I find OSCAR beyond me but looking at the pressure notice its close to max 10 almost all the time. <br/>
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1) should I stick with APAP and increase my upper figure to above 10, maybe 8-12, (hoping higher pressure doesn’t make my mask leak problems worse)<br/>
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2) Am I right to try and get better SpO2 and do you think there could be a link between unstable SpO2 and to being tired? <br/>
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Attaching my compare leaks chart to try and fathom what mask/ pressure is working.<br/>
Happy to give more info but didn’t want to go ott with it</t>

[Miss Emerita]

Welcome! It's good to hear you're off to such a great start. Could you post a daily chart, showing the left panel (calendar and pie chart turned off) and these graphs:

Events
Flow rate
Pressure
Leaks
Snores
Flow limitations.

With a peek at a chart, people here might be able to offer some advice about your settings.

As for masks and leaks: have you tried watching mask-fitting videos on line for the masks you're trying? Have you worked on fitting them while you're lying down in bed and moving around in whatever ways you normally do at night? And have you tried adjusting the fit of your mask while the pressure is high?

[palerider]

<t>Found your site today and it inspired me to tell this<br/>
<br/>

Pasting html tags into the messages doesn't work.

You need bbcode.

[chunkyfrog]

<t>Found your site today and it inspired me to tell this<br/>
<br/>

Pasting html tags into the messages doesn't work.

You need bbcode.

I guess my browser takes care of that.

[zonker]

<t>Found your site today and it inspired me to tell this<br/>
<br/>

Pasting html tags into the messages doesn't work.

You need bbcode.

I guess my browser takes care of that.

mine does not.

[chunkyfrog]

Whatever he was trying to do--I never tried it.

[LeaksArgh]

[quote="Miss Emerita" post_id=1441409 time=1686071287 user_id=88778]
Welcome! It's good to hear you're off to such a great start. Could you post a daily chart, showing the left panel (calendar and pie chart turned off) and these graphs:

Events
Flow rate
Pressure
Leaks
Snores
Flow limitations.

With a peek at a chart, people here might be able to offer some advice about your settings.

As for masks and leaks: have you tried watching mask-fitting videos on line for the masks you're trying? Have you worked on fitting them while you're lying down in bed and moving around in whatever ways you normally do at night? And have you tried adjusting the fit of your mask while the pressure is high?
[/quote]


Thank you. Not quite sure why al those codes are in my message, sorry about that. A suggestion was made due to my Flow rate that I might have palatal prolapse. Will try and post what you suggest, although finding it a bit tricky here to do things. But am so appreciative of the help others with this condition who have been through the learning curve are willing to give

[LeaksArgh]

RE masks - yes have done a lot of reading up about masks. And the advice has helped = still somewhat trial and error to find the right one! Philips Wisp great, but 3 times in and sore nose bridge. Going to try Gecko silicone nose pad....