Snoring after switching to auto

[jrcmlc]

I switched to a ResMed autoset 2 about 1.5mos ago. I feel like I'm sleeping better than with my old FP 604, and my AHI #'s are in the 3.2-4.5 average, BUT my wife says that I snore a lot now, versus with the FP I did not.

MY FP was set on 8, my autoset is set on 7.4-15, with EPR of 2. I told her that I thought that it was enough pressure to keep my from going into apnea, but not enough to keep me from snoring.

What's the real reason?

JC

[Wulfman]

I switched to a ResMed autoset 2 about 1.5mos ago. I feel like I'm sleeping better than with my old FP 604, and my AHI #'s are in the 3.2-4.5 average, BUT my wife says that I snore a lot now, versus with the FP I did not.

MY FP was set on 8, my autoset is set on 7.4-15, with EPR of 2. I told her that I thought that it was enough pressure to keep my from going into apnea, but not enough to keep me from snoring.

What's the real reason?

JC

Insufficient pressure.

With an EPR setting of "2", you're getting two less centimeters of pressure on exhale. So, if you're at the minimum pressure of 7.4, after you exhale, you're "effective" pressure is down to 5.4 when you start your inhale cycle. Snores occur when inhaling.


Den

[montana user]

I get allot of patients who I fix the apnea at (just throwing numbes here) 8,but it takes a pressure of 9 to get the snoring to stop as well. When I got my machine it was set to 7cmH2O, and after about 2 months, I was told I was snoring with my mask on. so I raised my pressure one and not a problem since.

[jrcmlc]

Well, it sounds like I pegged it, BUT, the real question is:

Do I NEED to stop the snoring if my #'s are solid? Is there a benefit to raising that pressure JUST to stop that last little bit of snoring when the pressure increase could cause other problems and may not entirely be necessary?

I have no idea on this one, definately open to your thoughts.

JC

[montana user]

Im going to say yes. The snoring is an idication that the airway is still falling some. Numbers are good, but the body is still struggling some with the snoring.

[jrcmlc]

I really don't NEED the EPR at all, maybe I'll dial it back to 1 or none and see if that extra couple cm makes the difference. I was happy with 7.4 BEFORE I realized it was actually more like 5.4, so I'll just be back to where I _thought_ I was before. LOL

JC

[Wulfman]

I agree with montana user. I waited almost a year before experimenting with increasing pressures in my machine. In hindsight, I wished I'd have bumped it up sooner. I found that it took two centimeters of additional pressure to make the snoring almost non-existent.....even though my AHI numbers were identical between 10, 11 and 12 cm.
I have no idea whether the heavy-duty snoring had any effect on my therapy/recovery, (even though the numbers came down over that period of time) but I still wish I'd have done it sooner.


Den

[WearyOne]

But if raising the pressure to try to help with snoring increases AHI? This is what happened to me when I tried this a year or so ago. My Cflex is on 2, so maybe I'll bump that down to one to see if that helps any. (I know cflex doesn't reduce the pressure the same way as EPR, but maybe that would help?) And if that doesn't help, then try upping the pressure again .5 and see if the AHI still goes up. You'd think on 8.5 that raising .5 wouldn't cause a rise in AHI (centrals, I presume), but I guess it's possible.

Pam

[jrcmlc]

I'll adjust out the EPR and try it out, see what the wife says.

JC

[JRI]

Im going to say yes. The snoring is an idication that the airway is still falling some. Numbers are good, but the body is still struggling some with the snoring.

I would also add that you are the only one who does not hear your snoring! I've been told my snoring could be heard through the walls but it never bothered me. However, those elbows to the ribs sure get you attention.

[jrcmlc]

I also have some AWESOME snoring volume. My wife taped me a few times, it was unbelievable to listen to. Like nothing I've ever heard before, that was before the Cpap, of course.

There are no elbows being thrown in my house, but it's funny because the only reason I ever went for a sleep study was because my wife complained that I was snoring so loudly, especially when I was on my back. (add to the oddness that the sleep DR said I snored and had apnea worse on my side. )

Also, funny while I'm ranting, the sleep DR and tech all said "oh, with effective CPAP therapy your BP will drop, you'll lose weight, you'll WANT to go to bed at night, you're uvula will shrink back down, blah blah blah....

Come full circle, my 2 year effective CPAP therapy has yielded none of those results AND now I am snoring again. LOL!

JC

[Muse-Inc]

..the sleep DR and tech all said "oh, with effective CPAP therapy your BP will drop, you'll lose weight, you'll WANT to go to bed at night, you're uvula will shrink back down, blah blah blah....Come full circle, my 2 year effective CPAP therapy has yielded none of those results AND now I am snoring again.

Patience grasshopper, might happen having switched to an APAP ! I am doing much, much better since switching to an APAP.

[jrcmlc]

I don't want to act like I feel WORSE or anything, but I honestly don't feel any better in any specific way. Shrug.

JC

[jrcmlc]

Well, the results from the 1st night were promising, AHI of 2.5 down from an average of 4.5ish, but we'll see how I fare over the next week or so.

I just turned EPR off completely as it doesn't bother me, and my leak was all over the place again, as I'm a little scruffy with facial hair. I'll shave and let 'er ride for a week and see what happens.

JC

[SleepingUgly]

With an EPR setting of "2", you're getting two less centimeters of pressure on exhale. So, if you're at the minimum pressure of 7.4, after you exhale, you're "effective" pressure is down to 5.4 when you start your inhale cycle. Snores occur when inhaling.

What does this mean with Cflex + ? For example, I have CPAP set to 8.0 and I have Cflex + set to 3. Does this mean the pressure is 5 when I start to inhale, or is that how it is with Cflex, but not Cflex +?