My pressure was raised today

[Sharbysyd]

I joined this forum a few years ago and I believe I posted but when I look at my history, I only see one post from today.

Anyhow, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea 4 years ago. It took me several months to get my machine and then several more months to start using it. I felt great for a while and have since gone up and down.

I've put on about 20 lbs over the last year or two. I also finally decided that I had to go back to the sleep apnea doctor to see if they could help since I've still been tired.

I had my 2nd sleep study (or should I call it awake study ) last week. My pressure has now been raised from 8 to 12. The RPA that I saw today made it seem like 12 was SO high and he kind of scared me. He also wants me to come back in a month so he can "make sure that my throat is nice and pink and not red." I've always been a bit prone to anxiety and the things he said made me more anxious about starting the new pressure.

Anyhow, I just wanted to come on here and share and hopefully get a bit of encouragement. Hopefully I will come back to this forum more often. I guess I just always feel so behind in stuff that I never get to everything I need to and didn't get here as much as I would have liked. I really want to get this whole apnea thing straightened out though and start living live after 20+ years of fatigue.

[the_nap_ster]

I joined this forum a few years ago and I believe I posted but when I look at my history, I only see one post from today.

Anyhow, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea 4 years ago. It took me several months to get my machine and then several more months to start using it. I felt great for a while and have since gone up and down.

I've put on about 20 lbs over the last year or two. I also finally decided that I had to go back to the sleep apnea doctor to see if they could help since I've still been tired.

I had my 2nd sleep study (or should I call it awake study ) last week. My pressure has now been raised from 8 to 12. The RPA that I saw today made it seem like 12 was SO high and he kind of scared me. He also wants me to come back in a month so he can "make sure that my throat is nice and pink and not red." I've always been a bit prone to anxiety and the things he said made me more anxious about starting the new pressure.

Anyhow, I just wanted to come on here and share and hopefully get a bit of encouragement. Hopefully I will come back to this forum more often. I guess I just always feel so behind in stuff that I never get to everything I need to and didn't get here as much as I would have liked. I really want to get this whole apnea thing straightened out though and start living live after 20+ years of fatigue.

Hi Sharbysyd,

First of all, welcome back to the forum! We're here to help, any time you need us.

Second, about that RPA:

Why do people say things like that? First, it is totally false. A pressure of 12cmH2O is pretty average, and while some people are on lower pressure, some are on much higher. To be honest, I find anything under 10 uncomfortable, and I LOVE the feel of 12. A very soothing amount of pressure for me. But let's get a reality check: even 20cmH2O is not enough force to blow up a balloon. We're not talking about huge amounts of pressure or force, and honest to goodness, there is nothing to be anxious about.

I can't even fathom what he was babbling about with the possibility of a "red" throat, but all I can think of is that upping pressure sometimes means you need to up your humidity too. Everyone likes different amounts of humidity, and that's totally up to personal preference. But other than that, I think he was just pulling stuff out of his rectal file.

So, I'm here to say, as a woman with a similar pressure to yours (and usually a little higher): you can do this! And you're going to feel SO much better when your events are under control. Stick around and let us know how it goes, okay?

xoxo

[Xney]

Red throat due to PAP makes no sense. Things like it being hard to breathe and more air swallowing and mask leaks, THOSE are real problems with higher pressure settings. As the poster above me said, 12 is not that high. I find 12 quite comfortable, even 15 and 16 isn't too bad. 20 was not fun.

My suggestion would be to use the ramp feature, hopefully your PAP machine has one. Set the ramp to your old pressure (8) and let it slowly work its way up over 20 or 30 minutes. When you have ramped up to 12 for a few days it will start to feel normal.

At first I thought 12 was crazy high, now it's no big deal.

One thing about going above 10, if your machine can reduce the pressure a little when you breathe out (called EPR or C-Flex), it might make it easier too. Try a setting of 1 or 2 in consultation with your doctor.

[Sharbysyd]

Thank you both. I made it through my first two nights and it wasn't too bad. He had set my ramp to 7 and I was still awake when the pressure went up. It made me a bit panicky but that may have been just because I was aware of it. For the most part, the pressure of 12 didn't seem very different from 8.

I'm happy to hear that 12 isn't an outrageously high pressure as he made it seem.

Napster, I really like what you said about the rectal file.

[chunkyfrog]

The ignorant tech may be shilling for a 'surgeon' on the side--ignore the BS.

[KEQ5]

As you get more used to it, you may even find that you want a shorter ramp setting (or none at all) so that you get into your normal pressure range faster. Sometimes when I first put the mask on, it feels stuffy as it ramps up from 4 to my minimum of 7 over the course of 5 minutes. Later on, when it's running at 11-13, I don't notice the pressure at all (but I do have EPR set to 3cm).

[Xney]

As you get more used to it, you may even find that you want a shorter ramp setting (or none at all) so that you get into your normal pressure range faster. Sometimes when I first put the mask on, it feels stuffy as it ramps up from 4 to my minimum of 7 over the course of 5 minutes. Later on, when it's running at 11-13, I don't notice the pressure at all (but I do have EPR set to 3cm).

I don't know how you guys ramping at 4 start! Heh. I feel like I'm suffocating at those low pressures.