Bad bad bad night. Did I go too far?

[Daydream Believer]

I increased min pressure to 7 last night. I woke suddenly around 2:30am in a hazy panic... Got up out of bed. Spent the morning napping on the couch and trying to get my brain to work.

Could 7 be too high for me?



Amy

[BlackSpinner]

I don't know what it was before but we generally suggest only a .5 increase and leave it there for a few days.

[Daydream Believer]

I stepped from 5 to 6 a few days ago. Tried 7 last night cause my AHI just isn't going down. I'm backing down tonight. Maybe back to 6 just so I can catch up on sleep. Sleepyhead show periodic breathing for the last couple minutes before I startled to wake. Silly me - I thought this would be a steady improvement.

[palerider]

one night does not a trend make.

[Wulfman...]

one night does not a trend make.

+1

Give it several nights to a week before making another change.
In 2005, I started out on a pressure of 10 cm. and a year later I decided to bump my pressure up from 10 to 12 and I had a helluva time getting to sleep for a couple of nights.


Den

.

[englandsf]

Did you do a titration sleep study? What did it show?

[Daydream Believer]

Did you do a titration sleep study? What did it show?

No titration. A home sleep test ordered by my doc. It said the apnea was slight at around 7.5 AHI. I've had worse AHI than that many nights while using cpap. But I really only slept about 2hours that night so hard telling what it really is. I was prescribed minimum pressure of 4 with the max open to 20. But in my month on cpap I've only had like 2 nights with an AHI under 5.

Blah! I need some good sleep.
Amy

[Wulfman...]

You might consider trying straight pressure. It could be the pressure changes are wrecking your sleep and waking you up.


Den

.

[Jay Aitchsee]

I'm with Den. It looks like your machine is set at 7 - 20. I'd move that max down to around 10. It doesn't appear that you're going much over that, anyway. Lowering your min pressure from 7 probably won't do much for you since the machine will just raise it once it sees you are having apneas. It looks like the machine wants to keep you around 8, so you could raise the min to 8. An 8-10 spread might be less disturbing. Or as Den suggests, you could try a fixed pressure, say around 9. You have quite a few CA which are contributing to your overall AHI, but I'm guessing you're awake (1:30-2:30) or being disturbed by the pressure and nearly awake so they shouldn't count. Forget about your ahi for a while and concentrate on getting comfortable with the machine. Your first goal should be to sleep through the night and then worry about bringing your ahi down. Once you're comfortable, you can make small changes over a longer period of time to improve your therapy. My experience, similar to Den's and others, is that it take me about a week or maybe a little longer to adjust to a change in therapy (mask, pressure, epr, etc). So, take it slow and I think you'll have better results.

[bwexler]

I liked the suggestion of setting at 7-10 and giving it a week without further changes.
Your leaks look excelent.
Just give yourself a chance to get used to CPAP.

What happened after 1:30? If you just took the mask off and went back to sleep that could be a major problem.
You need to learn to keep the mask on.

[Wulfman...]

Did you do a titration sleep study? What did it show?

No titration. A home sleep test ordered by my doc. It said the apnea was slight at around 7.5 AHI. I've had worse AHI than that many nights while using cpap. But I really only slept about 2hours that night so hard telling what it really is. I was prescribed minimum pressure of 4 with the max open to 20. But in my month on cpap I've only had like 2 nights with an AHI under 5.

Blah! I need some good sleep.
Amy

Your "sleep professionals" leave alot to be desired.

I would suggest a fixed pressure of 8 or 9 for a week and see what things look like.

When first starting out, there are too many things that can cause the pressures to bounce around. Therefore, I highly recommend fixed pressures for new users.


Den

.

[Daydream Believer]

What happened after 1:30? If you just took the mask off and went back to sleep that could be a major problem.
You need to learn to keep the mask on.

I've only taken the mask off once in this month. A couple weeks ago.

Last night I woke around 2:30am (with my mask on) feeling panicked - came into the living room and laid down on the couch after a while. I've never had this feeling before. That's why I worry about a higher pressure.

Through this month I've found I tend to have more centrals and hypopneas and they tend to be spread out throughout the night. Sometimes clusters of two or three. Usually only a few obstructive apneas.

My "sleep like Android" app says I didn't have any REM sleep last night. Not very scientific but it usually does a decent job recognizing my active vs. non active sleep time. I made some weird noises while asleep too. Lots of grumpy, unhappy sounds.

I really don't want a repeat of last night. I have a rough time with fatigue through the day even when I get 8 hours of sleep.

[Uncle Sigh]

Amy

Last night? That was Saturday.

Saturday I had too much play, too much food and too much alcohol. My night in bed wasn't so good. Had nothing to do with CPAP.

You do understand there is a lot more than CPAP settings that affect your sleep?

[Daydream Believer]

I don't know what it was before but we generally suggest only a .5 increase and leave it there for a few days.

I took your advice - backed down to 6.5. Much better night! I also increased the "aflex" to 3 - which helps me to relax a bit more I think. I'll stay here for a bit and see if it improves any more.



Amy

[Daydream Believer]

Amy

Last night? That was Saturday.

Saturday I had too much play, too much food and too much alcohol. My night in bed wasn't so good. Had nothing to do with CPAP.

You do understand there is a lot more than CPAP settings that affect your sleep?

I don't have "too much" of anything these days! Except doctor appointments, that is. But I'll happily live vicariously if you ever want to share stories of your exploits.