Need help, suspect UARS. Want to try APAP - need advice and guidance.

[Julie]

I don't dislike humidity but why use it if I don't need it and develop 'cold' symptoms when I do (at least part of the year).

[palerider]

I don't dislike humidity but why use it if I don't need it and develop 'cold' symptoms when I do (at least part of the year).

And that's perfectly fine *for you*. For other people, they seem to need it.

I only put water in my machine when I'm sick, but I don't tell everybody to go without any water at all... I tell them that they have to experiment to see what works best *for them*.

[ChicagoGranny]

A CPAP and related machines work by blowing through far more air than you’d normally have going through you when suffocating naturally ...

This is not correct. A properly operating CPAP system does not create "far more" air flow. It only creates a low pressure which splints the airway open. It does not "blow air through you". The movement of the body's diaphragm controls the air flow when the airway is open.

[Pugsy]

I don't dislike humidity but why use it if I don't need it and develop 'cold' symptoms when I do (at least part of the year).

But why should I go without it if I get the same symptoms without it that you get with it?
You don't need it but there are quite a few of us that do need it. More of us than people like you even.

I would go without my machine before I would go without my humidity.

I do understand that there are people like you who don't need it and don't want it and maybe even hate it....but I also understand that there are people like me who would snort water if they could.
That's why I always try to give the dual explanation that covers both possibilities and don't make assumptions that everyone is like me.

[palerider]

A CPAP and related machines work by blowing through far more air than you’d normally have going through you.

Perhaps you should post less, especially when it's crap that's this ignorant.

As CG pointed out, CPAPs produce a very gentle pressure that holds the airway open, so you can breathe air in and out, just like you do when awake.

[canyouhearmeaya]

Okay guys, let's all be friends!

Okay so next run, I'm gonna first try cranking it down to 1 and see how I fare, before turning it off completely. However that will not be tonight because my nose is stuffy as hell so I'm in for no chance with it!

[ChicagoGranny]

Okay guys, let's all be friends!

Friends? We're family. Fight regularly.

[canyouhearmeaya]

Okay guys, let's all be friends!

Friends? We're family. Fight regularly.

[prodigyplace]

Okay guys, let's all be friends!

Friends? We're family. Fight regularly.

Family who is blunt and calls you out when you are wrong so new members do not follow false information.

[canyouhearmeaya]

Okay guys, let's all be friends!

Friends? We're family. Fight regularly.

Family who is blunt and calls you out when you are wrong so new members do not follow false information.

We are supposed to be using the CPAP machine day and night..... aren't we... right?

[canyouhearmeaya]

I had another attempt with the CPAP last night, also using a breatheright strip to try open up my nose a bit, and a half dose of nytol. Breathing with it seemed better than my previous attempts I felt. I notice there are two clear airways, which i'm pretty sure is when my mouth has opened and the airs rushed out, not entirely sure how to get around that? I know the first time it woke me up just as I was falling asleep.

As you can see I didn't use it for a full night again, not exactly sure why I took it off, whether it was just annoying me or what, I did manage to fall asleep with it on for a bit though.

I know it's minimal data, but how do these graphs look in terms of flow etc? Do they look any better than the last couple I posted?

[canyouhearmeaya]

Any thoughts on last nights data? Does that look like I'm moving in the right direction as far as flow limitation etc?

Also, the few times I've used the machine so far, I've started with 7 but the pressure has always increased to 8/9 by the end. (I do wonder if its the pressure increases causing me to wake up and take off the mask.) Would I possibly be better STARTING on 8 or 9? Or am I on the wrong thought path here?

[palerider]

Okay guys, let's all be friends!

Friends? We're family. Fight regularly.

Family who is blunt and calls you out when you are wrong so new members do not follow false information.

We are supposed to be using the CPAP machine day and night..... aren't we... right?

Some unfortunate people have to.

[palerider]

Any thoughts on last nights data? Does that look like I'm moving in the right direction as far as flow limitation etc?

Also, the few times I've used the machine so far, I've started with 7 but the pressure has always increased to 8/9 by the end. (I do wonder if its the pressure increases causing me to wake up and take off the mask.) Would I possibly be better STARTING on 8 or 9? Or am I on the wrong thought path here?

It's wonderfully boring.

There are people that will tell you that 'pressure increases are the devil!', but I've never seen any actual evidence of that.... usually when I've gotten hold of the data, there's an event, (apnea, hypo, etc) that disturbs sleep, then pressure increases to prevent another one, and then the person wakes up... but it seems... not because of the pressure, but because of the breathing event that disturbed them in the first place.

Bump your pressure up a little and see how it feels. I bit more may help, you'll just have to experiment and see.

[canyouhearmeaya]

Any thoughts on last nights data? Does that look like I'm moving in the right direction as far as flow limitation etc?

Also, the few times I've used the machine so far, I've started with 7 but the pressure has always increased to 8/9 by the end. (I do wonder if its the pressure increases causing me to wake up and take off the mask.) Would I possibly be better STARTING on 8 or 9? Or am I on the wrong thought path here?

It's wonderfully boring.

There are people that will tell you that 'pressure increases are the devil!', but I've never seen any actual evidence of that.... usually when I've gotten hold of the data, there's an event, (apnea, hypo, etc) that disturbs sleep, then pressure increases to prevent another one, and then the person wakes up... but it seems... not because of the pressure, but because of the breathing event that disturbed them in the first place.

Bump your pressure up a little and see how it feels. I bit more may help, you'll just have to experiment and see.

How dare you call my data boring!! Okay, I think I'm going to have a go at starting with 8 today. Like you say, if its the event causing the arousal, and the pressure is increasing in order to prevent that event, that theoretically maybe that higher pressure will prevent it in the first place. Although I only have a small sample of partial nights to look at at the moment, it's always gone above 7, so maybe that suggests good reason to up it.

I've heard some people say with UARS they've found they needed higher pressures than anticipated, so maybe it's a case of that.