Pressure Issue?

[rsi]

Right now your main job is to just do what you can to get used to all this new stuff. Minimize the leaks and you won't feel like the pressure is blowing like crazy. It's all working like it should but your body and brain hasn't had time to get adjusted to the new normal in your life. Give yourself some time....it will come.

Thank you. I need to paste this on the ceiling of my bedroom

[babydinosnoreless]

One way to get used to the pressure is to use your machine while awake and relaxed watching tv or reading a book. Once you are used to breathing with the machine you won't get that panicked feeling.

Yes, the two nights I read a bit of a book as my sleep routine, with the mask on. Frankly, by the time I put the book down I was probably 30 minutes into my 45 minute ramp. Awake, it isn't a problem at all, it doesn't bother me at all. Asleep, that's different. Probably need to acclimate to it some more, and perhaps turn the ramp off.

Turn the ramp off while reading or watching tv. You can always turn it back on when you are ready to go to sleep.

[Dog Slobber]

2. eliminate the ramp

Don't let anyone pressure or guilt you into turning off ramp.

"*Most* people don't remove ramp". Some people do, perhaps a lot, maybe most. I don't know, but anybody who told you *Most* do is probably making up crap.

Your ResMed AutoSet has a feature called AutoRamp, it starts the machine in ramp and then will turn off ramp when it believes you're asleep based on your breathing patterns. I liked it, and found it was accurate. It came in handy when I wanted to know how long it took me to fall asleep.

While in AutoRamp, your ResMed does not neglect therapy, it still monitors you.
Specifically it will turn of Ramp after any of the following conditions:

• 30 Minutes since starting machine
• 30 breaths of stable breathing
• 5 consecutive snore breaths
• 3 obstructive apneas or hypopneas within 2 minutes

[palerider]

2. eliminate the ramp

Don't let anyone pressure or guilt you into turning off ramp.

"*Most* people don't remove ramp". Some people do, perhaps a lot, maybe most. I don't know, but anybody who told you *Most* do is probably making up crap.

I don't use ramp, I haven't in ages... but I at least try to pretend to be intelligent enough to know that...

what works for ME doesn't work for everybody.

Some people (like Pugsy) like a lot of humidity, some people (like me) like almost no added humidity, Some people like ramp, some don't...

Experiment to find out what works for you (meaning the OP), DS probably has it figured out already

[zoocrewphoto]

I want to thank everyone for their input.

Context: your pressure is really low. How low? Most standard machines go from 4 to 20. If your pressure was 7.5, this would equal an altitude change of about 200 feet (about 0.1 PSI). The space needle in Seattle is around 600 ft.

That said, a leak can feel like you have a ton of pressure. Or not. Why do you feel like you woke up?

I woke up feeling like my head was underwater. I then thrashed around until I took the mask off. When I did that my head and ears cleared up. I understand looking at the pressure numbers that it's really low, so now that I've educated myself a bit, I'm not about to touch the pressure.

I suspect that your pressure was too LOW. Most people feel like they are suffocating when the pressure is only 4 or 5. You mentioned that you felt like your head was under water. That isn't too much air, that is feeling like you are suffocating. Try raising the minimum to 6 and see if that gets better. I know it doesn't sound right, but most people do find it improves once their minimum pressure is at least 6 or 7. Mine starts at 11, and I had to turn off the ramp after 2 days. It was way too low.

[rsi]

I suspect that your pressure was too LOW. Most people feel like they are suffocating when the pressure is only 4 or 5. You mentioned that you felt like your head was under water. That isn't too much air, that is feeling like you are suffocating. Try raising the minimum to 6 and see if that gets better. I know it doesn't sound right, but most people do find it improves once their minimum pressure is at least 6 or 7. Mine starts at 11, and I had to turn off the ramp after 2 days. It was way too low.

I am going to try this tonight. I went to sleep last night with the mask on and slept for about 45 minutes and then woke up. I never went back to sleep for the next 4 1/2 hours until I gave up and took the mask off. I then went right to sleep and slept for the next five hours. This has been my pattern for the last 4-5 years and I really don't think I'm accomplishing anything beyond wearing a mask to bed. According to my report, my pressure never rose above a 6. It seems like the setting is too low.

[Okie bipap]

I use ramp, but it starts higher than what a lot of people use as their regular pressure (14 IPAP, 10 EPAP). My wife, on the other hand, starts her ramp at a lower pressure (8 IPAP, 4 EPAP).