Looking for Advice and Help

[AFK]

Hi all I am from Sydney Australia

I have had a cpap machine for a few years but have struggled with it greatly over that time

I have managed to do the following

1) Installed Oscar
2) Correctly get the data
3) Pined the following graphs Events... Flow rate... Pressure... Leak
4) Taken a screen shot
5) Screenshot misses some of the data on left any ideas how to make it smaller?

A few more bits of information

Type 1 Diabetic ..... I get up two to three times a night toilet (no idea why...could be sugars or sleep? or both ?).....I go to bed late (thats something I can change and am working on it)
Sinus problems (Possible dust might allegory) I use Nasonex and Flo Sinus Starter Kit) and finally a Deviated septum

screenshot-20200215-150824.png (135.35 KiB) Viewed 1163 times

[Pugsy]

Welcome to the forum.

On the left side all I see missing are the sleep sessions and we don't normally need to see that anyway.

You might try increasing the humidity setting to 3 or 4 and see if that helps with the congestion. Sometimes when the nasal mucosa get dried out from the cpap air they react in a way that mimics an allergy attack.
Some people also get the same thing happen if they use 2 much added moisture but your setting of 2 is really low so my first thought is you probably need more moisture. Google "cpap rhinitis" and start reading.

Your report looks good on paper except for the fact it's only an hour sleep session. Why such short hours of sleep?
What kind of issues are you having that you would like to not have?
You have some leaking happening but it's well within the machine's ability to compensate for but if it causes you to wake up even if the leak is small we try to fix those leaks. Anything that wakes us up is unwanted.

So what specifically are the problems you feel like you are having?

[AFK]

Thanks Pugsy for the welcome

I will try a humidity setting for 3 for a few days then try a setting 4 for a few days see what happens

I have short hours of sleep because I wake up 2 to 3 times and then find near impossible to put the mask back on ( hoping a setting might help that)

The biggest issue I am having is simply not getting enough hours on the machine I wish to increase this (might involve multiple sessions)

Also trying trying to work out what settings mean and whether they impact my ability to use it (As a example of what I mean on some posts on here I have seen a settings for Pressure 16.00 cmH20 yet mine is 12.00 cmH20 does that effect my ability to use my machine ? ) Yes there are more examples

To summarize I am looking for tweaking ideas that will increase my ability to getting more hours in 1 or 2 sessions

[Julie]

You're using a plain Cpap machine - not an auto that would give you more options to play with pressure settings... is there a reason, or was it never discussed when machine was supplied? Auto machines can be set to do only cpap, but Cpaps cannot do auto which might be something to think about.

[Pugsy]

To give ideas on changes that might help with keeping the mask on longer we have to have some sort of idea why it is that you take the mask off after an hour or so.
To fix a problem we have to first identify what might be the cause.
There's no magic pressure setting geared towards optimizing usage when we don't have specific problems with the pressure being used.

You don't need higher pressures though...that's not the way to go for sure. The machine will go to 20 cm but your 12 cm is doing an excellent job of holding the airway open. If anything you might be able to use less pressure and still have a nice low AHI.

So why is it so difficult to put the mask back on after you get up during the night? Is it something related to comfort or is it the little devil on your shoulder bugging you saying you can't go back to sleep with the mask and he tempts you to take it off and you develop a bad habit listening to him?

The nocturia during the night...very well might be related to sugar levels. I don't know much about type I diabetes but frequent urination is a common symptom of diabetes in general and the first thing I would suspect would be the sugar levels. I think this is something that you for sure should be having a chat with your doctor about. Do you experience excessive urination during the day as well? When you wake up during the night is the bladder painfully full and you just have to go pee or is it more of a "I am awake so I might as well go pee" kind of thing. If we didn't have the wake up would you be able to go longer without peeing?

Unless you are having specific issues with the mask or comfort or something that you can put your finger on....it's real hard to come up with any ideas to change something when we don't know what might need to be changed.

Now I will say that I do have experience with congestion and it will definitely mess with sleep quality. When I can't breathe easily I simply don't/can't sleep.
Lets see if a little more humidity helps with that and it might translate into more better quality sleep.

Do you take any medications? If so, what?

[Miss Emerita]

I have a dust-mite allergy, and although I'm getting allergy shots I still need meds to control symptoms. In addition to Nasonex/Flonase, do you think your doctor would consider giving you prescriptions for Azelastine spray and Singulair tablets (montelukast)?

[AFK]

To give ideas on changes that might help with keeping the mask on longer we have to have some sort of idea why it is that you take the mask off after an hour or so.
To fix a problem we have to first identify what might be the cause.
There's no magic pressure setting geared towards optimizing usage when we don't have specific problems with the pressure being used.

You don't need higher pressures though...that's not the way to go for sure. The machine will go to 20 cm but your 12 cm is doing an excellent job of holding the airway open. If anything you might be able to use less pressure and still have a nice low AHI. Okay will keep that in mind as something to adjust in the future

So why is it so difficult to put the mask back on after you get up during the night? Is it something related to comfort explaining this as best as I can ..before i adjusted the humidity setting I would wake up with a dry mouth last night I didn't I find the noise coming from the mask makes it difficult very loud (perhaps I need to tighten the mask...some how reduce the noise....open for ideas..I find the pressure when I put the mask back on does not gradually increase it feels like its already at its target or is it the little devil on your shoulder bugging you saying you can't go back to sleep with the mask and he tempts you to take it off and you develop a bad habit listening to him? a very small part is related to that

The nocturia during the night...very well might be related to sugar levels. I don't know much about type I diabetes but frequent urination is a common symptom of diabetes in general and the first thing I would suspect would be the sugar levels. I think this is something that you for sure should be having a chat with your doctor about. Do you experience excessive urination during the day as well? When you wake up during the night is the bladder painfully full and you just have to go pee or is it more of a "I am awake so I might as well go pee" kind of thing. If we didn't have the wake up would you be able to go longer without peeing? I suspect that I need to tighten my belt in terms of blood sugar tomorrow I visit one my many specialists will discuss this...

Unless you are having specific issues with the mask or comfort or something that you can put your finger on....it's real hard to come up with any ideas to change something when we don't know what might need to be changed.

Now I will say that I do have experience with congestion and it will definitely mess with sleep quality. When I can't breathe easily I simply don't/can't sleep. Sorry to hear you go through that as well . I relate to your experiences
Lets see if a little more humidity helps with that and it might translate into more better quality sleep. adjusting the humidity setting allowed me to do two sessions instead of one hope to do more sessions

Do you take any medications? If so, what? I am on quite a lot not sure if medications are the same world wide..Will need to check

Thanks so much for your ongoing support and tips Pugsy

[Pugsy]

Put your finger tips in your ears the next time you hear the mask noise.
Does the noise reduce, get worse or stay the same?

[AFK]

Put your finger tips in your ears the next time you hear the mask noise.
Does the noise reduce, get worse or stay the same? Will report back on this

[AFK]

Hi all been a while things have been busy

Below I attach the last 2 night screen shoots from Oscar

A number of updates

A few days ago I had a bleeding nose did not use the cpap machine that, The following night I adjust the humidity setting from 3 to 5 seems to work much side not ( last night I almost used all of my water for the first time)

With the help of one my specialist ( diabetes) I have made some changes to my diabetic management plan and some lifestyle changes both have helped enormously

I also found from that specialist that all of my medications effect nocturia during the night

I see my sleep doctor Friday 6th March 2020

Also with my mask I have a few things I would like some help and advice on

1) Some times I wake up to what sounds like when a person makes a raspberry noise with there lips ( need any more details let me know)
2) Some times I wake up with what sounds like a heavy wind storm coming from the top of the mask

Any suggestions for fine tuning of settings for my cpap machine greatly appreciated