New driver needs help

[ThermalChaser]

Here's my data for last night. For some reason around 8am it ramped up to 15 and stayed there. Any idea why that might have happened?

[Pugsy]

it ramped up to 15 and stayed there. Any idea why that might have happened?

Easy question....your snores drove the pressure up.
Snores are an early warning sign that the airway is trying to collapse so the auto adjusting algorithm will increase the pressure in an effort to prevent further collapse.
If we hadn't limited the max to 15 it probably would have gone higher.

Were you on your back by chance when this occurred? Supine sleeping is well known to make OSA worse in a lot of people.

[ThermalChaser]

it ramped up to 15 and stayed there. Any idea why that might have happened?

Easy question....your snores drove the pressure up.
Snores are an early warning sign that the airway is trying to collapse so the auto adjusting algorithm will increase the pressure in an effort to prevent further collapse.
If we hadn't limited the max to 15 it probably would have gone higher.

Were you on your back by chance when this occurred? Supine sleeping is well known to make OSA worse in a lot of people.

I always sleep on my side. I have no idea why the 2nd session was so different from the first. The pressure maxing out didn't help the snoring at all. If anything it seems to have made it worse.

I think my mask may be too small. It wants to pinch my nose closed. Is there somewhere I can try on masks before buying?

[Pugsy]

No place that I know of that will let you try before you buy unless it might be a brick and mortar DME store locally that offers such a service.
Now there are places that offer refunds if you buy it and hate it but those usually come with some restrictions and limitations.

Are you experiencing any nasal congestion at all that could possibly make the machine think you are snoring?
Doesn't necessarily have to be supine either. We can snore in any position. I just mention supine worsening OSA because it is so common. There are other situations that can worsen OSA as well plus REM stage sleep can worsen OSA.
I don't think yours is REM related because REM stage doesn't normally last as long as that high pressure time frame wants to go. It's just too long to likely be REM related even that late in the sleep session.

And it wouldn't be impossible for the machine to mistake some other noise or vibrations as snores...but the machine will respond even to the wrong data point. Not impossible but not common either.

[Dog Slobber]

The pressure maxing out didn't help the snoring at all. If anything it seems to have made it worse.

The pressure maxing would not have made it worse. What happened is likely one of two things:
Because your max pressure was limited to 15, pressure was not able to reach a pressure high enough to stop the snoring. It's possible a higher max pressure could have allowed the snoring to be resolved, and then dropped back down.

or

You moved into a position creating a "kink" in your airway causing the snoring, which caused the pressure increase. Now this is where a higher maximum pressure wouldn't have helped.

Displaying your Flow Limitations trace is often helpful. The snoring that shows up throughout the night suggests your minimum pressure is a bit too low.

[Pugsy]

I wonder if this is a good example where "chin tuck" materialized and caused the machine to think there was snoring or some sort of flow limitation happening????

Maybe look to a soft cervical collar should this become a common occurrence???

For someone so new to this therapy I really hesitate to throw out a lot of stuff to worry about or do anything about.
This stuff is hard enough without throwing out "do this or do that" right off the bat. Especially since I don't know that the pressure maxing out is a real problem or not....at least at this point and we are only 2 or 3 nights into this therapy.

How did you think you actually slept last night? Solid for the most part or fragmented a lot from various wake ups????
How do yo feel today?

[Dog Slobber]

Maybe look to a soft cervical collar should this become a common occurrence???

For someone so new to this therapy I really hesitate to throw out a lot of stuff to worry about or do anything about.

I couldn't agree with this more.

There is a certain percentage of CPAP users who can't help but (over)analyse their results and make daily adjustments. They can't help but constantly be pushing buttons and twisting dials.

I also can't help but believe that the OP wasn't aware the excessive snoring and max pressure was a thing, until he looked at the data. Not sure there should be a next step until/unless this is a common occurrence.

[Pugsy]

There is a certain percentage of CPAP users who can't help but (over)analyse their results and make daily adjustments. They can't help but constantly be pushing buttons and twisting dials.

Yep and there's probably a sizable percentage of those people who aren't happy campers IMHO. A lot of them are looking for the "miracle".

They start worrying about numbers and perfection and don't worry enough about just getting sleep first and foremost.

Gotta get good solid sleep first before any of the numbers matter much.

[ThermalChaser]

Are you experiencing any nasal congestion at all that could possibly make the machine think you are snoring?

I don't have any congestion but the mask is pinching my nose closed.

Whatever the issue that caused the machine to max out didn't happen last night. I feel well-rested enough. It's hard to gauge the treatment based on how I feel because I never felt like I had any trouble sleeping to begin with. If AHI means anything then I'd say it's going well as I went from 80 during my sleep study to 0.3 on the machine.

Last nights data:

[Pugsy]

The mask shouldn't be pinching the nose closed.
It's either too tight or wrong size or both.
Explore other masks that don't come in contact with the nasal bridge area.

How come you have the full face mask? While there are a few full face masks that don't come in contact with the nasal bridge area....a much larger inventory to choose from when looking at nasal cushion or nasal pillow masks.

[palerider]

The pressure maxing out didn't help the snoring at all. If anything it seems to have made it worse.

You have cause and effect reversed.

Your snoring caused the pressure to go up. You've prevented the machine from being able to respond to issues like that by lowering the max pressure to where the machine cannot increase pressure enough to deal with your snoring.

Set the max to 20, Your min pressure should be closer to 13, not 10.

[ThermalChaser]

The mask shouldn't be pinching the nose closed.
It's either too tight or wrong size or both.
Explore other masks that don't come in contact with the nasal bridge area.

How come you have the full face mask? While there are a few full face masks that don't come in contact with the nasal bridge area....a much larger inventory to choose from when looking at nasal cushion or nasal pillow masks.

She gave me the full face mask because I'm a mouth-breather. How would I "explore other masks?" It's my understanding I can't try them on. I would have to buy a few and I don't have a couple hundred dollars to spare right now so I'm going to have to try to make do with this one for now.

[Janknitz]

She gave me the full face mask because I'm a mouth-breather

Many people--perhaps most--are mouth breathers with untreated apnea, because of air hunger. Once the apnea is under control, most people are no longer obligate mouth breathers.

Is your mouth really dry when you wake up? If not, you probably are not mouth breathing, because even with perfectly humidified air, if you are breathing through your mouth in a FF mask, you will still dry out your mouth.

[ThermalChaser]

She gave me the full face mask because I'm a mouth-breather

Many people--perhaps most--are mouth breathers with untreated apnea, because of air hunger. Once the apnea is under control, most people are no longer obligate mouth breathers.

Is your mouth really dry when you wake up? If not, you probably are not mouth breathing, because even with perfectly humidified air, if you are breathing through your mouth in a FF mask, you will still dry out your mouth.

I do wake with a dry mouth quite often.

[ThermalChaser]

I just turned the machine on and it won't pressurize at all!

All the air is leaking from the elbow. I don't see anything obviously cracked or broken. I am supposed to start my new job in 8 hours but it is contingent on me using the machine and if I can't fix it I won't be in compliance. Is there any sort of quick fix I can do to get it to work for the night or am I screwed?

I'm thinking duct tape around the elbow on something? Gonna try to macguyver this. I'm so frustrated with this whole process.

I'm going to call the company first thing in the morning and tell them I need a new mask. I'll get a large this time. Does the elbow come with the mask or is that seperate?