Ugh! This is the worst!

[Brian T]

Hi all, new poster. Yup, I've read the advice for the newbies. Very helpful, thanks.

I have a ResMed Airsense 10 autoset. I'm using a nasal mask with a med. nasal cushion. My device gives me a happy face for both the humidifier and the mask fit. I don't find the mask uncomfortable at all, and I don't remove it in my sleep. I've been using this device for about a week.

I had an initial issue my first two nights with feeling like I was fighting to exhale and woke up with a sore chest (felt like I had been running). This was resolved by switching to a wider nasal cushion and adjusting the exhale air resistance -- in case that helps anyone.

I definitely have sleep apnea, I scored a 47 on my do-it-at-home test. My dad has it, my grandfather likely had it. I snore. I typically slept about 5-6 hours, and then napped about an hour in the middle of the day for 25+ years. My wife reported that I would stop breathing in my sleep. That's what brought me here.

Here's my problem --

Prior to having the CPAP, I was nappy around noon, but I wasn't "tired" during the day. I could jump out of bed at a moments notice and be coordinated. I had headaches occasionally, but not "wake up with a headache" headaches. I had an occasional cough from allergies or post nasal, but they each have their distinct feel. Allergies is like an asthma attack, post nasal is something stuck in my throat.

Since starting using my machine, I'm exhausted all the time. I feel like I'm jetlagged or pulled an all nighter. I have a cough that's coming from my lungs, not my throat. I have a (very mild) headache all the time. When I first get up, my balance and coordination are all messed up.

Oh, and I wake up every night at 2:30. Normally go to bed around 9-10. Would get up around 4:30 normally (I have a dog that has to go out early). Now I get up to pee and get a drink (slight dry mouth -- not the worst) and go back to sleep.

I used to be a stomache/side sleeper, but an issue with my neck/shoulder led to me being a back/side sleeper ~6 months ago. Currently, with the mask, I'm exclusively back sleeping. When I try to side sleep, I end up shifting it and causing leaks.

I've read the advice about "give it time", and people talking about their first few months, but I really can't see myself continuing. The symptoms I have now are what people use CPAP to fix, not to get.

If anyone is interested in the numbers
Average Usage 6hrs
Pressure 10.5
Leak 7L/min (though I think this may be high due to me removing the mask without turning off the machine when I go to pee)
AHI 4.8
Total AI 4.2
Central AI 3.3

I'm not particularly worried that there's something growing in the machine or tube, since it's only been a week and its distilled water.
I did reduce my humidifer by 2 points one night, work up dry as hell, bumped it back up 1 point.

Anyone got any pointers, or am I just going to have to live with it and hope it gets better?

[loggerhead12]

Welcome to the forum. You're on the right track already. Getting acclimated is huge, and you've got that down.

Check out the sticky post for newbies at the top of the forum about how to install OSCAR and post results. Your AHI is better but still not good. On average you're waking up almost every 12 minutes. That can get a lot better with detailed OSCAR results for the gurus here to analyze.

[Miss Emerita]

As loggerhead says, Oscar! Let us know if you have questions or problems.

Just checking the obvious: any chance you have Covid?

[Brian T]

Thanks for feedback.

I installed OSCAR on a mac, managed to import data from my device via card. However, the data seems incomplete.

Ive got bar charts for AHI, usage, session time and pressure. But the other charts are all blank (total time in Apnea, Leak rate, respiratory rate, tidal volume).

When I highlight the areas, it's pretty clear no data came in.

I did a rebuild to see if that would help. Same results.

Any pointers?


I really doubt it about COVID, but you never know. I'll take a home test. -- Home test comes back negative, but good to rule out.

[ozij]

Since starting using my machine, I'm exhausted all the time. I feel like I'm jetlagged or pulled an all nighter. I have a cough that's coming from my lungs, not my throat. I have a (very mild) headache all the time. When I first get up, my balance and coordination are all messed up.

Could be a coincidence.
Flu?
Pneumonia?
Covid 19?

[Kingsway]

I've only been on an auto cpap for nearly 4 weeks. It was set at 4 to 20 cm. The first week I got fairly low AHI score, but was waking up exhaused after a disturbed night because of the pressure trying to blow the mask off my face and waking me up multiple times!

Getting it right was a combination of getting better at tightening the mask correctly, setting the upper pressure incrementably lower to something that seems to suit me better - but also acclimatising to the whole business.

I'm on a 6 week trial period before the pros will have a look at my stats - but I think I am about there allready.

It certainly hasn't been just an overnight thing.

[Brian T]

Thanks Kingsway

I don't really have any tightening issues, because the way the mask is set up. It takes a little to get the nasal cushion in place, but it's easy to tell if it's leaking because it's blasting air into my eyes and making a ton of noise.

I'm hoping all this is just "Yeah, it takes some time to get used to it" issues. The first few days I felt like the pressure was insanely high, but when I wake up in the morning (I'm assuming it's at max pressure at that point) it doesn't seem so bad.

Maybe it'll all work out.

No headache today, but still have the cough.

For the other people asking -- Covid test negative, no aches/pains/stomache stuff so not the flu, pneumonia is a possibility, so I'll keep that in mind, but seems like one hell of a coincidence

[Miss Emerita]

There’s no reason to think your pressing is at its highest when you wake up in the morning. If you can manage Oscar, you’ll know exactly what your pressure is doing all night long, ditto your leaks.

Do you have a computer you could use for downloading Oscar?

[Brian T]

There’s no reason to think your pressing is at its highest when you wake up in the morning. If you can manage Oscar, you’ll know exactly what your pressure is doing all night long, ditto your leaks.

Do you have a computer you could use for downloading Oscar?

I've got Oscar download, I was able to xfer some data from the device, but when I call it up in Oscar I only have the big bar graphs, not the detailed stuff.

I'm on a Mac running 13.3.1, my device is a ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset. Don't know if that helps.

There's no real control on the device for data xfer, you just slip in a card, wait a second for the light to go off, then take the card back out.

[Pugsy]

The SD card MUST be in the machine during the night when the machine is in use for you to get the detailed data (all those graphs) otherwise only the summary data is stored on the machine to be transferred to a SD card when it gets inserted because it wasn't in the machine during the sleep session time.

Those detailed data graphs get written directly to the SD card since they aren't stored on the machine.
No SD card in the machine while in use.....no detailed data...only summary numbers get stored on the machine's internal memory.

Did you have the SD card in or out of your cpap machine when you used the machine?

[ozij]

To paraphrase Pugsy:

Those detailed data graphs only get written directly to the SD card in real time, while you're sleeping. They aren't stored on the machine.