New to CPAP - machine keeps blowing high pressure?

[cyberintel]

Hi!

New to the forum and new to CPAP generally.

I am new to the CPAP and was diagnosed with sleep apnea about two months ago. I have the RedMed machine, with humidifier and am using the full face mask. The settings on the CPAP are on auto and of course controlled remotely. My question:

I've been trying to get used to this and so far I'm not having too much trouble falling asleep. I think my mask fit is good, at least the software says my mask fit is good. The pressure scale on the machine is 4-20, and it starts at 4. Pretty much every night it will go up to 13, blowing very hard in my face. I can get up out of bed, stand there breathing normally for a few minutes next to my bed, and it is still blowing steadily at 13. At which point I get frustrated and take the mask off.

I think I understand how it is is supposed to work, it senses a blockage or "event" then blows harder. But why would it continue to blow at 13? That's so much air it is pretty much impossible to sleep at that point. I thought it was supposed to blow hard and then when you resume breathing normally the pressure is supposed to go back down (right?). I'm confused, what am I missing here? I had the in-home sleep test and am actually going to a full blown sleep study on site in a couple weeks

Thanks!!!!! John

[palerider]

I think I understand how it is is supposed to work, it senses a blockage or "event" then blows harder. But why would it continue to blow at 13? That's so much air it is pretty much impossible to sleep at that point. I thought it was supposed to blow hard and then when you resume breathing normally the pressure is supposed to go back down (right?). I'm confused, what am I missing here?

The bit that you're missing is that these things take time to happen.

Minutes to raise the pressure, and many minutes to lower it.

Also, 13 isn't much, mine starts at 13 and goes up.

[zonker]

Hi!

New to the forum and new to CPAP generally.

welcome to the zoo! when you get a chance, could you take a look at this thread?

viewtopic/t172378/Sticky--Newbies-PLEAS ... STING.html

i know what you are asking now is fairly basic, but reading that link and providing info to the forum members will help you be better served "moving forward".

i agree with what palerider said. (i'd be a fool to disagree.)

i kept raising my minimum pressure until i now start at 13.8 and i'm thinking i'm going to raise that.

hang in there. this does get easier.

good luck!

[katestyles]

I've been trying to get used to this and so far I'm not having too much trouble falling asleep.

Thats great! Well done.

I think my mask fit is good, at least the software says my mask fit is good. The pressure scale on the machine is 4-20, and it starts at 4. Pretty much every night it will go up to 13, blowing very hard in my face. I can get up out of bed, stand there breathing normally for a few minutes next to my bed, and it is still blowing steadily at 13. At which point I get frustrated and take the mask off.

I think I understand how it is is supposed to work, it senses a blockage or "event" then blows harder. But why would it continue to blow at 13? That's so much air it is pretty much impossible to sleep at that point. I thought it was supposed to blow hard and then when you resume breathing normally the pressure is supposed to go back down (right?). I'm confused, what am I missing here? I had the in-home sleep test and am actually going to a full blown sleep study on site in a couple weeks

Thanks!!!!! John

You are correct that the pressure increases when the machine senses that your breathing is compromised. In fact, it tries to find a pressure that will keep your airway open, and that is why it doesn't go back down - you need 13cm of pressure to hold your airway open. If the pressure drops down, your airway will close again, and you will not be breathing.

If the machine is waking you when the pressure gets to 13, turn it off and then back on again. It will restart at a pressure of 4, and work its way back up to 13. But at least you will be able to go back to bed and get back to sleep. If you need a pressure of 13, there are several ways to make that high of a pressure more comfortable. Your first job is to try to sleep with the machine.

[cyberintel]

If the machine is waking you when the pressure gets to 13, turn it off and then back on again. It will restart at a pressure of 4, and work its way back up to 13. But at least you will be able to go back to bed and get back to sleep. If you need a pressure of 13, there are several ways to make that high of a pressure more comfortable. Your first job is to try to sleep with the machine.

OK - thanks for your reply! (and others!)

What would the main ways be to make the higher pressure more comfortable? I tightened the mask some (preventing air from blowing around the sides) but at a certain point tightening the mask gets pretty uncomfortable. Last night I basically just turned it off and back on.

You guys ever just cheat every once in a while and sleep without it or are most folks on CPAPtalk pretty much fully acclimated? I guess it just comes with time.

[cuisinartoh]

I'm new here, too. My doc set the prescription for 4-16. When I'd have an event, my machine would very quickly jump to 12 or 13 (or more). That quick change would then wake me up. For me, it wasn't so much the high pressure that was bothersome, it was the rapid jump from 4 to 13. I watched most of Jason's videos on YouTube (Thelankylefty27). He had one video that explained why the doc usually first prescribes an auto cpap machine and then prescribes such a wide range. I won't repeat the info. Once I started downloading the data from the machine and using Sleepyhead to see the results, I quickly found reasonable boundaries (high and low settings) and changed them myself. I go in for my 6 week checkup on Tuesday and the doc is probably going to be pissed that I changed the settings myself, but he'll get over it. I set my minimum to 9 and the max to 14 and most nights I never go over 12. So now that the range is much smaller, I'm not startled awake each night and I sleep!

That may or may not work for you, and it could be the pressure itself takes getting used to rather the change in pressure. Try it for yourself and see.

I also found that EPR setting of 1 or 2 makes a huge difference. This drops the pressure 1 or 2 cm when you want to exhale. That's much easier than laboring against the full pressure at first.

I, too, started with a full face mask and HATED IT! I tried several nasal masks and they were very comfortable, but my mouth would open in my sleep and startle me awake. It sounded like a goose honking. So I bought a Dr Dakota neck pillow from Amazon and I'm sleeping great.

I'm just 5 weeks or so in to this. Trust me and everyone else when we say you will get used to it. You need to experiment with masks and settings, but mostly you just need to get used to having all that crap on your head. It will come in time and it's worth the struggle. Hang in there!

[Goofproof]

One side of my coffin is nailed down now, do you think I am dumb enough to finish nailing it. If I didn't use XPAP, and see that it worked for me, maybe I would miss using it. But I'm not that Dumb. Jim

[palerider]

I'm new here, too. My doc set the prescription for 4-16. When I'd have an event, my machine would very quickly jump to 12 or 13 (or more). That quick change would then wake me up.

It doesn't really work that way.

Your pressure was way too low, so you'd be having apneas and other breathing events that would disturb your sleep, and you'd wake up sometime because of that, somewhere during the many minutes that it would take the machine to raise pressure.

So now that the range is much smaller,

It's not the "range" that matters, or the max pressure, what matters is the minimum pressure. Get that high enough to prevent most events in the first place, and your sleep is much better.

[frollandcpap]

Hi!

New to the forum and new to CPAP generally.

I am new to the CPAP and was diagnosed with sleep apnea about two months ago. I have the RedMed machine, with humidifier and am using the full face mask. The settings on the CPAP are on auto and of course controlled remotely. My question:

I've been trying to get used to this and so far I'm not having too much trouble falling asleep. I think my mask fit is good, at least the software says my mask fit is good. The pressure scale on the machine is 4-20, and it starts at 4. Pretty much every night it will go up to 13, blowing very hard in my face. I can get up out of bed, stand there breathing normally for a few minutes next to my bed, and it is still blowing steadily at 13. At which point I get frustrated and take the mask off.

I think I understand how it is is supposed to work, it senses a blockage or "event" then blows harder. But why would it continue to blow at 13? That's so much air it is pretty much impossible to sleep at that point. I thought it was supposed to blow hard and then when you resume breathing normally the pressure is supposed to go back down (right?). I'm confused, what am I missing here? I had the in-home sleep test and am actually going to a full blown sleep study on site in a couple weeks

Thanks!!!!! John

Hello Cyberintel, I am pretty much exactly in your case scenario (when you were writing that). Same figures, and same problem: in the middle of the night, something makes the pressure go up to the maximum number of 13, but nothing makes it go down even if I breathe well after waking up. I have to wait and not use the machine for a good hour for it to behave normally. if i try going back to sleep within 5-10 minutes, it goes back to 13 and i can't adjust the mask to deal with it. ...or else it hurts me. May I ask you: did you finally find a solution for that? I am now working with that range: 7-13, after the range 7-14 was of course even worse.
Thank you for letting me know, if you get to read my question. Francis

[Pugsy]

Hello Cyberintel, I am pretty much exactly in your case scenario (when you were writing that). Same figures, and same problem: in the middle of the night, something makes the pressure go up to the maximum number of 13, but nothing makes it go down even if I breathe well after waking up. I have to wait and not use the machine for a good hour for it to behave normally. if i try going back to sleep within 5-10 minutes, it goes back to 13 and i can't adjust the mask to deal with it. ...or else it hurts me. May I ask you: did you finally find a solution for that? I am now working with that range: 7-13, after the range 7-14 was of course even worse.
Thank you for letting me know, if you get to read my question. Francis

You might want to go start a new thread of your own so you can get help for your problem.
Cybeintel hasn't been back here since his/her post in 2019.

[Craig H]

When I first started this sleep therapy ( about 5 months ago...with the trial machine ( ResMed10) ...I experienced some crazy pressures and noises and stuff going on with mask etc...

I perservered and things got easier and easier. All pretty good and now and the same but new machine and I are pretty much friends.

I now believe that it got easier because the therapy was working and the machine was responding in kind.

Best thing is how well I feel now that I am not fatigued, snoring or dropping off.

[frollandcpap]

I think I understand how it is is supposed to work, it senses a blockage or "event" then blows harder. But why would it continue to blow at 13? That's so much air it is pretty much impossible to sleep at that point. I thought it was supposed to blow hard and then when you resume breathing normally the pressure is supposed to go back down (right?). I'm confused, what am I missing here? I had the in-home sleep test and am actually going to a full blown sleep study on site in a couple weeks

Thanks!!!!! John

I changed to an Evora mask, and it solved a lot of problems. The fact is that my face is not round enough and just would not work well with the full mask.
still with the Evora mask, i have the same problem as you do. Just much less of it. I have also found that sleeping on my back, with my face turned enough one side or the other, is really important: without that I would need a higher pressure. Good luck to you and best wishes.

[zonker]

I changed to an Evora mask, and it solved a lot of problems.

you're responding to someone who hasn't logged on in years.

just like pugsy told you above.