Last Night Was First Night

[onward60]

Also, what are your thoughts on temporary sleep medication? I've seen mixed things online.

That's what I did. I got a script for 50mg Seroquel (this is off-label, not all docs will prescribe like this), which is an antihistamine, took it for a few months, then tapered off of it. I now sleep with my CPAP without any meds. Still need to tweak a few settings to get below AHI 2, but I feel so much better and my anxiety is much lower now that I am actually getting real sleep and not being suffocated at night.

It was a very long road to get here, but I did. You will, too.

[Iancdub88]

It was a very long road to get here, but I did. You will, too.

Thank you! Last night was definitely better. I slept from 10-6 and only took the mask off to use the bathroom. I do think the sleep aid he gave me is causing nasal congestion though. I'll probably try to go without. Every time I would wake up, I was breathing out of my mouth.

[robysue1]

It was a very long road to get here, but I did. You will, too.

Thank you! Last night was definitely better. I slept from 10-6 and only took the mask off to use the bathroom. I do think the sleep aid he gave me is causing nasal congestion though. I'll probably try to go without.

I would report the nasal congestion problem to the doc who prescribed the sleep aid.

You can also try the following things:

1) Consider doing using nasal rinse (i.e. a neti pot) about an hour before bedtime to clear out any congestion that's accumulated during the day. (Don't do it right before bedtime since the last of water can take a while to fully drain.)

2) Use a nasal saline spray right before bed or anytime you wake up in the night feeling congested. Unlike decongestant nasal sprays, saline sprays will not trigger rebound congestion and they can be used as frequently as you are experiencing symptoms of congestion.

3) If the congestion is really bad on Night 1, then skip the sleep medication on Night 2. But if you can't seem to get to sleep or stay asleep on Night 2, take the sleep medication on Night 3 and deal with the congestion so that you do get some decent quality sleep.

It sounds like you are making progress.

Every time I would wake up, I was breathing out of my mouth.

You might want to look at the leak data in OSCAR or over at SleepHQ: If those leaks are short lived, you might be able to just ignore them. But if you're doing significant mouth breathing for a long period of time before you wake up, you may need to do some troubleshooting.

[Iancdub88]

You might want to look at the leak data in OSCAR or over at SleepHQ: If those leaks are short lived, you might be able to just ignore them. But if you're doing significant mouth breathing for a long period of time before you wake up, you may need to do some troubleshooting.

I don't believe it was leaking. Since I have the full face mask, I was just breathing through my mouth with the mask on. And I only had 0.4 events per hour.

[robysue1]

The whole point of a FFM is to allow you to mouth breath. So if you woke up mouth breathing in a FFM, then I wouldn't give it a second thought.

(I missed the fact that you are using a FFM.)

[Iancdub88]

The whole point of a FFM is to allow you to mouth breath. So if you woke up mouth breathing in a FFM, then I wouldn't give it a second thought.

(I missed the fact that you are using a FFM.)

Oh my gosh! I had heard conflicting things about that. That's awesome to hear!

[Iancdub88]

I'd like your guy's thoughts on my chart from last night. Thanks!

I know it looks like I take my mask off a lot, which I do, but I've always had to take a lot of pee breaks at night. I'm hoping this will eventually make those a little less.

https://sleephq.com/public/29d02265-fb4 ... 0359cd602c

[vandownbytheriver]

I'd like your guy's thoughts on my chart from last night. Thanks!

I know it looks like I take my mask off a lot, which I do, but I've always had to take a lot of pee breaks at night. I'm hoping this will eventually make those a little less.

So you had to pee at 11:41 and again at 12:10? Looks like you went on your back at 03:10, had a little FL group, machine took you to 12cm.

Looks like your best pressure is 10cm. Those CA's would go away with less EPR I feel. Typical APAP graph, a little under-treated IMO. I'd try EPR 2 or raise your min to 10cm... small changes only!

[Iancdub88]

So you had to pee at 11:41 and again at 12:10? Looks like you went on your back at 03:10, had a little FL group, machine took you to 12cm.

Looks like your best pressure is 10cm. Those CA's would go away with less EPR I feel. Typical APAP graph, a little under-treated IMO. I'd try EPR 2 or raise your min to 10cm... small changes only!

It's definitely possible that I had to pee again. My bladder is pretty annoying sometimes.

Thanks for the pointers! It's definitely an improvement from that last chart I posted though, right? I'm just super excited that I can finally fall asleep with the dang thing on.

[Miss Emerita]

Looking good! I'd actually suggest you leave the EPR at 3, given your somewhat busy flow-limitation graph. Your AHI is excellent, and I wouldn't worry about the handful of CAs that you're seeing. They all come after arousal breathing, which is pretty common. In time you may sleep with fewer arousals, and you'll see fewer CAs. If you were having a lot of CAs, with a risk of O2 desaturation, that'd be a different story, but you're nowhere near that ballpark.

I imagine you're already restricting fluids before bedtime. I'd suggest drinking nothing for four hours before you go to bed. It's especially important to restrict fluids that can make you pee more, like coffee and alcohol. You're right that good treatment for your apnea may help you cut down on the number of times you need to pee in the night. If you're not seeing improvement after, say, three months, you might want to talk with your doctor to see what else might be done.

One other thing on that subject. Sometimes people wake up during the night and figure they might as well get up to pee since they're awake anyhow. If that's you, try just rolling over and going back to sleep.

[Iancdub88]

One other thing on that subject. Sometimes people wake up during the night and figure they might as well get up to pee since they're awake anyhow. If that's you, try just rolling over and going back to sleep.

I definitely need to get better at willing myself to do this.

Thanks for the encouragement! Everyone on this board is so helpful.

I did have one question. Last night I woke up at one point breathing out of my mouth and drooling into the mask(I know, gross) and it seemed to mess with the seal a little bit. Is this a common occurrence and is there a good solution? Thanks again!

[Miss Emerita]

I've never tried a FFM, so I don't know the answer to your question -- but I bet other people do!

[vandownbytheriver]

I did have one question. Last night I woke up at one point breathing out of my mouth and drooling into the mask(I know, gross) and it seemed to mess with the seal a little bit. Is this a common occurrence and is there a good solution? Thanks again!

I tape my mouth shut with my FF mask.. It prevents drooling. It also prevents mouth-breathing, which can dry your mouth out... dry mouth is bad for your teeth.

With a FF mask your tape job doesn't have to hold pressure, it just has to keep your lips sealed... so not as much tape needed. I tape my upper lip over my lower one, gives a better seal.

Some folks use a chin strap or neck cushion, I like the tape.

[ozij]

Every time I would wake up, I was breathing out of my mouth.

Look at those charts.
Practically every time you woke up, your pressure was zooming up, you were having flow limitations, and you were snoring. Nobody snores with their mouth closed.
That means your machine's pressure was too low to keep your airway open, too low to keep you breathing smoothly, too low to keep you sleeping soundly.
As things are, you're spending half the night at a pressure higher than 9.44. And more or less every time your breathing stabilizes and the machine drops to 9, it has reasons to go back up.
I'd change the ramp from 20 minutes to Auto-Ramp, and I'd raise the minimum pressure to 9.6 for starters.

[Iancdub88]

Look at those charts.
Practically every time you woke up, your pressure was zooming up, you were having flow limitations, and you were snoring. Nobody snores with their mouth closed.
That means your machine's pressure was too low to keep your airway open, too low to keep you breathing smoothly, too low to keep you sleeping soundly.
As things are, you're spending half the night at a pressure higher than 9.44. And more or less every time your breathing stabilizes and the machine drops to 9, it has reasons to go back up.
I'd change the ramp from 20 minutes to Auto-Ramp, and I'd raise the minimum pressure to 9.6 for starters.

I'm going to try this tonight.