CPAP Pressure Settings

[Love to Sleep]

I was diagnosed with Obstuctive Sleep Apnea 5 months ago. I had a sleep study done in a lab, and had apnea occurences averaging 146/hr over a 5 hour period. The next 3 hours I used a CPAP (for the first time), at a setting of 18. I hadn't slept that well in 15 years! Anyway, I got my CPAP, and it was prescribed at 16. I sleep reasonably well, but no near like the night of the sleep study, when the CPAP was set to 18. Should I raise the pressur to 18 or maybe just go back to my dr. and see what she says?

[LSAT]

I was diagnosed with Obstuctive Sleep Apnea 5 months ago. I had a sleep study done in a lab, and had apnea occurences averaging 146/hr over a 5 hour period. The next 3 hours I used a CPAP (for the first time), at a setting of 18. I hadn't slept that well in 15 years! Anyway, I got my CPAP, and it was prescribed at 16. I sleep reasonably well, but no near like the night of the sleep study, when the CPAP was set to 18. Should I raise the pressur to 18 or maybe just go back to my dr. and see what she says?

Why don't you register and fill in your profile so we can see what equipment you are using.

[Love to Sleep]

Ok, I will register when I get home. I don't remember the exact models and such. I know the CPAP is a Phillips-Respironics, but I don't know the mask model or the Oxygen Generator models. Thank you!

[Perrybucsdad]

Registering will help us tell if you have a fully data capable machine and then we can help you see if you can download data and make a more informed decision. It's not so much as just increasing the pressure. By being able to see the data (if your CPAP tracks that) you can tell what is happening and there are other items to consider as well.

John

[MidnightOwl]

I was diagnosed with Obstuctive Sleep Apnea 5 months ago. I had a sleep study done in a lab, and had apnea occurences averaging 146/hr over a 5 hour period. The next 3 hours I used a CPAP (for the first time), at a setting of 18. I hadn't slept that well in 15 years! Anyway, I got my CPAP, and it was prescribed at 16. I sleep reasonably well, but no near like the night of the sleep study, when the CPAP was set to 18. Should I raise the pressur to 18 or maybe just go back to my dr. and see what she says?

Register if you feel like it - it's not required.

I think you need to understand why you were prescribed the pressure you were before contemplating changing it. You almost certainly didn't spend all three hours at a pressure of 18. The purpose of titration is the try a number of pressures and see which works best. It may be that you had problems at 18. The best way to find that out is to talk to your doctor. You may also want to get a copy of the graphs from your sleep study. They will show how long you spent at each pressure and how many apneas you had. This might help answer your questions.

Lots of people sleep better the night of the titration than they do afterwards. It's simple - you are way more exhausted that first night on cpap then you will be again - so when you eliminate the apneas and can sleep without awakening that first time you sleep very very soundly. Even if the cpap is working correctly now that you have it at home you just aren't quite that tired. The lab knows about that effect and deliberately uses it to encourage compliance.

[moresleep]

I would be cautious about moving the pressure higher than 16 cm. That is already approaching a moderately high pressure, and you don't want to adjust it higher unless the higher pressure is really needed. Higher pressures make mask leaks more of a problem, and also can cause central events in many people. Once you get the software installed and examine your data (assuming you have a machine that records data) you will have a better picture of what is happening and whether you need to bump the pressure up a bit.

Do you have the same mask you used at the sleep lab? For many of us, one mask can work a great deal better than another one. It's a highly individual thing.