need some advice

[kenny121]

I"ve been on CPAP for one year.Every so often (one or two nights a month)I still wake up from a sound sleep gasping!I usually just go right back to sleep without worrying about it. When I was tested they said I stopped breathing 40 times in one and a half hours.My pressure setting is 9, have no data with this machine. Question is should I raise the pressure setting myself, or try and get another study, which I doubt insurance would pay again so soon.Or maybe it is not the setting, any suggestions?

[Xney]

Sounds like your pressure may be a bit low. However, I'd only increase the pressure after consulting with your doctor about it. It would be something to try and see if it works.

If you're still having symptoms, another sleep study might be warrented - I'd ask your doctor! Waking up gasping I would consider a symptom.

How's sleep feeling? if it's only once in a while and sleep's good, no other symptoms, it might not be something to worry about much for now.

[kenny121]

In general I sleep well, but just last night I awoke almost every couple of hours, finally at 3 a.m. I gave up and just stayed up. I"m wondering if I have a leak, but the machine they gave me has no data to check! Might try a new mask.

[Xney]

How old is your mask, mask cushion, and such?

I think it's unwise to over-react to a night or even a few nights, but if it's a trend, it needs to be looked at. Especially if you feel your sleep quality is dropping.

That's the problem with data-less machines, it's basically removing any type of information you could glean from your situation.

[zoocrewphoto]

Would your doctor be willing to prescribe a short term apap machine with data? You could then rent one for a month, and the data would help to adjust your settings. Or you might try looking on craigslist and buy a used one. You probably can't get a new machine unless your doctor deems a medical necessity to use apap now. But you could buy a used one (make sure you get data), and then keep the other as a backup.

If you decide to get a used one on your own, I would recommend getting it first, setting it to your current setting, and then getting the data. If it is showing problems, then call your doctor and ask for an appointment. You will probably have a week or more before the actual appointment. So, then you can do a few nights at your current prescription plus 3. That will give the apap a little room to move, but hopefully not enough to start causing problems. Then you can print off each day's report as well as a summary. And your doctor can review it.

My mom had a brick, and I wondered if it ever did any good for her. She never felt any improvement. She was also envious of my data since I just started 4 months ago. So, we did two partial nights on my machine. One at her prescription of 10 and one at 10-13. The first night showed a cluster of longer apneas with one being 62 seconds long. Her ahi looked fine, but clearly, it wasn't working that well for her. My sleep doctor is great, so he accepted her without a referral, reviewer her old sleep study and the two reports I brought in. He prescribed a full data apap and prescribed 10-15. She has been using it for 2 months now, and she feels better. Her followup was fine. She doesn't have long apneas now. Most are caught and stopped quickly, so they are only 10-15 seconds. She is much happier with the new machine and the new settings.

[Pugsy]

Your pressure is 9 and you have a brick with no data and you wake up sometimes with what appears to be sleep apnea gasping symptoms.
Poster child for why we all should have full data machines.

Doesn't help you right now though. If you can get your hands on a full data machine that we can get you some easy to use software that would be the best thing...Respironics PR S1 or ResMed S9...Craigslist..borrow from a friend. Short trial from a DME (same sucky DME who gave you the brick..it would turn my stomach but I would do it to get the data).

If those options can't be done for whatever reason...if it were me I would seriously consider doing a 1 cm increase in pressure and give it at least a week to see if it helps. It isn't ideal but sometimes we don't always get "ideal".
Your pressure of 9 is relatively low in the grand scheme of things.

If money permits I would be shopping for a full efficacy data machine in one of the 2 brands I listed above. The software is more easily obtained (as in free and more comprehensive). An APAP machine would be ideal but a straight CPAP machine would work. When in doubt about what you might find on your own...just ask.

[kenny121]

Thank you all! I believe I will start shopping around for a better machine with data as recomended, then go from there.