Even on CPAP, still need to sleep on side?

[SleepyCabeza]

Hi all, I noticed since I've been on CPAP I still feel more rested the next day when I make a conscious effort to sleep on my side versus my back. But here's the weird part: On my side, my hands, shoulders, and hands start falling alseep and bothering me but I still feel better in the morning than when I sleep all night on my back. I thought being on CPAP therapy I would be able to sleep on my back. But apparently not. Anyone else also experience this? I use the autoset feature on my machine (6 to 20).

[Pugsy]

Why can't you sleep on your back since that is your most comfortable sleeping position? With optimal pressure settings the machine can adjust for any increase in obstructive apneas or higher pressure needs.
I have a similar situation with my REM stage sleep pressure needs. I just let the machine do its job and don't worry about it. I do have to use a little more minimum pressure though but that isn't all that much and I can sleep well in any position.
Unless someone has trouble with aerophagia or centrals using a wee bit more minimum pressure...there's no reason that a person can't have good therapy effectiveness and sleep on their back too.

[SleepyCabeza]

Why can't you sleep on your back since that is your most comfortable sleeping position? With optimal pressure settings the machine can adjust for any increase in obstructive apneas or higher pressure needs.
I have a similar situation with my REM stage sleep pressure needs. I just let the machine do its job and don't worry about it. I do have to use a little more minimum pressure though but that isn't all that much and I can sleep well in any position.
Unless someone has trouble with aerophagia or centrals using a wee bit more minimum pressure...there's no reason that a person can't have good therapy effectiveness and sleep on their back too.

My thoughts exactly Pugsy. I don't get it. But the couple of times I slept on my back, I didn't feel well-rested the next day. Maybe it's just mental. I'll try it again and see what happens.

[BlackSpinner]

Look at your data for the night you slept on your back and compare it to a night on your side. Maybe you need much more pressure and it is taking too long to get there or maybe the surge wakes you up.

[SleepyCabeza]

Look at your data for the night you slept on your back and compare it to a night on your side. Maybe you need much more pressure and it is taking too long to get there or maybe the surge wakes you up.

Thanks Spinner. I'll see if I can figure that out from the data. If it turns out that it's taking too long to get to the pressure I need, what do you suggest I do?

[Pugsy]

I'll see if I can figure that out from the data. If it turns out that it's taking too long to get to the pressure I need, what do you suggest I do?

Usually increasing that minimum pressure just a little will do the trick. Need to see a detailed report when for sure supine sleeping to get a better idea what might be needed. For me and my REM sleep needs it just took a couple of cm increase in the minimum pressure.

[bryansong]

If I were to sleep on my back I can see no way to keep my mouth from opening (even with chin strap) , that's why I started sleeping on my stomach. On my stomach my chin gets burried in the pillow and keeps my mouth shut.
If I could sleep on my back that would open up my options for new masks.

Bryan

[BleepingBeauty]

I sleep on my back all night every night, and the machine takes good care of me. (I had surgery on both of my shoulders, so my previous side-sleeping is now uncomfortable, and I can't do it for long, if at all.)

We're all different, of course, but supine sleeping works for me.

[SleepyCabeza]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I forgot to add one important detail in my opening post, even on the days I sleep on my back and and don't feel rested the next day, my AHI doesn't increase. It has remained consistently under 1 since I started CPAP therapy, whether I sleep on my back or side.

[Pugsy]

It isn't always about AHI when evaluating sleep quality and how we might feel the next day. Perhaps there is something going on when sleeping supine that is affecting overall sleep quality that doesn't affect the AHI itself.
Look at the data your machine will provide to see if anything stands out there. If nothing, then maybe it is just something that we can't evaluate on paper with the data provided by the machine.

As an example...while I can sleep on my back and my machine will take care of any apnea related stuff, I find that sleeping on my back increases my back pain and that back pain wakes me up and thus affects how I might feel the next day if I find that I have had a lot of those pain related wake ups. Part of it may be the pain and part of it may be the wake ups in general messing with my sleep quality. My AHI looks great but sleep quality has gone down the toilet sometimes. Not always but sometimes. For me to try to force myself to stay on my side causes more sleep disruptions than the back pain does. So I choose the lessor of the 2 evils to deal with.

[KarD786]

If I were to sleep on my back I can see no way to keep my mouth from opening (even with chin strap) , that's why I started sleeping on my stomach. On my stomach my chin gets burried in the pillow and keeps my mouth shut.
If I could sleep on my back that would open up my options for new masks.

Bryan

Hi Bryan. I'm actually awaiting my cpap but I have the same issue. While supine I ways mouth breathe and nose breathing feels unnatural. While on my side or back nose breathing is easy and feels natural. So in order to go with a nasal mask I will be a full time side sleeper from now on.

[ChicagoGranny]

On my side, my hands, shoulders, and hands start falling alseep

Pay attention to your limb positioning while on your sides. No part of your arms or hands should be under your body. Extend them out a bit in front of you.

It also helps to place a pillow between the knees.

Look at the top position in this slide. It's good, but still I don't like the hand under the head because it can reduce circulation in the hand.

The shoulder should be on the mattress and not on the pillow.

[zoocrewphoto]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I forgot to add one important detail in my opening post, even on the days I sleep on my back and and don't feel rested the next day, my AHI doesn't increase. It has remained consistently under 1 since I started CPAP therapy, whether I sleep on my back or side.

I use a higher pressure when I sleep on my back *and* my mouth opens wider when I am on my back. I use a full face mask, so that doesn't hurt my therapy. But her's the problem. As my mouth opens wider, and the pressure goes up, my cheeks start to flap, and that bothers me enough to wake me up. So much, that I tend to roll back onto my side quickly, so I don't sleep on my back nearly as much as I used to. Even though my shoulder hurts sometimes on my side.

So, while your case is probably different, there are changes in our therapy that me be affecting your sleep. You pressure may go up, and that may be disturbing your sleep even though it takes care of the sleep apnea.

[bryansong]

Sometimes when I'm tired and lay on my back awake my airway closes off and I have to concentrate to keep it open.
An example would be when I go to the dentist office, I can't breath through my nose and I'm pretty sure the dentist
would prefer I do so.
I'll lay on my back sometimes waiting to get sleepy with my mask on then when the air starts its blowby around my
teeth and spurt through my lips then I'll flip over to my stomach.

I'm not new to CPAP, I started it in 1998. I wouldn't want to be without it, that would be misery.

Bryan

[Sheriff Buford]

Sleep any way you want...

Sheriff