Struggling, three weeks in

Good morning everyone,

I'm not sure if this post will work (I am awaiting my name to be registered), but from someone who was thrust suddenly into the world of apnoea only a few weeks ago, I applaud and thank sincerely all the regular posters to this forum, who have spent much time and resources helping others. For two score, er, weeks and one...sorry, I am tired and can't count...for two score days and one I have been reading this forum and the associated information, links and opinions. It has been a great help - you are really, really helping people and that is to be commended. So, before I continue, I must apologise if it seems I have swept in here as some newbie, with idiotic questions that have undoubtedly been answered before, twice, thrice and so on. I can assure you it is not for lack of effort on my part but simply that this old, tired brain has simply been overwhelmed by the amount of information available, especially as this old, tired man, after the shock of the sleep lab, thought he would simply plug himself into a machine, open his mouth and press the on button.

So, in the words of the Rolling Stones, 'she comes in colours everywhere, she combs her hair, she's like a r-a-i-n-bow'......oops, wrong song, surely I meant..'Please allow me to introduce myself'...My name is Fenelon, I'm in my 40s, I live and in Germany and just over three weeks ago I scored an AHI of 28 in the sleep lab, after having a home test machine strapped to me, which was after my girlfriend became alarmed that I stopped breathing at night. Previous girlfriends and an ex-wife had mentioned this before, with less alarm, and I had promptly ignored this, as until three or four years ago I was drinking and smoking like a man who lives to drink and smoke and my Scottish ancestry gave me a predilection towards copious amounts of whisky, which was both the reason and the cure for all of my ills. Of course I snored a little! It was to be expected! I worked long hours, travelling constantly, strange beds in strange lands, who could possibly sleep soundly?

In my more health-inclined moments, visits to the doctor(s) in several countries, on two different continents, dealt with my issue of extreme tiredness by testing me for everything that might be wrong with me while awake and ignored completely anything to do with my sleep.

Now, here I am, with a Resmed Airsense 10 (min. 5/ max. 16) and an Airfit 10 full face mask, as I mainly breathe through my mouth. Most days see my AHI in the 8-10 range, with my best being 5.48 and worst 13.13. I'm getting used to the mask already, though sometimes, like last night, it seems more troublesome than others. I have the patience to persevere but had hoped for more than two nights of AHI below 8.

I understand that there are other masks to try, other pressures even (though I shan't be messing with mine, at least until after my follow up appointment at the sleep lab in four weeks' time). My main question right now is: Is it possible that my AHI might still improve in the next four weeks, or given that I have been scoring these numbers for three weeks already is this unlikely? After the acceptance that I required the machine, I felt positive and happy, now, after these weeks, with no improvement and ridiculous looking red marks on my cheeks that never fade, it's all a tad disappointing.

However, the positivity and helpfulness on this board, along with my desire to live a healthier life will allow me to keep on going for now.

Thanks again for all the information, software, opinions, help and humanity.

Sorry for the rambling hello. Hello, how are you

Kind regards,
Fen

You need to raise your minimum pressure of 5 to 8, where it seems to want to be and where it is more likely to be effective. 5 is very low and difficult for many to inhale at, rarely being very effective at stopping apneas. Many doctors (who know about apnea, but not the equipment) believe even low settings will address higher level 'events' but it usually takes too long for the machine to do that, so it's better to start with a somewhat higher setting. The high setting can usually be left at a higher number such as 15 or even 20 without a problem... and it's the low setting that really does the job.

Julie wrote:You need to raise your minimum pressure of 5 to 8, where it seems to want to be and where it is more likely to be effective. 5 is very low and difficult for many to inhale at, rarely being very effective at stopping apneas. Many doctors (who know about apnea, but not the equipment) believe even low settings will address higher level 'events' but it usually takes too long for the machine to do that, so it's better to start with a somewhat higher setting. The high setting can usually be left at a higher number such as 15 or even 20 without a problem... and it's the low setting that really does the job.

I'm with Julie on this. It's your machine and your therapy. There is no reason for not changing pressures on your own. Why wait 4 weeks. I'll bet that a slight increase of min pressure will bring down your AHI.

we need to know what type of apnea, oa.h.ca?
In general I would raise the min pressure and max to 20 to get it out of the way for now, download sleepyhead and post some charts