UARS Advice Please

Thanks to everyone who contributes to the information on this forum. It has been amazing to read and know that I am not alone.

I have had blood pressure increasing over the last 2 years, heart flutters, muscle twitching constantly, constantly exhausted no matter how much sleep, brain fog and confusion etc.
I have been to the doctor over 30 times with no results. I'm actually unable to work anymore as Im so tired, foggy and confused. I am only 33 years old.

I came to this forum when I noticed that my blood work came back abnormal for hematocrit, red blood cells and hemoglobin. All markers for sleep apnea. I have had two take home tests and both came back negative. As I did more reading I realized that I think I have UARS. My hands and feet are always freezing, I'm a thin guy, wake up very easily thought the night- all signs that matched up.

I can't get in for a hospital sleep test for at least a month and need to get back to work right away. I bought myself a cpap online and am looking for advice on what level to start and if the machine will pick up the arousals?

Any positive feedback would really help.
Thanks again.

Welcome to the forum.

Please read the Sticky at the top of the Topics section.

Exactly which brand and model machine did you buy? We won't have any idea what your machine will or won't do without know what brand and model it is because there are so many different ones out there.

Thanks so much!
I bought the Phillips DreamStation Auto CPAP DSX500T11 with a Phillips Respironics Dreamware nasal mask.
This has been such a long journey and I'm grateful for any advice or help that can get me on the path back to health.

Good full data machine.

Go get SleepyHead software (it's free) so that you can evaluate your settings.

Did you get the clinical/provider manual so you know all about the machine as well as how to change the settings?
If you need it...you can request it here via email.
https://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap- ... tup-manual
It will explain what it will flag and won't flag.

It's for OSA and not UARS but we do the best we can with the data we are given but bear in mind that UARS is a different beast and we can't always use the OSA data benchmarks to evaluate UARS therapy.....assuming you do have UARS. You are going to have to pay special attention to how you sleep and feel and not rely solely on the data the machine gathers.

It will flag RERAs if they happen but they aren't necessarily the same RERAs that get flagged in a sleep study.
Read the manual...it explains what and how it works.

For settings...start with something modest to just get you using the machine and mask.

Use Auto mode
minimum of 6
Maximum of 15 ..really doesn't matter because if the machine never wants to go over 10 it doesn't really matter if we set it at 11, or 15 or 20 or even 100 if it could be set that high.
Turn Flex on....try both CFlex and AFlex at all the settings including off and simply pick whatever just feels good to you and matches your own respiration the closest.

After first night of data and we need at least 2 or 3 hours of solid sleep to evaluate much...post a screen shot of the detailed report for us to see what you are seeing.
See this thread for graph format and how to post the images. You can get all we need on one screen shot. If we need something else we will ask.

Good luck. It's a bit scary doing all this alone but it can be done. Just be patient and don't get in a panic.
Wear the mask with the machine on while awake and not under any pressure to go to sleep like watching TV or reading a book.
It's weird feeling but we do get used to it.

When you have time add your equipment to your profile like I have mine if you haven't done it already.

Thank you so much! I will give feedback soon