Newbie Starting out!

theikeeffect · Post by **theikeeffect** » Thu Mar 26, 2020 12:02 pm

Hey all!

Its been a weekish and my sleep doctor seems more likely to let me make adjustments to my settings. I'm working out the details but wanted to confirm if I wanted to try to go to auto mode with a 9 to 16 range or try a lower fixed range instead? I've seen some forum posts with folks strongly preferring fixed levels over auto, but plenty like the auto range. As for the max only being 16 my sleep doc seemed very against going past 16 but was more agreeable to trying out the automode.

Additionally I felt ear pain last night pretty abd when starting up my cpap so the next morning I went in and the doc confirmed I had no infection, but they felt my ears were just very irritated with my 16 cm. One of my doctors feels the 16 pressure may be a tad much but want me to try toughing it out, the other (the sleep tech) also did but since I was adamant did not mind trying the changes. I had also mentioned a lot of leak problems but noticed when I ramp'd they were non existent. (My ramp goes from 9 to 16), so perhaps it's just an inevitable issue with my pressure for my mask type? I'm holding out a bit longer with my current mask to see if changing the strap tightness would help among other ideas before swapping masks.

Lastly I attached 3 more days of data. If it still looks muddy or it seems like there is too much awake time I understand.. No Flow Limitation just yet but I will have that once settings are changed. Most of my hypo events (the ones I seem to be getting most of) are under 30 seconds. I was curious if that would be an issue.

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Thu Mar 26, 2020 1:21 pm

Flow Limitations are NOT recorded when in fixed pressure mode....you might have had a ton of them or you might not have had any but the absence of FL flags doesn't mean anything since it simply doesn't bother to even record them.

You still have significant leak issues that are prolonged.
I see lots of restarts of the machine where you are hitting the ramp button....which tells me you are awake a lot. Any idea why?

Change to auto mode....set your minimum to 16 and set the maximum to 16...this will make the machine function like the cpap mode but it will turn on the FL flagging...and it also means that during ramp if you have an airway collapse the machine will suspend ramp and go right to 16 to try to prevent more airway collapses. This is what to do if you want to continue with fixed pressures but you will at least have FL flagging available to let you know if you have any or not.

If you want to try auto adjusting pressures....change to auto mode...and set it at 15 or 16 minimum and maximum of 20. The machine won't increase the pressure at all if it doesn't need to.

Your choice.

theikeeffect · Post by **theikeeffect** » Thu Mar 26, 2020 1:55 pm

Alright thanks again. The leak is from pressure seeping out below the mouth or at the nose. The only way I've been able to get it to stop is an extremely tight mask via straps. I can't do much about the mask just yet until I get a new one fitted, so I've been making do trying to minimize as much as possible.

I'm awake still because the pressure is quite a bit to get used to for me. The ramp relieves it enough to just fall asleep then I feel awake again a period of time later and hit the ramp to get comfortable again. With the ear pain and irritation of my throat/dry mouth it is why I tried asking my doctor to try a wider range (9-16) in auto mode to see if it would help or at least find a minimum i can easily fall asleep at and the machine can resolve episodes as needed by raising. At least thats an idea I've gathered from reading around here. I can increase bit by bit but the pressure is, to me, too much. I've been told that it does suck but I should keep trying to get used to it, but in the interim it has been rough. Which has led me to either being awake or relying on ramp.

But I appreciate the insight. I'll keep working at it/getting used to it.

Edit: I've swapped it to Auto min 16 max 16 for now to see how the FL looks. I'll follow up. Though should I hold off until my leak issue is resolved?
And although the alternative is worse consequence, I just don't want to think about needing a pressure higher than 16 unless it was absolutely necessary. I guess I'm a scaredy cat in that regard.

theikeeffect · Post by **theikeeffect** » Sat Mar 28, 2020 6:48 am

An update. I finally just went with the changes in part due to my sleep tech not getting back to me after a good chunk of days, my ear pain (doctor said its not an infection but feels its my ears are sensitive to my new cpap pressure.), and the lack of falling or staying asleep. I did autopap with 10 min-16 max (did not want to go over 16 yet as sleep tech did ask me to not do that.

I understand I would ideally need a few days of data but I'm really in an unsure time of what settings to do. A different face mask is on the way but the leaks looked better. My Flow Limit looks bad compared to what I've seen in threads (i might be wrong but it sounded like respironics dont get neat graphs, just the stuff on the left), And while my Obstructives are still as low as the nights with horrible leaks and my hypo's are, the hypo's seem much longer.

Second image is expansion on the left of the events. Apologies if this also isn't good enough info.

How i slept? I took a bit to finally sleep, i'd say past 12:30 I was out, but to my memory I only remember being fully awake once around 5 am then went back to sleep.

I had some headaches during 5 am, and I had sweat on my back. These were old pre-cpap symptoms but my room is also warm. Any input would be great.

Edit: I never got perioidic breathing pinged before. It was a period of (204). Is that bad? Any concerns?

theikeeffect · Post by **theikeeffect** » Sat Mar 28, 2020 6:51 am

It wouldn't let me edit post to add a new screenshot. Fixed hee.

Newbie Starting out!

Re: Newbie Starting out!

Re: Newbie Starting out!

Re: Newbie Starting out!

Re: Newbie Starting out!

Re: Newbie Starting out!