new issue-soffocating feeling

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arteach
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new issue-soffocating feeling

Post by arteach » Sat Jan 08, 2022 3:06 pm

I have been using CPAP for a little over a year. I use the bleep system. Over the last 2 weeks I wake up to go to the bathroom and when I come back and reconnect my hose I feel as though I can't breathe or I'm suffocating. Sometimes I can just hang with it until the feeling passes but some nights I just have to take my mask off because I just can't handle the feeling. I'm at a loss as to why this is happening because I've never had this before. I've cleaned my machine and put a new air filter in it but it didn't seem to help. Any ideas about what is going on and what I can do? thanks

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Pugsy
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Re: new issue-soffocating feeling

Post by Pugsy » Sat Jan 08, 2022 3:23 pm

What are your pressure settings?

Are you using the ramp feature?

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arteach
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Re: new issue-soffocating feeling

Post by arteach » Sat Jan 08, 2022 3:29 pm

pressure is 7.4 and ramp is off.

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Pugsy
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Re: new issue-soffocating feeling

Post by Pugsy » Sat Jan 08, 2022 3:33 pm

Do you use EPR? If so, at what setting?
If not...have you tried it at all?

Have you used OSCAR to see what the pressure was at when you turned the machine off to get up to go to bathroom?

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arteach
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Re: new issue-soffocating feeling

Post by arteach » Sat Jan 08, 2022 3:42 pm

Yes, EPR is on 2. These are the settings I've been using for sometime.I do use Oscar also. I will check and see what the pressure is at at that point.Edit: pressure at that point I get up to the bathroom appears to be 5.75.

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Re: new issue-soffocating feeling

Post by Pugsy » Sat Jan 08, 2022 4:05 pm

5.75 should be the exhale pressure I would think since your minimum is 7.4.
I was wondering if it was higher by a lot and your body was used to higher and was giving you the suffocating feeling because you would start again with lower but if the exhale is less than 6...that means inhale is a little less than 8 so the pressure wasn't likely ever very high.

I guess we need to look at one of the typical detailed reports from OSCAR to see if we can spot anything to explain the suffocation feeling.
We've quickly shot down any ideas I might have had.

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Re: new issue-soffocating feeling

Post by Pugsy » Sat Jan 08, 2022 4:06 pm

Are you okay with the pressure at the beginning of the night and it's only in the middle of the night you are having a problem?

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arteach
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Re: new issue-soffocating feeling

Post by arteach » Sat Jan 08, 2022 4:13 pm

Yep, doesn't bother me when I start up at night. This is only happening when I come back to bed after restroom. It seems like I have to breathe so hard and like I said just started happening.

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Re: new issue-soffocating feeling

Post by Holden4th » Tue Jan 11, 2022 4:34 pm

When you come back to bed, do you get the suffocating feeling before you put the mask back on? This sometimes happens to me and immediately putting on the mask makes it worse. I find that if I wait a couple of minutes before recommencing CPAP that I can get over this feeling. That said, I have a prolapsed mitral valve and exertion of any sort elevates my respiration rate so I suspect that this is the issue for me.

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Re: new issue-soffocating feeling

Post by arteach » Wed Jan 12, 2022 6:35 am

No, it happens when I hook backup.

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Miss Emerita
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Re: new issue-soffocating feeling

Post by Miss Emerita » Wed Jan 12, 2022 12:46 pm

In another thread -- I think here -- I learned about micturation syncope, which is feeling lightheaded or fainting while peeing or soon after peeing. It is most common among men, and tends to happen more with peeing during the night than with peeing before bed or at other times of the day. This might be what's going on with you.

You should mention this to your doctor, because there are some medications that could be contributing to micturation syncope, if that's what you have. Some advice I've seen on trusted web sites includes elevating your feet by about 12 inches after returning to bed. It's also important of course to do what you can to make sure you don't fall.
Oscar software is available at https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/

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Re: new issue-soffocating feeling

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Sun Jan 23, 2022 1:02 pm

My Resmed AirSense 11 settings are 7-12 with ramp on and set to auto. My therapeutic pressure is 10. The seven is just fine when I go to bed initially, but when I wake up in the night at 10 and get up for a few minutes, I come back to find the 7 suffocating.

Now, 7 to 10 doesn't seem like much of a disparity, but I suspect that for those of us who normally use relatively low pressures, this disparity is sufficient to cause the suffocating feeling.

If I go back to bed and feel suffocated, I either try to relax and 'go with the flow,' or I bump my start pressure up to, say, 8. Practically speaking, the former approach seems to work best.

arteach
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Re: new issue-soffocating feeling

Post by arteach » Mon Jan 24, 2022 5:48 am

I've kind of concluded that this is what is happening for me. I try to just stick with it until the feeling goes away.

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