73 years old and Looking for advice

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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Lumpy-Custard
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Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2022 2:11 am

73 years old and Looking for advice

Post by Lumpy-Custard » Sun Oct 02, 2022 2:55 am

Hello every one my name is William I’m 73 years old retired and living on my own in the Philippines . About a month before I moved to the Philippines I had a sleep test done . The symptoms that made me go to see a hospital doctor were when I went to bed and fell asleep I started to experience a feeling like some thing was blocking my throat and that feeling kept waking me up during the night and that experience was making me feel very tired during the daytime .

The hospital doctor arranged an over night sleep test and the results were .

Apnea ( A+ H ) 226 – 34.0 per hour
Obstructive Apnea 126 – 18.3 Per hour

The hospital doctor recommended that I purchase a ResMed air sense 10 machine along with an AirFit N30i nasal mask, which I did.

Since I arrived in the Philippines I have started to use the ResMed air sense 10 machine and AirFit N30i nasal mask every night . Over the course of several weeks using my ResMed air sense 10 machine, while wearing the AirFit N30i nasal mask I have not yet been able to fully go to sleep due to one factor which is that during the time I try to go to sleep with the ResMed air sense 10 machine running I suddenly have a feeling that my throat is being blocked so I instinctively remove my nasal mask .

I emailed the hospital doctor who arranged the over night sleep test and told them about my current symptoms . The doctor then emailed me back recommending that I purchase some melatonin , which I did . But the melatonin gave me really bad diarrhea , so I had to stop using that. I again emailed the doctor and let him know that I could not take the melatonin .

The doctor then emailed me back recommending that I purchase some benadryl tablets and take one before going to sleep .

As I live in a fairly remote location I could not purchase benadryl but could obtain another brand ( PHeNZ ) that has the same drug ( Diphenhydramine ) .

In the mean time I have just installed the application called Oscar on my computer and put a SD card in the ResMed air sense 10

So I have now on the hospital doctors advice been taking one 50mg capsule of Diphenhydramine just before I go to bed.


After taking one 50mg capsule of Diphenhydramine although I have still not been able to fully fall to sleep the number and frequency of the times I have to suddenly remove my nasal mask due to the feeling that there's some thing blocking my throat has diminished .


So I’m now wondering if I increase the current dosage ( 50mg ) of Diphenhydramine to say ( 100mg ) would that lead to me being able to fall fully asleep with out constantly being awoken by a feeling that some thing is blocking my throat ?







Apart from the Diphenhydramine I am taking omeprazole for reflux acid.

I am in general good health with no other medical issues.

While in hospital I underwent an endoscopy of the throat , no issues were found.

ResMed air sense 10 machine settings are….

Smart Start – On
Mode – Auto Set
Essentials – Plus
Max Pressure – 14.0
Min Pressure – 4.0
Response – Soft
EPR – On
EPR Type – Full Time
EPR Level – 3
Ramp Time – Off
Climate – Auto
Tube Temp – Auto
AB Filter – No
Mask – Nasal

I have my fingers crossed that with the kind advice of other members here I will one day be able to fully fall asleep and the feeling that some thing is blocking my throat and having to remove my nasal mask will eventually disappear.


I tried to attach a screen shot of my Oscar but had this notice ......Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached.



Many Thanks .

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LSAT
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Re: 73 years old and Looking for advice

Post by LSAT » Sun Oct 02, 2022 8:14 am

I would not increase the dose of Diphenhydramine. Look at the Sleep report on your machine's screen. Set the parameter to 1 month or 3 months and see what it shows as your average (median) pressure. Some of your problems may be that your minimum pressure (4) is too low.

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ozij
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Re: 73 years old and Looking for advice

Post by ozij » Sun Oct 02, 2022 9:11 am

LSAT wrote:
Sun Oct 02, 2022 8:14 am
I would not increase the dose of Diphenhydramine. Look at the Sleep report on your machine's screen. Set the parameter to 1 month or 3 months and see what it shows as your average (median) pressure. Some of your problems may be that your minimum pressure (4) is too low.
I agree.

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robysue1
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Re: 73 years old and Looking for advice

Post by robysue1 » Sun Oct 02, 2022 9:54 am

Welcome to the forum William!
Lumpy-Custard wrote:
Sun Oct 02, 2022 2:55 am
The hospital doctor recommended that I purchase a ResMed air sense 10 machine along with an AirFit N30i nasal mask, which I did.

Since I arrived in the Philippines I have started to use the ResMed air sense 10 machine and AirFit N30i nasal mask every night . Over the course of several weeks using my ResMed air sense 10 machine, while wearing the AirFit N30i nasal mask I have not yet been able to fully go to sleep due to one factor which is that during the time I try to go to sleep with the ResMed air sense 10 machine running I suddenly have a feeling that my throat is being blocked so I instinctively remove my nasal mask .
This is actually a pretty common new PAPer problem: It takes a while to learn the mask on our face is a friend instead of a monster trying to suffocate us in our sleep. (Prior to starting CPAP our brains have become wired to be on the look out for near suffocations from the apneas we suffer. So it's understandable that it can take a while for the brain to really trust that the mask is a friend instead of a foe.

As others have mentioned: Your starting pressure of 4cm may be so low that you instinctively are worried that there is not enough air coming in through the mask and that can create the sensation of not being able to breathe. So it's worth bumping up your min pressure to 5 or 6 for a couple of nights to see if that fixes things. If you are still experiencing a sudden feeling your throat is blocked, but it's taking longer for that sensation to hit, then another increase in min pressure by 1-2 cm should fix the problem.

On the other hand, if that sensation of suddenly feeling your throat is blocked is being caused by not being able to exhale fully, the increase in pressure will likely aggravate the problem. And at least you'll know more about what's causing the situation and you can then work on trying to get more comfortable with the mask on your face. (For what it's worth, the problem of not being able to exhale fully at 4cm is much, much rarer than the problem of feeling suffocated because there doesn't appear to be enough air coming in to inhale comfortably.)
I tried to attach a screen shot of my Oscar but had this notice ......Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached.
The easy work-around is to upload the image to a site like imgur, click on the image and then use the BBCode button to create and copy the code so you can post it into the cpaptalk edit window.
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lynninnj
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Re: 73 years old and Looking for advice

Post by lynninnj » Sun Oct 02, 2022 10:32 am

Welcome to the board.

An even easier solution is to use Sleephq.com to upload data and provide a link.

PM me if you need help doing that, or as suggested use Oscar then upload the chart to an outside site and then post the link here.

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ejbpesca
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Re: 73 years old and Looking for advice

Post by ejbpesca » Sun Oct 02, 2022 3:01 pm

When I started CPAP therapy it took several weeks, trying and failing, to accept my full face mask. I can imagine a nasal mask has its challenges too. It was not uncommon for me to pull the mask, head gear and all, off during sleep.

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clownbell
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Re: 73 years old and Looking for advice

Post by clownbell » Sun Oct 02, 2022 5:59 pm

Absent data to review, there is one other shot-in-the-dark idea. If you increase your minimum pressure but find it difficult to exhale, turn on EPR (Exhale Pressure Relief) which lowers the pressure when you exhale. You can set it to 1, 2 or 3 which will lower the pressure by 3cm (subject to the machine's absolute minimum of 4).

That said, please try to get an OSCAR chart up for review.
ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset with built in humidifier
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