Pressure help

Hello,
I am new to this and having big problems. I am trying to make this work. Everything goes well until I get an itch on my nose. When I try to scratch it, the break in the mask seal causes tge machine to ramp up big time pushing too much air, I put the mask back in place and try breathing but the excess in air is almost suffocating me, it's too much and will not stop, then thats it. I take it off and I'm done for the night. Has anyone ever experienced this and what can I do? Any help will bd greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I am new to this as well and yes this happens to me. I turn the machine off, place the mask back on and turn it back on. Only problem is sometimes I can’t get a good seal. Frustrating for sure.

Jcalello292 wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 01, 2024 12:20 pm

When I try to scratch it, the break in the mask seal causes tge machine to ramp up big time pushing too much air, I put the mask back in place and try breathing but the excess in air is almost suffocating me, it's too much and will not stop, then thats it.

It's important to realize that the machine is not increasing the actual pressure when this happens. Rather, the machine is attempting to maintain the pressure in the presence of what looks like a very large leak. And the way the machine maintains pressure in the presence of a leak is to increase the airflow into the leaky semi-closed pressurized system comprising the machine, the hose, the mask, your nose, and your upper airway. The larger the lea, the more air that must be blown into the system just to maintain the desired pressure setting.

So one thing to keep in mind is that if you can just get through the first several minutes after putting the mask back in place is this: The machine will detect that the "large leak" caused by your scratching your nose has been fixed, and in response the machine will adjust the air being blown into the mask back down to a "normal" rate needed to maintain the current pressure setting.

But there is still another problem that can be triggering your feeling of being almost suffocated by the seemingly excess air when you put the mask back in place: It's quite possible that the current pressure setting is higher than your beginning pressure setting---particularly if you are either using the ramp to help get to sleep or if you are using an APAP with a minimum pressure setting well below your median pressure reading. This is particularly true when newbies are given an APAP running wide open with a pressure range of 4-20 cm. In other words, if you are used to going to sleep at 4cm of pressure, but when you wake up with the itchy nose, the pressure has been auto-adjusted to 8+ cm of pressure, then yes, your brain is going to react to all that extra pressure (as compared to the beginning of the night), and it can in fact feel like you are struggling to breathe (exhale) against all that pressure.

You also write:

I take it off and I'm done for the night. Has anyone ever experienced this and what can I do? Any help will bd greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Here is my suggestion as someone who wakes up with an itchy nose more often than I care to think about:

Turn the machine OFF, scratch your nose, put the mask back in place, and then turn the machine back ON. This will (mostly) eliminate the blowing air---the Resmed machines will continue to blow air at a very low rate as part of the "cool down" cycle---while you are scratching your nose. When you turn the machine back on, it will go back to the same settings that you had at the very beginning of the night. In other words, regardless of what the "current pressure setting" was when you turned the machine OFF, when you turn it back on, the pressure is reset to your minimum pressure setting. That should feel much more comfortable when you settle back down and are trying to get back to sleep.

Now to do this, it may require you rethinking where your machine is relative to your bed. In order to just turn the machine OFF and then back ON, you need to be able to reach the machine in the dark with a minimum amount of trouble.

Finally, I'll add: Fight the urge to just take the mask off and sleep without the CPAP for the rest of the night. The more "excuses" your sleep addled brain finds to sleep without the CPAP in the middle of the night, the harder it is for the unconscious part of your brain to accept sleeping with the CPAP mask on your nose as the new normal. So in all seriousness, when the nose is itchy, just turn the machine OFF, scratch your nose, put the mask back in place, and then turn the machine back ON.

Thank you so much for providing me this information. What you said make perfect sense. I understand what's going on now, I was not aware I could shut the machine off then back on. I thought once it's on it had to stay of for the duration of thd night. I will definitely try that starting tonight and will work hard on trying to keep the mask on all night.

Thank you,
Joe C