Frustrated and very tired

greenham · Post by **greenham** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 9:39 am

Been messing with the Apap machine now for almost a week. Aside from trying to get used to the noise of the machine, then noise of the vent on my mask, The feeling of a huge mask covering my face, the anxiety of feeling suffocated. I am still butt tired.

I am so frustrated that I can't seem to get ANY rest what so ever on this machine. I have taken it off in the middle of the night, but then put it back on trying to get used to it all. I feel worse now then ever before. Damn, Bad sleep has to be better then NO sleep.

Now I think my pressures are to low. It seems just as I get to sleep I am awakened gasping for air. My assumption is that I am having an OSA episode and as the pressure increases it wakes me up, OR there isn't enough pressure to push the air, causing a feeling of suffocation!!!

Heck I don't know anymore. I am tired and rambling, but suffering with what to do next.

jimbassett · Post by **jimbassett** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:12 am

Greenham I feel your pain. I am just starting my third week and the first week or so I had the same reactions as you. I can truthfully say now that I am progressing better than i expected. Last night I only woke up once with a need to sneeze and I had my mouth taped. It was a suppressed sneeze and I was back to sleep for eight hours of good sleeping. I can only encourage you to stay with it and you will be glad you did. Regards Jim

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:30 am

Greenham, any chance you have TMJ issues? What you describe is similar to what I experienced when I first tried APAP. What do your Encore Pro readouts show is happening?

If you have TMJ issues, a full-face mask can actually make your apnea worse as the pressure rise in the mask can push the lower jaw back, thereby triggering apnea.

Regards,
Bill

jum001 · Post by **jum001** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:30 am

I can only say hang in there. Find the mask that works for you. It took me months to get the full results of treatment. Now, while I dislike putting on the mask, I really hate the way I feel if I don't.

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:45 am

Although you have a data capable machine and software ... you have not posted any info on your AHI, leak rate, or pressure stats.

You may may losing pressure making treatment ineffective.

Your machine may be incorrectly set ... have you confirmed that your machine has been set with correct pressure settings?

In order to gaet any relief and help you to get over the other issues like noise or anxiety you have to make sure the above mentioned is taken care of first.

Best of luck.

greenham · Post by **greenham** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:52 am

I did D/L the first 2 nights of limited data. All it said was I was "non compliant" I have not D/L the last few nights, figuring they too would say non compliant and not have any AHI figures.

Not sure how long I should stay with one mask before jumping into another "UNKNOWN" not to mention expense.

regarding TMJ, not that I am aware.

I Have noticed in the past it seems to be getting the air OUT as opposed to IN is my most uncomfortable times.

My sleep study showed a pressure of 9 was tolerable. My test was shortened by the anxiety of suffocation, so maybe the pressure is wrong. I did set my machine up in Apap mode at 7 and 11. @ under and 2 over the sleep study numbers.

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): AHI

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): AHI

mattman · Post by **mattman** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 11:49 am

I would also definately add that these are great things to talk about with your provider and your doctor!

Talk to your doctor about your sleep study results and also what your pressures are set at. Your doctor may be able to help you find a different range that still treats your symptoms but can be comfortable for you. He/She may also help to determine if you are correct about your settings not being quite right.

Your provider can also possibly help out with trying on different masks to find one that best alleviates your anxiety and provides symptom relief.

Aside from that, this DOES take time to get used to! It took me about 2-3 weeks before I was able to sleep through the night without removing my mask.

mattman

kteague · Post by **kteague** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 12:23 pm

Greenham,
Since you described your problems as happening as soon as you go to sleep, it makes me wonder if you are using a Ramp or Settling feature that allows one to begin each treatment period at a lower pressure than what the cpap or apap pressures are. I struggled like this for months, only to find out after the fact that my Ramp pressure was set at a pressure of 4 for 30 minutes. Over and over on here I read where others say a pressure of 4 makes them feel like they are suffocating. Every time I had an "episode" and would take the mask off and stop the air, when I resumed I was beginning another 30 minutes at a pressure of 4. Basically, I spent those months at a pressure of 4, all the while wondering why I was getting dramatically worse. May not be your issue, but if there's any chance your mask anxiety has an explainable basis, I thought it worth mentioning.
Kathy

Rachael · Post by **Rachael** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 12:28 pm

I had similer issues, and am just a week or so ahead of you in this process. I felt like I was suffocating at first last night, even though I had bumped my pressure up, but a few squirts of saline and some vigorous nose blowing got my schnoz clear enough to feel better, so that's worth a try. Last night was my best night of sleep yet.

Someone told me my first week to practice wearing as much of the mask as you can around the house during the day to desensitize you. And I also think that napping with the mask and air helped too.

Good luck. Everyone here has been really helpful to me, listen to their advice.

greenham · Post by **greenham** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 12:47 pm

Thanks Kathy,

Nope it's not the ramp feature (don't use it) I also made sure my auto settings started at least at 7. I have even updated that to 8.

I did read that some people get arousals by the machine raising the pressure in response to an event. One other thing I read, was that the APAP machine will log an event and respond, vs a CPAP that prevents the event in the first place.

Matt, I will try to talk to my doc about this stuff. He is a general practice guy with some limited sleep disorder understanding.

mattman · Post by **mattman** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 1:23 pm

I always suggest folks deal with a certified Sleep Specialist. There's just so much to know about this therapy that to even have a hope of being really helpful a doctor has to specialize in Sleep Medicine.

Sadly one of the best sites for finding a Sleep Specialist appears to have removed thier 'Search By State' function. I did poke around though and it appears the function is still there, just the page is gone.

So here is a direct link to a results page. If you change the state abbreviation to your state it SHOULD pull up the results for your state. I tried a bunch and they all worked.

http://www.absm.org/diplomates/bystate.asp?state=CA

So in this case it's for California. Change the CA at the end to your states 2 letter abbreviation.

You may be able to find a Sleep Specialist near you that can help get this worked out for you!

mattman

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 1:59 pm

[quote="greenham"]Been messing with the Apap machine now for almost a week. Aside from trying to get used to the noise of the machine, then noise of the vent on my mask, The feeling of a huge mask covering my face, the anxiety of feeling suffocated. I am still butt tired.

I am so frustrated that I can't seem to get ANY rest what so ever on this machine. I have taken it off in the middle of the night, but then put it back on trying to get used to it all. I feel worse now then ever before. Damn, Bad sleep has to be better then NO sleep.

Now I think my pressures are to low. It seems just as I get to sleep I am awakened gasping for air. My assumption is that I am having an OSA episode and as the pressure increases it wakes me up, OR there isn't enough pressure to push the air, causing a feeling of suffocation!!!

Heck I don't know anymore. I am tired and rambling, but suffering with what to do next.

greenham · Post by **greenham** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 2:21 pm

Snoredog,

I did as you suggested and looked back over my PSG. I has

He slept 3.7 hours and was awake 2.5 hours for a 60% sleep efficiency. Sleep onset 15 minutes. No REM sleep. 134 minutes of time in bed spent awake which is 36% of time in bed. 19% was spent I stage I sleep, 72% stage II sleep, and only 9% delta sleep. No REM sleep.

Respiratory Data: There were 53 obstructive apneas, 8 central apneas, 177 hypopneas noted for 238 respiratory events. Pre-treatment apnea-hypopnea index was 90.2 with minimum drop in oxygen saturation of 86%.

There were 93 arousals per hour noted prior to nasal CPAP. The patient was placed on CPAP but did not sleep well with placement

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 2:43 pm

[quote="greenham"]Snoredog,

I did as you suggested and looked back over my PSG. I has

He slept 3.7 hours and was awake 2.5 hours for a 60% sleep efficiency. Sleep onset 15 minutes. No REM sleep. 134 minutes of time in bed spent awake which is 36% of time in bed. 19% was spent I stage I sleep, 72% stage II sleep, and only 9% delta sleep. No REM sleep.

Respiratory Data: There were 53 obstructive apneas, 8 central apneas, 177 hypopneas noted for 238 respiratory events. Pre-treatment apnea-hypopnea index was 90.2 with minimum drop in oxygen saturation of 86%.

There were 93 arousals per hour noted prior to nasal CPAP. The patient was placed on CPAP but did not sleep well with placement

jskinner · Post by **jskinner** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:37 pm

greenham wrote:Been messing with the Apap machine now for almost a week. Aside from trying to get used to the noise of the machine, then noise of the vent on my mask

Have you tried ear plugs? I have to use them every night so that I won't hear the machine and vent.

greenham wrote:The feeling of a huge mask covering my face, the anxiety of feeling suffocated.

Have you tried a nasal mask? I find full face masks suffocating too

greenham wrote:Now I think my pressures are to low.

You might want to look at the Pressure Vrs AHI graph on either MyEncore or EPA but it sounds like you will need to keep your pressure under 9 to avoid centrals.

Frustrated and very tired

Frustrated and very tired

Feeling like suffocating

Re: Frustrated and very tired

Re: Frustrated and very tired

Mask

Additional Comments: Auto setting 7.0 low to 11.0 high

Mask

Mask

Additional Comments: Auto setting 7.0 low to 11.0 high

Mask

Additional Comments: Auto setting 7.0 low to 11.0 high