New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

Okie bipap · Post by **Okie bipap** » Wed Nov 28, 2018 11:55 am

Based on your tidal volume graph, it appears the clusters are when you are awake or in a transition period where you are in a very light sleep and keep waking up and dozing off. I often see clusters such as these on my graphs and can equate them to periods I am in the transition periods. When this happens, I take them out of the equation. Last night, I had a period where I showed a cluster right after my machine started when I got up to visit the bathroom. My AHI for the night was 1.7, but when I took that cluster out of the equation, my AHI was 0.25 which is much closer to what it normally is. I can look at my tidal volume graph and pinpoint the time I actually go to sleep. When I am laying in the bed trying to go to sleep, I try to breathe regularly. I breathe in for a count of three, then exhale for a count of three. I have found this distracts me and I allows my mind to clear itself of the daily clutter and I can relax and fall asleep.

nicholasjh1 · Post by **nicholasjh1** » Wed Nov 28, 2018 12:52 pm

tcolar wrote: ↑
Mon Nov 05, 2018 10:01 am
Thanks. Thursday is probably throw away data as I don't think I slept much at all.

Friday was the best sleep, well still worse than without cpap, but a good chunk was sleep.

Saturday was something in between.

Might try the higher min pressure tonight unless I hear back from the doc.

I would say definitely try to resolve the apnea... just look at my signature... I don't know why but many people seem to forget the apnea part of sleep apnea... especially for moderate severe apnea the apnea part (not breathing) can cause a huge amount of damage over time, especially brain damage when combined with the sleep loss.

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Wed Nov 28, 2018 2:34 pm

tcolar wrote: ↑
Wed Nov 28, 2018 10:57 am
I sleep better without it, well I likely I still have apnea but at least I stay asleep more.

If you were actually sleeping, you wouldn't have ended up with a CPAP.

tcolar · Post by **tcolar** » Wed Nov 28, 2018 3:12 pm

> I sleep better without it, well I likely I still have apnea but at least I stay asleep more.

What I was trying to say is I know that I need it, but I'm waking up more often wearing the mask (discomfort, leak, whatever) and so far it has not improved my AHI to reasonable levels, so the end result is that I'm even more tired than without it.

With that said I keep trying, the nose mask (over the nose) seems best as far as comfort, the full face mask seems best for least apneas.

Next thing I'll try is a side sleeping pillow (wrap around the back) and see if that helps compared to being on my back (wedge did not seem to help)

nicholasjh1 · Post by **nicholasjh1** » Wed Nov 28, 2018 4:03 pm

tcolar wrote: ↑
Wed Nov 28, 2018 3:12 pm
> I sleep better without it, well I likely I still have apnea but at least I stay asleep more.

What I was trying to say is I know that I need it, but I'm waking up more often wearing the mask (discomfort, leak, whatever) and so far it has not improved my AHI to reasonable levels, so the end result is that I'm even more tired than without it.

With that said I keep trying, the nose mask (over the nose) seems best as far as comfort, the full face mask seems best for least apneas.

Next thing I'll try is a side sleeping pillow (wrap around the back) and see if that helps compared to being on my back (wedge did not seem to help)

My sleep study showed many wake up's when I wasn't on the mask.... I just didn't remember them from the brain damage & lack of oxygen.

nicholasjh1 · Post by **nicholasjh1** » Wed Nov 28, 2018 4:06 pm

tcolar wrote: ↑
Wed Nov 28, 2018 3:12 pm
> I sleep better without it, well I likely I still have apnea but at least I stay asleep more.

What I was trying to say is I know that I need it, but I'm waking up more often wearing the mask (discomfort, leak, whatever) and so far it has not improved my AHI to reasonable levels, so the end result is that I'm even more tired than without it.

With that said I keep trying, the nose mask (over the nose) seems best as far as comfort, the full face mask seems best for least apneas.

Next thing I'll try is a side sleeping pillow (wrap around the back) and see if that helps compared to being on my back (wedge did not seem to help)

The waking up is not messing up your AHI. that should actually reduce it, other then some people get more false centrals with waking up. the way to reduce your AHI is get effective therapy. with or without better sleep. and as I pointed out in the earlier message it could be better sleep with the mask, and the worse non-treated sleep just isn't remembered (if you're getting false centrals.

So the thing to do now is optimize therapy. there are instructions on how to post a thread to do that.

nicholasjh1 · Post by **nicholasjh1** » Wed Nov 28, 2018 4:12 pm

tcolar wrote: ↑
Wed Nov 28, 2018 10:57 am

I'm also having a harder time to sleep once the pressure reaches 13, leaks happen or the mask has to be pretty tight, or the machine makes a whistling noise at 13 or so.

I do 15.2 every night now, it just took the right mask and set up, and also partially just getting used to the higher pressure. I use nasal pillows with tape to prevent mouth air leakage, as well as a chin strap to get my mouth not right to help reduce "chipmunk" cheeks which is a mouth taping thing.

tcolar · Post by **tcolar** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 11:38 pm

Just wanted to post an update.

Long story short I sleep better and feel more rested but my AHI is pretty much always in the 6 to 10 range. Got a 4 a couple times, never lower than that.

Tried various masks and various pressures (currently 7-15 is what the Dr wants, but I have tried other ranges).
Looking at sleepy head I can't really find any correlation between the pressure and the AHI, seem to have little effect either way.

What I sleep best with by far is the Eson2 (nose cap), it's by far the most comfy for me. The dreamweaver nose pillows is ok too, but It kind of irritates under my nose.

I suspect I mouth breath sometimes, and I'm also often nose congested, the Dr also think mouth breathing might be part of what keeps my AHI up potentially (but will likely do a study next), but I have had a hard time with a full face mask so afr.

I have the F20, but it's very uncomfortable to me, the silicon digs in my cheeks, i'm also kind of between M and L and neither work great. I don't get better AHI and sleep worst because of the discomfort, often end-up having to switch back to eson2 during the night. I'm going to try the the foam pad on the f20, hope it helps with comfort.

I also now got an Amara view, going try that, it seems to fit me better, and a bit more comfortable as far as the mask goes, the headgear on the other hand seems not so great, seems to pull up too much (the nose/mouth silicon strip pulling up, irritating under my nose), also having a hard time not having it cut into the top of my years ..... probably should have went for the dreamwear hybrid instead .....

Anyways, maybe I should just stick to the Enson2, at least I feel I sleep well with it, despite the AHI being around 8 most of the time.

Any advice ?

zoocrewphoto · Post by **zoocrewphoto** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 4:30 am

tcolar wrote: ↑
Mon Apr 29, 2019 11:38 pm
Just wanted to post an update.

Long story short I sleep better and feel more rested but my AHI is pretty much always in the 6 to 10 range. Got a 4 a couple times, never lower than that.

Tried various masks and various pressures (currently 7-15 is what the Dr wants, but I have tried other ranges).
Looking at sleepy head I can't really find any correlation between the pressure and the AHI, seem to have little effect either way.

What I sleep best with by far is the Eson2 (nose cap), it's by far the most comfy for me. The dreamweaver nose pillows is ok too, but It kind of irritates under my nose.

I suspect I mouth breath sometimes, and I'm also often nose congested, the Dr also think mouth breathing might be part of what keeps my AHI up potentially (but will likely do a study next), but I have had a hard time with a full face mask so afr.

I have the F20, but it's very uncomfortable to me, the silicon digs in my cheeks, i'm also kind of between M and L and neither work great. I don't get better AHI and sleep worst because of the discomfort, often end-up having to switch back to eson2 during the night. I'm going to try the the foam pad on the f20, hope it helps with comfort.

I also now got an Amara view, going try that, it seems to fit me better, and a bit more comfortable as far as the mask goes, the headgear on the other hand seems not so great, seems to pull up too much (the nose/mouth silicon strip pulling up, irritating under my nose), also having a hard time not having it cut into the top of my years ..... probably should have went for the dreamwear hybrid instead .....

Anyways, maybe I should just stick to the Enson2, at least I feel I sleep well with it, despite the AHI being around 8 most of the time.

Any advice ?

Can you post the graphs from a typical current night? It will help if we can see what kind of events, if they are scattered or clustered, and what the pressure is doing.

tcolar · Post by **tcolar** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:23 am

So last night I changed my settings to 12-15 and my AHI improved to 3.5

Usually I use 7-15 (Dr prescription), but I noticed it rarely goes high, also with that wide a range, I sometimes have leak issues and wake up.

Anyway using 12-15 with the eson2 last night, I got an AHI of 3.5 with good some under 2. Still seems like a lot of events, but the AHI score is better.
I did wake up at one with a bloated tummy (aerophagia), happens once in a while.

Attaching last night graph (3.5 AHI) and a few "typical" ones (AHI around

from the previous week.

katestyles · Post by **katestyles** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 9:32 am

Good to hear your AHI is down! DO you feel better for it?

tcolar · Post by **tcolar** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 3:23 pm

Not sure I noticed a difference between 3 and 8 AHI, but CPAP makes me feel better than no CPAP for sure.

But obviously a lower AHI should be better for me.

tcolar · Post by **tcolar** » Fri May 03, 2019 9:41 am

So, last night I set my pressure to 12-13.5 , I'm using a narrower range because I noticed I get less leaks that way.

At first I tried to use the F20, it' much more comfortable with the foam than it was with the silicon.
I got good result, however I can't get it to not leak during the night ... I think my headgear is too large, I might have a large but I can't seem to see any indication of size on the headgear, is there a way to tell ??

If you ignore the first 30mn (amwake), I got great results for a couple hours but woke because of leaks (not sure if at nose, I think my . jaw drops too, seem to have that issue with all the face masks)

I switched back to the Eson2, after that and got my best result ever, with a 0.67 AHI, maybe I should just stick to the Eson2, but might need to use a chin strap as I think my mouth opens sometimes.

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Fri May 03, 2019 9:50 am

I think I would just stick with the ESON and worry about mouth breathing leaks and maybe using a chin strap later. Cross that bridge if it needs to be crossed.
At this point....mouth breathing leaks would likely be much less of a problem than the massive big prolonged leaks you are having with the F20.

As for headgear size...I thought maybe you could tell with color but I see that they have Blue in the small, medium and large...so size should be somewhere on the headgear.

tcolar · Post by **tcolar** » Sat Jun 15, 2019 9:59 am

I had found good settings for me (14-11) and had been getting decent results (2 to 5 ahi daily with good sleep) .... However while I used to get aerophagia one in a while it's now turned to every single night. I sleep a few hours, then wake with very bad bloating, night is ruined and I don't use CPAP rest of the night. Not rested in the morning.

I have tried lowering the pressure, changing aflex or cflex, values, none as helped.

No idea why this started happening :/

Anything to try ? Should I go back to the sleep doc and try a bilevel machine, it seems it helps some people with that issue ?

New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

Re: New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

Re: New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

Re: New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

Re: New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

Re: New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

Re: New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

Re: New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

Re: New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

Re: New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

Re: New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

Re: New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

Re: New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

Re: New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

Re: New to CPAP, worse AHI with cpap ?

And now .. aerophagia :/

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