Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

jpenn727 · Post by **jpenn727** » Sat Feb 02, 2019 5:28 am

Man, lots of good information in this thread.

peppyaf · Post by **peppyaf** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 9:11 am

Ok so update

I got the autoset for her as per your recommendations and the n20 mask.

Used it for the first night here is my results attached. I will try to get the sleepyhead data tonight.

Results look amazing but I woke up 3 times at night. The nose only aspect of the mask didn't seem bad but it was uncomfortable (maybe too tight). I was able to sleep on my back too. I think I want to try the p10 mask.

The guy set the machine up for 4-8cm. 4cm seemed too suffocating and I saw the machine ramped up to 7.9cm at night. I may adjust this.

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 9:28 am

Excellent results even with the wake ups. It takes a while for the brain to get used to all this stuff on us and not want to wake us up just to say "hey, dude...do you know an alien is stuck on your face blowing air up your nose" kind of thing.

I think it took my brain a couple of months to stop the "hey dude" wake ups.

And yes...4 cm minimum can seem a bit stifling for a lot of people. My own sister had to be using 6 as the starting point or else she said she was dying of suffocation. Of course she wasn't but it sure can feel like it.
Most people go ahead and change that setting to something around 6 ish that is more comfortable.
And be careful...if ramp is turned on it starts at 4 cm...so I would turn ramp off if you have it on. You shouldn't need it at these low pressures.

D.H. · Post by **D.H.** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 9:39 am

Officially an AHI under five means no diagnosis of OSA. However, if I go over 2 (which is rare for me with my CPAP), I feel like I've been hit by a truck.

Basically, an AHI if 5 and over is OSA, according to current medical guidelines. Obviously, the higher the worse. What's not known (and probably never fully knowable), is how much higher is how much worse.

Another caveat is that AHI doesn't measure the duration of events or oxygen desaturation. In fact, very long events would generally mean a lower AHI, since you can't have a "new" event until the "old" one is finished!

In conclusion, an AHI of 13, definitely needs to be treated.

musculus · Post by **musculus** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 9:40 am

Pugsy wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 01, 2019 12:47 pm
Welcome to the forum.

Where are you located? The reason I ask this is because the choices you were given are not what people here in the US would normally have. Do you have insurance to help cover the costs or is this all strictly out of pocket?

Splurge for the apap capable machine...it's just a cpap machine with 2 modes of operation...fixed pressure mode and auto adjusting pressure mode. You might find that the auto adjusting (apap) mode comes in handy if your pressure needs vary much during the night.
Often people need substantially more pressure if they are on their back or during REM sleep and it's kinda nice to have the machine just sort it out. Example...I need 15 to 18 cm during REM...and we spend about 20% of the night in REM. The rest of the night I do quite well with around 9 cm pressure. If I was using fixed cpap I would need to use 15 all night long just to cover the 20% of the night in REM.
It can be done but it wouldn't be much fun.

If you have a choice...get the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her model....it has an additional apap mode that might come in handy.
Always better to have something and not need it than need it and not have it.

Masks...if you nose is clogged often and you simply can't get it opened up enough to breath freely and comfortably through just your nose...get a full face mask to start with. Maybe visit a nasal mask later if you find that you can breath somewhat better with the added humidity.

https://www.cpap.com/cpap-masks/full-face-cpap-mask

Look at the ResMed AirFit F30 and the Respironics DreamWear Full face mask to start with. Lots of choices but those 2 don't involve anything on the bridge of the nose area to have to deal with the seal there. The more surface area contacting the skin...the more places for it to leak and be annoying.

If self pay....forum member LSAT has a used ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her for sale...on the front page of the forum at this time.

pugsy,

A digression to the topic (OP got lots of helpful advice), how do you control the leaks at 15-18 cm with nasal pillow? I have lots of leaks through my mouth even at 8 cm, with chinstrap...

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 10:11 am

musculus wrote: ↑
Wed Feb 06, 2019 9:40 am
pugsy,

A digression to the topic (OP got lots of helpful advice), how do you control the leaks at 15-18 cm with nasal pillow? I have lots of leaks through my mouth even at 8 cm, with chinstrap...

Tape the mouth shut with some sort of tape.

Chin straps are supposed to be a gentle reminder to keep the jaw up and mouth closed but they can't be vise grip tight enough to stop mouth leaks. Simply can't be done. Clench your teeth together...open lips slightly and mouth breathe...easy to do isn't it? Chin straps can't stop that.

musculus · Post by **musculus** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 10:24 am

thanks. what kind/brand of tape? will give it a try

nicholasjh1 · Post by **nicholasjh1** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 10:25 am

ALso keep in mind that AHI varies so though the sleep study showed 13, during cold, allergies or inflammation it could get much higher. SIckenesses while I had untreated apnea generally lasted a month or so, probably because of worse apnea and obviously my bodies overall ability to recover.

nicholasjh1 · Post by **nicholasjh1** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 10:28 am

musculus wrote: ↑
Wed Feb 06, 2019 10:24 am
thanks. what kind/brand of tape? will give it a try

I use one strip of Nexus gentle tape over the lips (any other tape will strip the skin off my lips over time), along with Nexus or band-aid brand paper tape to seal that tape on. I also use a mouth strap to keep the tape from coming off. (in my case a special mouth covering chin strap, but many use a headband)

zonker · Post by **zonker** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 10:33 am

nicholasjh1 wrote: ↑
Wed Feb 06, 2019 10:28 am
(in my case a special mouth covering chin strap, but many use a headband)

nicholas, just using you as an excuse to post this-

viewtopic/p1089718/viewtopic.php?f=1&t= ... s#p1086296

carry on!

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 10:40 am

musculus wrote: ↑
Wed Feb 06, 2019 10:24 am
thanks. what kind/brand of tape? will give it a try

Whatever floats your boat really.
I am the queen of cheap so when I was taping I used what I had handy and that was the blue painter's tape leftover from when I painted the kitchen.

Some people have reported good results recently with the SomniFlex tape.
viewtopic/t173944/Somniflex-Sleep-Strip ... ead#unread
Others use any number of available tapes...a lot depends on how fragile the skin on your lips might be.

I quit taping about 3 months into my therapy....got lazy and I discovered that the mouth leaks were random, rare and most of the time not that deep into large leak territory and more importantly I slept right though them when they happened.
So I don't get overly concerned about a little mouth leak.
Now if those mouth leaks disturbed my sleep...then that's a different story.

musculus · Post by **musculus** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 11:46 am

Thanks for the above replies above on the taping.. I tried taping before and my lip was not reacting well to the chemicals in the tape glue

peppyaf · Post by **peppyaf** » Fri Feb 08, 2019 7:01 pm

OK guys so night 2 wasn't that great. Moving from 4-8cm to 6-10cm irritated me plus the N20 mask was uncomfortable.

Night 3, I got the P10 mask and reverted to 4-8cm. MUCH better. Lots of crazy vivid dreams but still kept waking up. I attached my sleepyhead data here if anyone can help.

: screenshot-20190208-195857.png (67.65 KiB) Viewed 1234 times

Thanks

: screenshot-20190208-195919.png (64.5 KiB) Viewed 1234 times

peppyaf · Post by **peppyaf** » Mon Feb 18, 2019 2:12 pm

One more update and question.

So originally I was given a prescription of 6cm.

DME set up my autoset to 4-8cm.

Today, I had my titration study. The sleep tech said that 6-7cm was a good pressure for me and I so I should leave the 4-8cm setting on my machine.

2 questions:

- can I bump the 4cm to 5cm just for comfort level? At the titration study they started me at 5cm and it felt better. I forgot to ask the tech.

- my daily sleepyhead reports show that my max pressure and 95% pressure everyday hits 8cm everyday. Does this not mean that I need more pressure? I asked the tech this and he was confident that I did not require any more than 8cm. My average pressure as per sleepyhead seems to be around 6-7cm. Perhaps the autoset algorithm is just too aggressive?

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Mon Feb 18, 2019 2:24 pm

peppyaf wrote: ↑
Mon Feb 18, 2019 2:12 pm
One more update and question.

So originally I was given a prescription of 6cm.

DME set up my autoset to 4-8cm.

Today, I had my titration study. The sleep tech said that 6-7cm was a good pressure for me and I so I should leave the 4-8cm setting on my machine.

2 questions:

- can I bump the 4cm to 5cm just for comfort level? At the titration study they started me at 5cm and it felt better. I forgot to ask the tech.

- my daily sleepyhead reports show that my max pressure and 95% pressure everyday hits 8cm everyday. Does this not mean that I need more pressure? I asked the tech this and he was confident that I did not require any more than 8cm. My average pressure as per sleepyhead seems to be around 6-7cm. Perhaps the autoset algorithm is just too aggressive?

Sleep test results are very often wrong. And the people that recommended your settings are pretty clueless

Set it for 6-10, or even better, 6-20, the max pressure is irrelevant for most people, all it does is prevent the machine from working at it's best.

The autoset algorithm isn't "aggressive", it's "responsive" to your changing needs.

Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Re: Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Re: Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Re: Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Re: Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Re: Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Re: Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Re: Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Re: Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Re: Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Re: Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Re: Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Re: Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Re: Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Re: Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Re: Just got diagnosed for "mild sleep apnea" (13 ahi), looking for general advice. 28M, not overweight.

Machine	Mask

Additional Comments: Auto PAP; 13.5 cmH2O min - 20 cmH2O max