UK user...ok for the first 5 hours but unwearable afterward

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
Deleted User
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2021 10:21 am

UK user...ok for the first 5 hours but unwearable afterward

Post by Deleted User » Sun Nov 28, 2021 10:42 am

Hi, I am based in the Uk and have been using a Resmed Airsense 10 with a full face mask for around 1 week.

I put my mask on around midnight, it fits ok and I can breathe comfortably.
I have diabetes, which means I have bathroom visits on average once an hour at night.

I may wake 4-5 times between 12-4 am to visit the bathroom and my breathing is still fine and the mask is still in place.
However, each morning at around 5 am I awake with a suffocating feeling, the mask has so much pressure it escapes from the side of the mask.
I switch the CPAP off, adjust the mask, then turn the CPAP back on, but the pressure is still too high that it is uncomfortable and I end up just switching it off.

Can anyone provide an explanation as to why it's ok for the first 5 hours but unwearable afterwards?

Thanks

Robert

User avatar
Julie
Posts: 19898
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2006 12:58 pm

Re: UK user...ok for the first 5 hours but unwearable afterward

Post by Julie » Sun Nov 28, 2021 11:35 am

Do you know your minimum and maximum pressure settings? Very important to find out from whoever set up your machine.

rick blaine
Posts: 614
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2015 7:30 am

Re: UK user...ok for the first 5 hours but unwearable afterward

Post by rick blaine » Sun Nov 28, 2021 11:57 am

Hi Deleted user,

Well, assuming your handle or pen name isn't a spoof, and that yours is an honest enquiry, I'd need a bit more information from you.

First, when you say "Airsense 10", what kind of Airsense 10? Is it the auto-adjusting one? If you are not sure, look on the bottom of the machine, and tell is what it says there.

Second, and this is to echo Julie's point, do you know what pressures the machine has been set to? Even if it's the auto-adjusting model, there will be a minimum pressure and a maximum pressure. The ex-factory settings are: minimum of 4 cm, maximum of 20 cm. What is your machine set to?

Third, hasn't any of the medics you see – your diabetes doctor or nurse, you sleep-medicine doctor or specialist nurse – sat you down and explained 'sleep architecture' to you – especially as it applies to diabetics? That in the earlier, deeper stages of sleep, a person can become totally oblivious to external stimuli. But after about five hours of sleep, the depth of sleep gets lighter, and the same level of outside stimuli may wake a person up.

Fourth, but things can change. The bit you especially seem not to have been told is that People Get Used To It. No one is born being comfortable with having an alien stuck to their face. You have to get used to it.

The formal name for that is 'habituation'. On average, it takes about 66 days. But in order to fully habituate to a stimulus, you have to keep exposing yourself to the stimulus. :)

You're welcome.

User avatar
Miss Emerita
Posts: 3416
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2018 8:07 pm

Re: UK user...ok for the first 5 hours but unwearable afterward

Post by Miss Emerita » Sun Nov 28, 2021 12:17 pm

To follow up on Rick Blaine's point about habituation: you can speed the process up. Set up your machine outside your bedroom during the day or evening and use it while you read or watch TV -- something that will be diverting.

Have you talked with your doctor about ways to address your frequent episodes of night-time urination (nocturia)? There are options, though whether any of them would be right for you is something only your doctor can tell you.

One thought to bear in mind: sleep apnea is associated with nocturia, and the latter problem may diminish once you get into a good groove with your PAP therapy.
Oscar software is available at https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/

WilsonCat
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2021 10:56 am

Re: UK user...ok for the first 5 hours but unwearable afterward

Post by WilsonCat » Sun Nov 28, 2021 4:02 pm

Wow...I am dealing with the exact same things as the OP. Been a week. I find I can fall asleep just fine and have to get up once maybe during the night to use the bathroom. But around 4AM I take medication, then after that I have a real tough time with the mask at that point. It's like it's on the highest pressure and just blasting air at me and I cannot get the seal back. This only seems to happen after I've been using the machine for over 4 hours.

Aircurve 10. ASVAuto, MinEPAP 11, Max IPAP 29.0 PS 0.0-14.0

_________________
MachineMask
Resmed AirCurve 10 ASV / Resmed P30i

User avatar
zonker
Posts: 11012
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2015 4:36 pm

Re: UK user...ok for the first 5 hours but unwearable afterward

Post by zonker » Sun Nov 28, 2021 4:51 pm

WilsonCat wrote:
Sun Nov 28, 2021 4:02 pm
Wow...I am dealing with the exact same things as the OP.
yours may be a slightly different case. please do us a favor and start your own thread, so us old fogies don't get the two of you confused. :lol:

would appreciate it!
people say i'm self absorbed.
but that's enough about them.
Oscar-Win
https://www.apneaboard.com/OSCAR/OSCAR-1.5.1-Win64.exe
Oscar-Mac
https://www.apneaboard.com/OSCAR/OSCAR-1.5.1.dmg

Deleted User
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2021 10:21 am

Re: UK user...ok for the first 5 hours but unwearable afterward

Post by Deleted User » Tue Nov 30, 2021 4:28 am

Hi, thanks for your responses, I have only just realised my post had been approved.

I have had a look to find out what type of Resmed Airsense I have, it says "autoset".
The pressure was set at 4-20cm, I changed it to 4-16, but I still have the same problem.
The issue I have is similar to @WilsonCat comment, at 5 am I awake with what appears to have full pressure on the mask and it is difficult to keep it sealed, before 5am the mask is comfortable.

User avatar
Julie
Posts: 19898
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2006 12:58 pm

Re: UK user...ok for the first 5 hours but unwearable afterward

Post by Julie » Tue Nov 30, 2021 7:10 am

You're going the wrong way- leave your max setting at 20 (or 15 if you must) but raise the min. to e.g. 7 for a few days to see how that goes - it's the min. that 'does the job' of addressing apneas, not the max and your min. is rock bottom (machine default base is 4).

User avatar
Pugsy
Posts: 63942
Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 9:31 am
Location: Missouri, USA

Re: UK user...ok for the first 5 hours but unwearable afterward

Post by Pugsy » Tue Nov 30, 2021 7:28 am

Deleted User wrote:
Tue Nov 30, 2021 4:28 am
Hi, thanks for your responses, I have only just realised my post had been approved.

I have had a look to find out what type of Resmed Airsense I have, it says "autoset".
The pressure was set at 4-20cm, I changed it to 4-16, but I still have the same problem.
The issue I have is similar to @WilsonCat comment, at 5 am I awake with what appears to have full pressure on the mask and it is difficult to keep it sealed, before 5am the mask is comfortable.
Your model machine is called the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet. When you have time you might add it to your signature line so we can easily see what you are using. See my signature line for an example.
It is a full efficacy data capable machine and there is free and easy to use software available so you can easily see what might be going on in terms of actual therapy effectiveness.

OSCAR https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... stallation
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... rpretation

I don't know that setting changes are going to fix the issue with your wanting to take the mask off after 5 hours but it's a place to start in terms of looking to see what might be going on and work on fixing the issue.
Everyone seems to knee jerk their response to limit the max thinking that the higher pressures that the machine might be reaching is the cause of premature wake ups but actually it might be the apnea events (if they are happening) that might be causing the wake up that the machine is using those higher pressures in an attempt to prevent the apneas that is the real culprit. So the knee jerk reaction to limit the higher pressures by reducing the max might be actually causing the machine to allow more apneas to happen if the airway needs those higher pressures.

A better choice might be raising the minimum and preventing the airway collapse in the first place so the machine doesn't end up needing to go so much higher in an effort to fix things. These machines work best by PREVENTING the airway collapse in the first place and not so much trying to stop the collapse when it is happening. These machines actually don't do anything during the collapse itself anyway...they can't blow enough air to blow open the collapsed tissues and instead they wait for the airway to open (they sit by and twiddle their little thumbs while the collapse is happening) and then the machine re-evalulates what just happened and decide if it needs to increase the pressure to maybe better prevent another such occurrence.

Use the software and see the details before you go making big changes in anything.
Don't go making WAGS (wild ass guesses) on anything without at least seeing what is going on first.
Start with the basics first...data...it is available and is a good starting point.
viewtopic/t158560/How-to-post-images-for-review.html

_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: Mask Bleep Eclipse https://bleepsleep.com/the-eclipse/
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.