CPAPtalk.com

Just joined and have my fingers firmly crossed that some kind person can offer me hope.

After many months of suffering the symptoms of sleep apnea I had a sleep test done . The sleep test results confirmed that I was suffering from severe sleep apnea.

I purchased a ResMed AirSense AutoSet 10 machine.

I have now been using that ResMed machine for around 6 months , the machine was originally set up by a doctor at the sleep test center .

The settings are --

Ramp Time – Off
Climate Ctrl – Auto
Temp Tube – 20C
Pressure Relief – On
SmartStart – On
Mask – Full face
Mode – AutoSet
Max Pressure – 15
Min Pressure – 7
Response – Standard
EPR- On
EPR Type – Full Time
EPR Level – 2
AB Filter – No
Essentials – Plus
Pressure Units – cmH20




I am using a Phillips Respironics DreamWear Full face mask .

Over the 6 months of using the ResMed machine I have never ever been able to fully drop off to sleep . The strange part I cannot understand is this.


After going to bed around 10 pm / 11 pm each night I lay on my side and it feels a fairly comfortable position. At this point I’m not always sure 100% if I’m dropping off to sleep or not.

Then around the same time every night ( always around 12 midnight to 1 am ) I suddenly get a feeling that I have some thing stuck in my throat or I have swallowed an object and on many occasions at the same time I feel a single rush of air into my face mask for a split second and then its gone .

when this occurs I normally remove my face mask and turn off the ResMed machine and then try to sleep , which normally I find very difficult .

I can’t understand why I have the same symptoms around the same time every night , its always around 12 midnight to 1 am .

When the 12 midnight to 1 am feeling occurs I just remove the mask and turn off the ResMed machine . I have never switched the ResMed machine back on later after the 12 midnight to 1 am feeling occurs .

I am 71 years old and I am taking daily omeprazole for reflux acid , but in general good health.

I no longer have access to the original test center doctor who set up my ResMed machine , and trying to make an appointment to see another doctor could take me a long time.

I have just downloaded OSCAR for the first time and have included the first report from last night.

I live alone in a fairly remote area and due to the constant lack of sleep I’m starting to feel really distraught and depressed . Also after reading that there may be a risk of death if sleep apnea goes untreated I keep thinking to my self, if I don’t / can’t get my sleep apnea situation under control , it may be the end for me.



Any help would be really appreciated .

Well...since you can't really say for sure that you even went to sleep I guess we have to first try to determine if you did ever go to sleep and if you did when.

Go here and watch all the videos and learn how to zoom in and look for regular asleep breathing vs awake breathing.
http://freecpapadvice.com/sleepyhead-free-software

Here's a hint I like to show people.
I circled the asleep breathing in red.

It looks like your inner monster has you "trained".
A little trouble around midnight, and you (gasp)
GIVE UP!
I had to add a little mask time every night until my rhythm matched my needs.
It is not easy--but completely worth it.
Six months of weakness will be hard to break;
but you need to do it to save your life.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 22, 2022 8:06 am

Well...since you can't really say for sure that you even went to sleep I guess we have to first try to determine if you did ever go to sleep and if you did when.

Go here and watch all the videos and learn how to zoom in and look for regular asleep breathing vs awake breathing.
http://freecpapadvice.com/sleepyhead-free-software

Here's a hint I like to show people.
I circled the asleep breathing in red.

Many Thanks Pugsy ,

I'm going to checkout the videos and try to learn more .


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chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 22, 2022 8:35 am

It looks like your inner monster has you "trained".
A little trouble around midnight, and you (gasp)
GIVE UP!
I had to add a little mask time every night until my rhythm matched my needs.
It is not easy--but completely worth it.
Six months of weakness will be hard to break;
but you need to do it to save your life.

Thanks CF

I hope to one day tame my monster so I don't end up in one of these



.

You've created a bad habit and you know what they say about bad habits....easy to make and a bitch to break.

It can be done but will require a lot of work and part of that work is figuring out if you were even asleep and what might be causing the wake up and what can be done about it.

Just wondering if you've ever not taken the Prilosec for a night or two (or possibly taken it much earlier in the day) and how that might have changed your experience of the throat sensation and anything else you feel when being awoken at 12.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 22, 2022 9:00 am

You've created a bad habit and you know what they say about bad habits....easy to make and a bitch to break.

It can be done but will require a lot of work and part of that work is figuring out if you were even asleep and what might be causing the wake up and what can be done about it.

Thanks Pugsy

As I sleep alone I don't have any one next to me who could tell if I am sleeping or not. I know that Ive gone and created a bad habit and like you say its going to be a bitch to break. I still can't get my head around my bad habit only occurring around the same time every night . Hopefully when Ive managed to learn if I was sleeping or not , by understanding my OSCAR nightly results better I can then move forward to the next step. Ive got my fingers crossed that the answer to breaking my bitch of a bad habit may be some where within the ResMed AirSense 10 machine settings.


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The reason we have to figure out asleep or not is because the machine can't and it can and will respond to awake breathing irregularities ....this means we can't assume that when we see the machine change the pressures that we are asleep and the machine must be fighting something it doesn't like.
The machine only measures air flow (or lack of) and has zero way to measure sleep status at all.

Now if we determine that you do indeed go to sleep not too long after you go to bed at around 10:30 or 11:00 and we see the increase in pressure at about midnight and you wake up....might be REM related in some fashion (did you know it is normal to wake up after a REM cycle is completed)....or maybe it is airway related because of a sleeping position change.

Looking at your one very brief data report....there is an obvious change in pressure for some reason or other.
The problem is figuring out why the change, what to do about it even if it is real. If it's awake breathing then we have to try to figure out why awake status.

Hate to burst your bubble but it is extremely unlikely that your problem can be fixed with some little tweaks of the settings.
UNLESS....maybe you really didn't sleep up to the point where you removed the mask and turned the machine off and essentially the machine really hasn't been given a chance to do what it does best.

I am thinking that most likely you are sleeping some...how much I don't know...and the current settings are actually okay in terms of dealing with your airway issues.
Sleep itself....whole other can of worms and not all our sleep problems are related to the airway itself and cpap can only fix airway problems. It does absolutely nothing for sleep problems caused by something else.

Right now....you have to do the zooming in homework to learn about asleep breathing vs awake breathing and you can no longer take the easy way out when you wake up and ditch the mask and machine.
You have to keep the mask on.....gotta break that bad habit.

Julie wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 22, 2022 9:02 am

Just wondering if you've ever not taken the Prilosec for a night or two (or possibly taken it much earlier in the day) and how that might have changed your experience of the throat sensation and anything else you feel when being awoken at 12.

Thanks for your comment , its appreciated.

The thought of taking some sort of drug that would enable me to finally get the the sleep I so dearly miss , has crossed my mind more that once. Since I was diagnosed with sleep apnea I have stopped drinking any type of alcohol . So I take no drugs and drink no alcohol . The feeling I always get when being awoken , or still awake just trying to go to sleep wearing my full face mask on , is a strange feeling like either Ive gone and swallowed some thing solid and its starting to choke me or gasping for air. Some times when this happens I instantly feel like I'm dreaming and on several past occasions when the dreaming / swallowed some thing solid / choking feeling hits me , I automatically lay over the side of my bead with my head pointing downwards in an attempt to remove the swallowed object. Of course I soon realize that there was no object blocking my throat . This repeated nightly nightmare is wearing me down and is starting to make me fear and not look forward to bed time.


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Unhappy Rodent wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 21, 2022 10:42 pm

I suddenly get a feeling that I have some thing stuck in my throat or I have swallowed an object and on many occasions at the same time I feel a single rush of air into my face mask for a split second and then its gone

a strange feeling like either Ive gone and swallowed some thing solid and its starting to choke me or gasping for air.

Have you considered using a nasal or nasal pillow mask?

This way you wouldn't have an excuse to remove your mask in order to gasp for air, check your mouth / throat, etc.

Also, one way to break a habit is to substitute it with another less harmful behavior.

Your description of the throat sensation sounds a lot like having an obstructive event. If you take the mask off immediately, the machine may not be flagging it because the requisite 10 seconds haven't passed. You can zoom in on the very end of your session to see whether your flow rate seems stuck on the zero line right before the mask comes off. Just a thought.

As others have said, you'll need to break your bad habit, but I'm betting you can do it. My reason for saying this is that you recognize you've got a problem, you've reached out here for help, and you're doing yourself a huge favor by using Oscar.

You didn't really answer my Q re the Prilosec... it may matter.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 22, 2022 9:44 am

The reason we have to figure out asleep or not is because the machine can't and it can and will respond to awake breathing irregularities ....this means we can't assume that when we see the machine change the pressures that we are asleep and the machine must be fighting something it doesn't like.
The machine only measures air flow (or lack of) and has zero way to measure sleep status at all.

Now if we determine that you do indeed go to sleep not too long after you go to bed at around 10:30 or 11:00 and we see the increase in pressure at about midnight and you wake up....might be REM related in some fashion (did you know it is normal to wake up after a REM cycle is completed)....or maybe it is airway related because of a sleeping position change.

Looking at your one very brief data report....there is an obvious change in pressure for some reason or other.
The problem is figuring out why the change, what to do about it even if it is real. If it's awake breathing then we have to try to figure out why awake status.

Hate to burst your bubble but it is extremely unlikely that your problem can be fixed with some little tweaks of the settings.
UNLESS....maybe you really didn't sleep up to the point where you removed the mask and turned the machine off and essentially the machine really hasn't been given a chance to do what it does best.

I am thinking that most likely you are sleeping some...how much I don't know...and the current settings are actually okay in terms of dealing with your airway issues.
Sleep itself....whole other can of worms and not all our sleep problems are related to the airway itself and cpap can only fix airway problems. It does absolutely nothing for sleep problems caused by something else.

Right now....you have to do the zooming in homework to learn about asleep breathing vs awake breathing and you can no longer take the easy way out when you wake up and ditch the mask and machine.
You have to keep the mask on.....gotta break that bad habit.

Thanks again Pugsy

Last night I did not manage to use my ResMed machine due to a power cut to my cottage . So this was the first time I did not use the ResMed machine for a long time. I’m still not sure if I fell asleep or not but around 2 am I had the sensation that some thing was sticking in my throat . I went and got my self a cold drink and went back to bed.

When I got up this morning , still not sure if I actually dropped off or not , for the first time ever I instantly had a feeling that there was some thing in the back of my throat , a bit like when you get food stuck . Ive tried to remove that feeling by drinking large amounts of water and constant throat clearing , but that has made no difference and I still have a feeling that some thing is stuck in the back of my throat. Tomorrow I am visiting a hospital ( 160 mile round trip ) and will see an ear, nose, and throat doctor to hopefully find out what going on . The power to my small cottage has now been restored so hopefully I will be able to use my ResMed machine tonight.

✸ Normally when I wake up in the mornings I have no sensation of some thing in the back of my throat , so this new feeling after waking up is a first for me. ✸


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Julie wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 22, 2022 2:23 pm

You didn't really answer my Q re the Prilosec... it may matter.

Sorry about that , I did not realize that Prilosec was in fact omeprazole , your thoughts about taking Prilosec is a good point , I have been taking Prilosec ( 20mg ) once in the morning and once before going to bed in the evening for a long time , and after starting the Prilosec my then past symptoms ( indigestion and stomach pain ) slowly over time disappeared and I have continued to take daily Prilosec to this day. Like you say , I wonder if some how regularly taking Prilosec may play a part in my symptoms.



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