btbderek’s therapy thread

[btbderek]

After thinking over sleep position and crimping my airway from the way I was sleeping, I decided to give side sleeping a try last night instead of on my back while I wait for my soft cervical collar to come in the mail. Before this I tried a couple nights on my back with just one pillow instead of the stacking formation I had been using. Funny enough, it seems as if my flow rate and pressure is a bit less steady/stable than when I was sleeping on my back with one pillow. This crossed me as odd, as I have read several times that side sleeping is much better for sleep apnea. This is only one night though, going to give it a few more nights before I come back and post charts.

[ChicagoGranny]

Funny enough, it seems as if my flow rate and pressure is a bit less steady/stable than when I was sleeping on my back with one pillow.

What about the leak level? Many have more trouble controlling leaks when sleeping on the sides as compared to sleeping on the back.

[btbderek]

What about the leak level? Many have more trouble controlling leaks when sleeping on the sides as compared to sleeping on the back.

The peak of the leaks happened at highest pressure levels. At the highest point was a leak rate of 20. Need to try to readjust my mask after I lay down tonight, I thought I had the mask tight enough.

On a positive note, I got 5 and a half hours of non interrupted sleep, which is the longest I’ve had since about a month into using my machine. I feel very well rested although my lower back is a little sore, woke up on my side but assuming lower body probably moved around a bit.

[ChicagoGranny]

The peak of the leaks happened at highest pressure levels. At the highest point was a leak rate of 20. Need to try to readjust my mask after I lay down tonight, I thought I had the mask tight enough.

ResMed says the therapy is effective up to a leak of 24 liters per minute. Your 95% leak is 18.0. That's nothing to be concerned about unless it is awakening you.

You can right-click on the y-axis of the leak graph and change the scale to something like 0 - 50 to view the line better.

[btbderek]

ResMed says the therapy is effective up to a leak of 24 liters per minute. Your 95% leak is 18.0. That's nothing to be concerned about unless it is awakening you.

You can right-click on the y-axis of the leak graph and change the scale to something like 0 - 50 to view the line better.

Thank you for the information regarding both the leak and changing the graph range. I guess I have seen other people chasing down mask leaks and assumed that might be high. And I was hoping to get a better range for those graphs, I couldn’t find how to do it on some of the set up guides I read.

[btbderek]

Still struggling with waking up to my mask being off. Think I’m going to have to go back to putting tape on my mask straps. If the mask lands close enough to my face, the sound of the air will wake me but if I throw it off to far in my sleep I never know it even happened. Have been trying to find a good middle ground with my mask, too loose and she leaks like crazy at the higher pressures, but too tight gets uncomfortable quickly which is what I have had lately and I think it could be part of the reason I’m taking it off. Ready for my new F30i to come in, from reviews I’ve seen it seems to seal better than the F30. Still waiting on my cervical collar to come in, Amazon has pushed my delivery date back to Tuesday now.

On a better note, I bumped up my minimum air pressure to 10 from 8, from what I can tell that little change has brought my flow limitation down somewhat already. Sadly I don’t have much more than a couple separate hour long chunks of data after this pressure change, so hopefully I will finally get some good rest tonight with the mask staying on so I can post a Oscar chart and have some solid data to compare.

[btbderek]

Well, I fell asleep in my recliner last night while I was wearing my mask, managed to get about 6 hours of non interrupted sleep which is probably one of the best nights I’ve had since starting CPAP. Doesn’t seem that my Fl’s changed much from the pressure change though like I thought it was.

[ChicagoGranny]

Doesn’t seem that my Fl’s changed much from the pressure change though like I thought it was.

You changed the min from 8 to 10. Since your pressure runs from 15 to 20 all night, the change you made in the min would have no effect.

I have high hopes the cervical collar will reduce your pressure needs and the F30i will be a better mask choice.

[btbderek]

You changed the min from 8 to 10. Since your pressure runs from 15 to 20 all night, the change you made in the min would have no effect.

I do fully plan on getting up to that 15 min pressure, I just figured I should go up a couple points of pressure at a time so I can get used to falling asleep to it. Reason I had mentioned hoping it effected FL was that I had took a nap with the 10.0 change the day I changed it and it had seemed to have had less FL than before.

[lynninnj]

You changed the min from 8 to 10. Since your pressure runs from 15 to 20 all night, the change you made in the min would have no effect.

I do fully plan on getting up to that 15 min pressure, I just figured I should go up a couple points of pressure at a time so I can get used to falling asleep to it. Reason I had mentioned hoping it effected FL was that I had took a nap with the 10.0 change the day I changed it and it had seemed to have had less FL than before.

You were still sleeping on your back when your nap turned to a sleep session.

Would be so happy for you if you were able to get a good nights sleep on your side with the lowest pressure you need for a good nights rest.

GL!

[btbderek]

You were still sleeping on your back when your nap turned to a sleep session.

Would be so happy for you if you were able to get a good nights sleep on your side with the lowest pressure you need for a good nights rest.

GL!

Absolutely! I have to find a good pillow, the first one I’ve tried for side sleeping just isn’t working for me. Thankfully I have a wide variety of pillows to try. I think sadly enough just getting 6 hours of continuous sleep with my mask felt like a victory alone lol.

That is definitely the goal, think for the future I am going to wear my mask while watching Tv earlier in the evening to avoid the temptation to nap/accidentally sleep the whole night in my recliner. That way I can continue to get readjusted to side sleeping. Thank you!!

[btbderek]

Have you or anyone else you know successfully switched from Full Face to Nasal mask as a mouth breather?

Finally got my cervical collar in the mail a couple days ago. Have had a tickle in my throat past couple days and took my full face mask off very early on in my sleep the night before. I have a Phillips Dreamwear Nasal mask laying around and I wanted to give it a try last night since I have the collar now, I managed to get 3.5 hours of sleep with it which is about on par for a typical night of sleep with my full face F30. Noticed that my pressures stayed much lower and I didn’t see any major leaks. I am trying to sleep on my side as well so I don’t know which attributes to the reduced pressure, but I seemed to average 14-16 most of my sleep last night with one peak of 20(happened right before or as I took the mask off, not sure which) when typically I average around 18 with several peaks of 20. The collar certainly seemed to hold my chin up as I am a mouth breather, maybe this is the route I will take? This mask is much, much more comfortable than my F30 is on my face.

Can’t post my OSCAR data currently as I don’t have internet access for it currently (posting this on my phone), but will post it later when I can do so.

[Miss Emerita]

It doesn't matter whether other people have made this transition. What matters is that it sounds like YOU may be able to make it. It'll be good to see your Oscar data with the cervical collar and nasal mask. I hope this will turn out to be a good solution for you.

[btbderek]

It doesn't matter whether other people have made this transition. What matters is that it sounds like YOU may be able to make it. It'll be good to see your Oscar data with the cervical collar and nasal mask. I hope this will turn out to be a good solution for you.

Thank you! I know it's a little soon to make a judgement, but I'm feeling hopeful that it will.

Last night, I just had one of the best nights of sleep since I've been on CPAP! Using my Dreamwear nasal pillows and collar, I was 5 minutes shy of 7 hours of sleep! I did wake up once early on in my sleep, less than an hour into it, but i kept my mask and collar on and went back to sleep. I started out on my side, when I woke up this morning I was on my back, so I need to get that figured out.

As far as how I feel, well I sprang right up out of bed and felt like I could do cartwheels, which normally is NOT the case, typically I'm pretty hazy feeling and take a bit to roll out of bed. No dry mouth either which I consider a big win. Looking at Oscar, I do have some higher pressure peaks, but over all my pressures seem much lower using the nasal pillows, and my flow limit appears to be better than when I was using my full face hybrid/no collar.

I am going to attach both nights OSCAR charts in case anyone has any input for me. Will be night of January 4th, then last nights chart (Jan 6th). The night before, I took everything off to readjust the collar and fell asleep without it on. Just wanted to thank everyone again, you have all been incredibly helpful in my journey so far.

Edit: As per usual, I'm still using machine during the day for compliance, so data on the left hand side is not accurate to my actual sleep period.

Night of January 4th


Night of January 6th (Last Night)

[robysue1]

Last night, I just had one of the best nights of sleep since I've been on CPAP! Using my Dreamwear nasal pillows and collar, I was 5 minutes shy of 7 hours of sleep! I did wake up once early on in my sleep, less than an hour into it, but i kept my mask and collar on and went back to sleep.

Congratulations! Hang on to how you feel about last night when you continue to work out the various adjustment problems that you've been dealing with since starting therapy.

I started out on my side, when I woke up this morning I was on my back, so I need to get that figured out.

Sometimes it's not really worth trying to figure out how to stay off your back, particularly when you can write:

far as how I feel, well I sprang right up out of bed and felt like I could do cartwheels, which normally is NOT the case, typically I'm pretty hazy feeling and take a bit to roll out of bed.

In other words, if you are waking up feeling well rested and refreshed and your AHI is reasonable (it was on this night), there's no good reason to worry excessively about back sleeping. Sometimes the battle to stay off your back involves too many other compromises that can interfere with getting a good night's sleep. In an ideal world, the pressure settings on your xPAP should allow the machine to prevent the vast majority of events even when you are back sleeping.

No dry mouth either which I consider a big win. Looking at Oscar, I do have some higher pressure peaks, but over all my pressures seem much lower using the nasal pillows, and my flow limit appears to be better than when I was using my full face hybrid/no collar.

All of this is good news, particularly if last night turns out to not be an outlier.

Edit: As per usual, I'm still using machine during the day for compliance, so data on the left hand side is not accurate to my actual sleep period.

Getting to where you can sleep with the machine all night long is far more important than trying to stay off your back when you are sleeping with the machine.