newbie—can you help with mask choose (Asian female) & air settings

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
Sl33pD3priv3d!
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newbie—can you help with mask choose (Asian female) & air settings

Post by Sl33pD3priv3d! » Mon Jan 09, 2023 5:11 pm

Hello,
I apologize if this post is very lengthy but I need to lay out background. I’m middle aged and I have had sleep issues for 25 years. So when I got a sleep study 13 years ago I was not surprised to be found to have sleep apnea (they said I was breathing through a straw). I am not overweight by American standards but a bit overweight by Asian standards. 13 years ago I was given a machine but I could not tolerate as I didn’t get any support and patient information and hence I came here. I returned the machine 13 years ago fast for current day I decided to go back to the sleep doctor because I’m now have a someone dependent on me 24/5 So not having to sleep and fragment to sleep without much rem is killing me

The doctor says I did not need to redo the sleep study and ordered and a pap machine, which I weighed it for close to eight months. I finally picked it up from the medical durable place and they provided absolutely no patient education or literature and was no help in choosing a mask. The entire one hour I was there I was left on my own devices so I chose the Rez med with the magnetic headgear. (my second choice was a nasal pillow with the flimsy elastics). The magnetic headgear want me over because I’m a toss and turner and I get up to use the bathroom. For a month I had the machine with the first mask. I tried every night to wear it I was laying in bed for close to two hours before I yanked it off my face because the original one was over my nose. I went to a different medical durable location and they later told me that I probably need to try a second mask. during this time I also was looking at YouTube videos that educated me that if I’m not able to tolerate the machine it’s mostly the wrong mask and pressure settings. After discussing this with the medical durable place they suggested I contact the doctors office to have my settings adjusted and lowered, which they did begrudgingly since I was unable to go into the office ( it was a simple one second adjustment that could be done remotely, and later I found out that I could do it myself). After a month the medical durable please give me a second mass to try for free and that’s the nasal pillow n10. While I was able to tolerate for an hour and a half to two hours a night before I yanked it off… I wasn’t sure was the mask a good fit. Are we supposed to fuel the air pressure. I couldn’t feel the air pressure so does it have to be aimed directly to the airway. The pillows are slanted a certain way and in order for me to feel the air pressure I would have to use one hand to tilt it upward which is impossible if I have to sleep. I ended up elevating my tube by using an S hook attached to a floor lamp. Anyway One question is are we supposed to fill the air if the air is hitting the skin is it not blowing in efficiently and therefore not working therapy wise. Right now I’m running out of time and they’re threatening to take my machine away because it’s been two months and I still can’t get four hours of tolerance because I don’t have the right settings in the right mask. So at this time I just need advice from the Asian community in particular the females as to which mass that they found workable to them. And what settings I think when I test a 13 years ago he says I’m moderate so I think I’m a 15 or 16. However, can’t get worse. In the meantime I’m tinkering with the air pressure we lowered it from 5 to 8. But the ramp timer option is not available anymore can someone also tell me how to put it on ramp option— The option is grayed out so I can’t even select it. I also have nasal rhinitis on and off for 20 years so how can I make the machine workable with awful allergies. We began having a series of rain storms and for the past week my allergies came back. I was doing the nasal saline rinses a couple times a day but it still is challenging. I’m not sure if this would make my therapy harder to tolerate but I have the machine two months before the allergy started so I know it’s an air pressure and mask misfit. I live in a city where it’s very diverse and there are plenty of Asians yet the DME office could not tell me which mask they suggest they are Asian clientele have been using it’s probably because they’re not getting feedback or don’t care. This is pretty tragic to me because so many people have quit CPAP therapy once they’ve gotten the machine which is what happened to me 13 years ago because we’re not getting the support and education we need to get fitted. I read about the bleep and ask the DME company about it but they said they don’t sell it so she said she doesn’t have any comments. I’m consider getting it because with the magnet technology it should be really secure. I looked at some of the reviews and some people said that it was flimsy and didn’t work can someone who has gotten a set of these tell me how they are, esp if any Asian females share your experiences . Thank you kindly. With immense gratitude.
Caregiving full time with chronic Sleep deprivation.

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Julie
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Re: newbie—can you help with mask choose (Asian female) & air settings

Post by Julie » Mon Jan 09, 2023 7:19 pm

Masks are very personal - your facial structure (bones) is different from everyone else's - Asian or not. You have to try different ones to find what works for you.

I will say that for whatever reason a mask which may be called "shallow" apart from other names may fit the bridge of your nose better (a bit more flat - like mine, tho' I'm not Asian) but you need to try many - and not too tight - to be sure. Many DMEs (durable medical equipment suppliers) will let you try some for a small return fee, so ask about that as well.

You shouldn't 'feel' the air pressure after you start the machine, but everyone is a bit different.

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booksfan
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Re: newbie—can you help with mask choose (Asian female) & air settings

Post by booksfan » Mon Jan 09, 2023 8:37 pm

First, I am not Asian.

But I am a Bleep user, both the original DreamPorts and the new Eclipse Halo, which is wonderful! It IS very secure and should fit just about anyone. If your DME won't try to get it for you, there is at least one online DME that will file insurance for it and they will check to see if your insurance is a participating provider. Also, once you have the Eclipse, the founder of the company is available to help and support you, should you need it, to be successful.

Finding the right mask was the hardest part for me, hopefully you will find yours soon. Good luck!

_________________
Machine: AirSense 11 Autoset
Mask: Bleep DreamPort CPAP Mask Solution
Additional Comments: AirMini for travel, with Eclipse/Halos. OSCAR software.
Mask: Bleep Eclipse/Halos
Machine: ResMed AirSense 11 AutoSet

Sl33pD3priv3d!
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Re: newbie—can you help with mask choose (Asian female) & air settings

Post by Sl33pD3priv3d! » Fri Jan 13, 2023 4:09 pm

Updates this week—used same mask (will order the bleep):

-Mon lots of gassing (is it from too high pressure)? I don’t think I eat anything different that would cause it. Ramp option wasn’t working (did the provider block it)

Tues-Gasing again but not as much as previous night. Suddenly the ramp option became available and wasn’t “greyed out” told (DME company about this-Did they Allie the setting possibly?

Wed-Used the machine all night last night (wow!!!! 1st time)… Chafing and peeling on the nose visible 1st time. Despite using all night still have water in the tank (?). Why is my hose cold — are used to be heated…it’s set for 70*. Still exhausted so therapy must not be working esp if mask was on for 7 hours .

Thurs-atrocious allergies resurfacing after 2 year hiatus. Fericious galestorms and heavy rains causing near impossible to wear machine. No usage.

Fri-burping for 2 days. Could this be from the air pressure? I also have been tinkering with the air pressure. The doctor scription was for 8 to 12 (13 years ago so he just use the same prescription)… can Rhis change over time. We had it reduced 3 weeks ago after changing to current mask , pressure from 4-8 , then dme says to try @for her settings” (not sure what the diff is in terms of pressure)….she asked to adj to 5 to get the ramp working, so er adjusted from 5-8 (but ramp option as explained above didn’t work)… I started self adjusting after learning how to do so on a YouTube video so I’ve been tinkering it to 5.5-7.5 or 8 but had trouble adhering, so I now have it at 5-6.8
Can people titrate as the months go on to tolerate higher pressures or is the amount pretty much one can tolerate long term?

Also many ppl Mentioned the Oscar app… hi Downloaded an Oscar app but it’s asking about my insurance. Can someone tell me if I have the wrong app .

What type of info does the provider have on my usage that would be helpful to me and can I view all that he can view?

Thanks for helping.

Sl33pD3priv3d!
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Re: newbie—can you help with mask choose (Asian female) & air settings

Post by Sl33pD3priv3d! » Fri Jan 13, 2023 4:12 pm

Ps—I didn’t get a 20% code after registering that the sales agent said I would get. Anyone know if I missed it? Has anyone purchased a mask from this site and do they really stand behind their free exchange within 30 days.

Finally how do I add my profile noting the mask and machine I’m using (I’m accessing the website from the phone).

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Julie
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Re: newbie—can you help with mask choose (Asian female) & air settings

Post by Julie » Fri Jan 13, 2023 5:42 pm

The one thing I'll answer is to put "aerophagia" into the forum search bar and read your head off - it'll explain all about gassing etc. and what to do about it for you - I don't want to tell you to do this or that, but first learn, then try things out for a few nites without making other changes so you'll know any changes are from that vs whatever else you might want to try for other issues... in other words, one change at a time.

Others will address other problems.

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booksfan
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Re: newbie—can you help with mask choose (Asian female) & air settings

Post by booksfan » Sat Jan 14, 2023 9:38 am

About the cold hose, I find that 70 degrees is too cool for me. While I like my room temp cool (67-68 degrees in winter, 71-72 in summer), that low a tube temp makes the tip of my nose cold! :lol: I set it closer to 76-78 degrees. Everyone's comfort level varies, but you may want to try increasing, maybe a little every night or two until you find YOUR comfort level.

_________________
Machine: AirSense 11 Autoset
Mask: Bleep DreamPort CPAP Mask Solution
Additional Comments: AirMini for travel, with Eclipse/Halos. OSCAR software.
Mask: Bleep Eclipse/Halos
Machine: ResMed AirSense 11 AutoSet

Sl33pD3priv3d!
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Re: newbie—can you help with mask choose (Asian female) & air settings

Post by Sl33pD3priv3d! » Thu Jan 19, 2023 11:09 pm

Ok Just ordered the bleep today it should arrive in a few days— i’m just too exhausted figuratively and emotionally after three weeks and waking up exhausted and tired. I’m gonna try the other mask if the bleep doesn’t work with the hose at back of head.

Also rev the Oscar app…. after registering it’s asking me to enter credit card information for verification. Is this legit? Why is asking for our cc info?

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Re: newbie—can you help with mask choose (Asian female) & air settings

Post by clownbell » Fri Jan 20, 2023 6:09 pm

Two comments if I may:
1. Julie was right about reading the wiki. That will educate you about the gassing and enable you to solve the problem.
2. I was not asked for credit card info when I downloaded OSCAR. It is "open source" (not proprietary to any company). Perhaps you have the wrong app? One of the gurus here should be able to point you to the right download page.
ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset with built in humidifier
Resmed P10 pillow mask

Sl33pD3priv3d!
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Re: newbie—can you help with mask choose (Asian female) & air settings

Post by Sl33pD3priv3d! » Tue Jan 31, 2023 9:39 am

Updates-

1-The past couple weeks on the machine hasn’t been good so same thing yanking it off after trying an hour and a half to two hours so I can actually get some sleep. Then during the morning before the cut off time of 12 noon I use apap to add time for compliance. I feel like this is so silly just for compliance because I don’t know what else to do.

2-DME finally answer email after 2 1/2 weeks and tell me that there should not be a reason why I cannot fall asleep even with a low pressure that I’m using. So finally went to see the sleep doctor again .

3-very displeased with them and my neighbors are outraged experience and lack of help I’m getting (not getting from provider). After five request to get my sleep study papers from 13 years ago, I asked AGAIN in his office. (I did a bipap titration). At the appointment with the Precious 15 minutes we squandered it because he was not prepared for my appointment going over the whole sleep history that we already went through a few months ago when he ordered the machine as well as going through his notes from 13 years ago when he met me. Instead of figuring out why the machine is not working for me. I reminded him that I don’t have normal average lung capacity at the office visit as I did when I saw him a few No ago before getting script for machine. I told him I’ve been very diligent trying to use the machine for two months using three mask and changing pressures. I asked him to look at the data whatever data he can see as a provider. The data he can look at seems very limited it just shows how many hours usage which basically is meaningless to me. Finally he divulges that he has currently five patients who cannot tolerate a pop or CPAP and they are now on AVS. He tells me of the 53 are doing quite well and are compliant and treated. The other two struggles and may ave given up. These are the question I asked him last year I have no idea why that wasn’t even brought up then or why he didn’t look through that helps carefully from my first sleep study (months before seeing him and him requesting his own sleep study). I then asked him if I have you uARS because I said I was pretty sure 13 years ago they told me I had it and do I really have sleep apnea (still don’t know what’s the difference between the two are or is it possible to have the combination). Because originally the first place that gave me the sleep study they did it without the nasal cannula and they registered no OSA and it had to be redone and I brought it to the attention of the resident sleep drs (stanfords sleep clinic was /is run by residents/followed in its entirety then). So when they retested with the canola they found out I had you uARS. This sleep md clearly didn’t read the report. I looked at the copy carefully and indeed i have UARS. So I asked him what does he want me to do at this point. He wanted to prescribe medication which we have already tried 13 years ago and it didn’t work so why??? I told him that I don’t have insomnia I have no REM. He asked me how I know I don’t have rem. I’m like did you even look at the real ports from the sleep study you did???! Anyway I looked up your uARS and indeed very little no rem. Last night I looked through the copy and I think I was getting like 10% rem. Anyway, he says the Avs machine isn’t covered by insurance and he says even if you try to submit a claim it will be rejected. He says the machines are $3000. He says his office offers rentals for $300 a month for trial so we can see if it may work or not. Clearly I don’t feel comfortable going this route before I talk to a second person and get a second opinion. I’ve been to him 5x 13 years ago and tried really hard. This time I’ve tried even harder and thanks to this forum and yourube learned a couple things..,,

So I’m going to do what I had planned doing before Plan B -i’ll go to a sleep Doctor Who has a pulmonology specialty to see if he can shed some light.

Anyone have experience with uARS and osa and their journey using cosp /apap/avs? Thanks. In the meantime I will have to continue renting the current APAP because I don’t want to lose it..until I get to see the new sleep no/pulmonologist.

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robysue1
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Re: newbie—can you help with mask choose (Asian female) & air settings

Post by robysue1 » Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:32 pm

Sl33pD3priv3d! wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 9:39 am
At the appointment with the Precious 15 minutes we squandered it because he was not prepared for my appointment going over the whole sleep history that we already went through a few months ago when he ordered the machine as well as going through his notes from 13 years ago when he met me. Instead of figuring out why the machine is not working for me. .....
Sounds like you've got one lazy doc there.

Does this doctor's office have a patient portal system? I have found that if I use the patient portal system to give the doc a heads up on what I want and need to talk about during that precious 15 minutes (or less) they have to spend with me, the more likely they are to actually be prepared to talk about what I need to discuss with them.

One thing you have not mentioned in your previous posts on this thread is your EPR setting. Given that your current pressure range is extremely low (5--6.8cm), EPR isn't going to give you much exhalation relief, but even so, it's worth knowing whether you are using it or not. If your EPR is set to 3, then regardless of what the set pressure is, on exhalation your pressure drops to 4cm, the minimum pressure your machine is set to deliver.

1-The past couple weeks on the machine hasn’t been good so same thing yanking it off after trying an hour and a half to two hours so I can actually get some sleep. Then during the morning before the cut off time of 12 noon I use apap to add time for compliance. I feel like this is so silly just for compliance because I don’t know what else to do.
In one sense, there's the answer to your question about why your AirSense 11 AutoSet is not (yet) working for you: You're not yet sleeping through the night with it. Instead, you are still sleeping without the APAP and hence you are still dealing with untreated UARS and/or OSA.

And, unfortunately your doc may not be able to figure out how to help you you get beyond fighting with the machine for an hour or two each night before you just give up and go to sleep without the mask on your face and the machine keeping your airway open.

Please note, I'm not denying that you've got a real problem with using the machine: You do---it's called, "I can't seem to fall asleep with the mask on my nose". In other words, even though you are denying that you have insomnia, what you are experiencing is very much sleep onset insomnia caused (or aggravated) by attempting to use your AirSense 11 Autoset.

And unfortunately, the pattern that has developed is feeding the CPAP-induced insomnia: The more you fight with the machine on each night combined with your eventually giving in and yanking the mask off before going to sleep maskless, the more your brain refuses to accept that it needs to learn how to sleep with the mask on your face. In other words, there's a part of your unconscious brain that believes that as long as it resists going to sleep each night, you will eventually just give up, take the mask off, and go to sleep without using them machine.

It's difficult to try to train that unconscious resisting part of your brain to accept the APAP and the mask as part of your life. And I know something of what you are going through: 12 1/2 years ago I started my own extremely exhausting battle to make this crazy therapy work for me. And yes, sometimes it is necessary to use something other than an APAP. (More about that in a minute.)

But the first thing you need to work on is figuring out a way to sleep with the mask on your nose all night long for more than one night.

The first thing I would suggest is applying some hard sleep hygiene stuff:

First, don't fight the APAP at the beginning of the night. Instead, you need to do this, even though it's hard:
  • Get the APAP all set up several hours before you go to bed.
  • Wait until you are sleepy, not merely tired, before you go to bed.
  • If you are not asleep in 15-20 minutes, turn the machine off and get out of bed. Go to a different room and do some kind of quiet activity until you start feeling
    sleepy.
  • Return to bed after you are sleepy and put the mask back on and try again.
  • Repeat the process for as long as it takes until you actually succeed in falling asleep with the mask on your nose.
I'll add: If you start getting angry or upset while trying to get to sleep, you need to just go ahead and get out of bed: It's very difficult to get to sleep when you're mad at the machine.

Second, try to maintain a constant wake-up time each morning, even if you don't get as much sleep as you would have liked the night before. And try to avoid taking naps, particularly naps without the AutoSet during the daytime.

Third, try to cut back on caffeine, and if possible, eliminate all caffeine after noon. It also helps to limit alcohol. And since you've had some bad experiences with aerophagia, try to not eat anything solid for at least a couple of hours before going to bed.

I'll also add: For some people a short course of sleep medication can help take the edge off of the nightly battle to fall asleep with the mask on their face. If you are willing to take something like Ambien for a few weeks to a few months, it's worth asking your doctor if he/she is willing to prescribe it for you.

In an earlier post in this thread you wrote:
Sl33pD3priv3d! wrote:
Fri Jan 13, 2023 4:09 pm
Wed-Used the machine all night last night (wow!!!! 1st time)… Chafing and peeling on the nose visible 1st time. Despite using all night still have water in the tank (?). Why is my hose cold — are used to be heated…it’s set for 70*. Still exhausted so therapy must not be working esp if mask was on for 7 hours .
You need realistic expectations. In particular, don't expect overnight miracles from xPAP therapy: You've had untreated UARS/OSA a long time and it's going to take some time for your body to fully heal after you are sleeping well with the machine all night, every night. Many people start to feel better in 2-4 weeks after they are sleeping with the machine all night long, every single night. A few of us are unlucky enough to take several months to start feeling noticeably better. But one full night of therapy here and there? Chances are that's not going to make you feel any better in terms of the daytime symptoms of exhaustion.


Now to get back to whether a different machine may or may not help you adjust to xPAP therapy.

Earlier you wrote:
Sl33pD3priv3d! wrote:
Fri Jan 13, 2023 4:09 pm
-Mon lots of gassing (is it from too high pressure)? I don’t think I eat anything different that would cause it. Ramp option wasn’t working (did the provider block it)

Tues-Gasing again but not as much as previous night. Suddenly the ramp option became available and wasn’t “greyed out” told (DME company about this-Did they Allie the setting possibly?

...

Fri-burping for 2 days. Could this be from the air pressure? I also have been tinkering with the air pressure.
You are clearly having real problems with aerophagia. But I suspect that your worst nights for the aerophagia are the nights where you fight to get to sleep for an hour or two, and the aerophagia raises its ugly head before you take the mask off and simply go to sleep without using the AirSense.

First: Aerophagia is caused by swallowing air. Eating too close to bedtime seems to aggravate the problem, most likely because the stomach is already full of food. And yes, the extra pressure can cause you to be more prone to swallowing air. But so can being anxious and fighting to get to sleep. In other words, the longer you are uncomfortable (because of the machine), the more you may have trouble keeping air out of your mouth. And the more air that gets into your mouth, the more you will be inclined to swallow that air. And that triggers the aerophagia. Which in turn can then increase your discomfort, making it even harder to get to sleep, and the whole cycle continues as a nasty feedback loop.

Second, you say that you have already reduced the pressure from an APAP range of 8--12cm (doctor's script) down to 5--6.8cm. But you are still struggling. So the questions become:

Q1: Are you still struggling with aerophagia? In other words, when you use the machine with a pressure range of 5--6.8cm, do you still swallow a lot of air that prevents you from getting to sleep?

Q2: Are you having trouble breathing with the machine with the pressure range set to 5--6.8cm? If so, can you describe what is happening in some detail? Some people feel like they cannot inhale properly at very low pressures, but other people struggle with exhaling fully against xPAP pressure, even when the pressure is rather low. The fix for these two "I can't breathe" problems are different, so we need to know exactly what sensations you are dealing with.

Q3: Are you willing to install Oscar and look at your own efficacy data? If you were initially prescribed 8--12cm of pressure 13 years ago, you may not be getting very effective therapy at 5--6.8cm when you actually do manage to sleep with the machine for a full sleep cycle or two.

Finally you ask about ASV machines:
Sl33pD3priv3d! wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 9:39 am
Finally he divulges that he has currently five patients who cannot tolerate a pop or CPAP and they are now on AVS. ... Anyway, he says the Avs machine isn’t covered by insurance and he says even if you try to submit a claim it will be rejected. He says the machines are $3000. He says his office offers rentals for $300 a month for trial so we can see if it may work or not. ...

Anyone have experience with uARS and osa and their journey using cosp /apap/avs? Thanks. In the meantime I will have to continue renting the current APAP because I don’t want to lose it..until I get to see the new sleep no/pulmonologist.
First of all, an ASV machine in the US costs more like $4500. And yes, it requires a different script. And yes, insurance companies are very reluctant to pay for an ASV machine unless the patient has a documented problem with central sleep apnea, which is a whole different beast than either UARS or OSA. ASV machines are capable of triggering inhalations by drastically increasing the pressure on inhalations while leaving the pressure on exhalation quite low. For the folks who need them, they are a godsend, but they're not magically easier to sleep with.

But an ordinary bilevel machine, such as a Resmed AirCurve 10 VAuto, can be easier to adjust to. And a bilevel machine can take the edge off of aerophagia problems. The difference between a bilevel machine like the AirCurve 10 VAuto and your AirSense 11 AutoSet is that with a bilevel machine you can have a greater difference between the inhalation pressure (IPAP) and the exhalation pressure (EPAP). That greater drop in pressure can make it easier for a person to exhale even when the inhalation pressure is a bit higher.

It may help to provide you with a concrete example of what I mean. When I was first prescribed CPAP for my moderate OSA, a titration study indicated that I needed 9cm of pressure to control the OSA. I started out 12 1/2 years ago using a Resmed S9 AutoSet, which is the predecessor of your AirSense 11 AutoSet. I had EPR = 3, so effectively my IPAP = 9 and my EPAP = 6. In other words, when I started to exhale, the pressure dropped by 3cm. I still felt like I could not exhale comfortably or completely and I was dealing with some very severe aerophagia problems as well. Switching to Auto mode and lowering the pressure range to 4--8 helped somewhat with the aerophagia, but I was still struggling to get to sleep every night and I was struggling to stay asleep every night because I still was having real problems---it still felt like I could not exhale normally. After several months where my sleep continued to deteriorate and the insomnia continued to grow, my then sleep doc's PA recommended a titration study on a bilevel machine. The bilevel felt much more comfortable to breathe with---in other words, I was finally able to feel like I could fully and completely exhale. I was switched to a bilevel with kind of crazy settings, and it took a while to optimize the IPAP/EPAP settings to ones that actually work. Now? I've been using settings where my max IPAP = 9 and my min EPAP = 4 for a number of years. With my new AirCurve 10 VAuto, the PS = 4. So at the beginning of the night, my IPAP = 8 and my EPAP = 4. That 4cm drop in pressure makes it easy to exhale, and because I am able to exhale fully and completely, I don't seem to swallow much air. Hence there's not much aerophagia to deal with either.

So rather than pushing for an ASV machine, if I were you, I would consider asking to be switched to a bilevel auto like the Resmed AirCurve 10 VAuto machine. You may find it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep if your starting pressures are something like IPAP = 8, EPAP = 4 rather than using your AirSense 11 with EPR = 3 and starting with IPAP = 5, EPAP = 4.
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Sl33pD3priv3d!
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Re: newbie—can you help with appropriate mask choice (Asian female) & air settings

Post by Sl33pD3priv3d! » Sat Feb 04, 2023 10:13 am

Thanks Robysue for taking the time to feed that I really appreciate you & this forum…while I’m trudging along to figure this out.

To answer/clarify your questions-

1 &2 -initially I had the sleep doctor lower the pressure because I didn’t know I was able to do it myself. But after that I was titrating experimenting, so 2 weeks ago I titrated it up 5.5-7.5, incrementally. Once I did that for about a week I moved it up a little bit more the next week to 6.8-10. When I moved it up to 10 that’s when I had trouble breathing because again my ear way could not physically inhale the heavy amount of air being blasted, so I readjusted back down to 6.8 to 9.5 and so far it seems Abit too much as I’m still swallowing the air (after two hours of using the machine in the day and not right after a meal my tummy actually feels a little stretched and inflated). Additionally a great deal of burping and some gassing with the 6.8-10 and current 6.8-9.5 setting. The epr I moved it from 3 to 1 many weeks ago. The DME initially at auto ramp. When I saw her a month afterwards to get different mask, she showed me how to set to 45 m ramp. I found that 45 minutes was way too long to ramp up my setting especially because my setting is just a couple units. So about what we could go I moved it to 5m ramp. I’m liking that much better. It still takes an hour (?) for it to get to the max pressure not sure why. (does the machine detect that I’m not lying down and therefore it doesn’t go to the maximum air pressure ?)

No, actually the scrip of 8 to 12 was prescribed by current sleep md 10 mo ago (I waited 6 to 7 months for the machine). He may have based it on the bipap titration study from 12 years ago, even though I pointed out to him I had just gotten my initial sleep study within 6-8 mo prior (13 years ago with cpap sleep study with nasal cannula). Is it possible to not perform a bipap titration correctly? It was done by Stanford initially with a nasal cannula to diagnose Uars. I now realized this sleep md who prescribed the apap last April —I asked at the time if I need to retest and he said no) as “you’ve got the stmptoms”. When I did the bipap titration no nasal cannula was used . I also had horrific nonsleep, much worst than the original cpap titration w cannula. Original cpsp sleep test (which I requested from the office 8x which I finally got on Tuesday) recommended 10-13 air pressure so that was the 1st machine I tried for a mo 13 years ago. I’m really livid and angry because I now I realize he never bothered to read the summaries/reports of his colleagues! When I went home that evening I looked through the summary and it did say I did test for uARS yet he kept saying no when I asked on Tuesday, not even looking at the summary he had just handed me.

3-I don’t have a laptop or desktop so I couldn’t
Download Oscar. Is this a program that I will need just at the beginning until I can tolerate the machine or will I be needing this software long-term. Would I be able to just go to a friends house to download it on their computer and access my data on my card? But if I can’t fall asleep on the machine I wouldn’t have any data would I? I was gonna go to the library to do this but then I just realize the public libraries do not allow us to download anything on the public machines. Just have a tablet and phone.

Yesterday I did stumbled upon some videos on nasal polyp and turbinates which seems to be pretty prevalent in allergy sufferers. I’ve had these overnight us for about 15 years on and off— i’m very weather dependent also. I came back a month ago but the ferocious winds & the storms. Would it be beneficial to see an ENT and have do a scan of my nose to see if this procedure right aways abit? I stumbled upon to dr Casey li who seems to have had a connection with dr Christian g, the father of sleep med. I did not realize he co-founded the sleep lab with dr cg.

And on the days that our nasal allergies r really bad (despite doing nasal rinses) r we just unable to use the machine?

Thanks everyone for trying to help me.

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robysue1
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Re: newbie—can you help with appropriate mask choice (Asian female) & air settings

Post by robysue1 » Sat Feb 04, 2023 12:57 pm

Sl33pD3priv3d! wrote:
Sat Feb 04, 2023 10:13 am
1 &2 -initially I had the sleep doctor lower the pressure because I didn’t know I was able to do it myself. But after that I was titrating experimenting, so 2 weeks ago I titrated it up 5.5-7.5, incrementally. Once I did that for about a week I moved it up a little bit more the next week to 6.8-10. When I moved it up to 10 that’s when I had trouble breathing because again my ear way could not physically inhale the heavy amount of air being blasted, so I readjusted back down to 6.8 to 9.5 and so far it seems Abit too much as I’m still swallowing the air (after two hours of using the machine in the day and not right after a meal my tummy actually feels a little stretched and inflated). Additionally a great deal of burping and some gassing with the 6.8-10 and current 6.8-9.5 setting. The epr I moved it from 3 to 1 many weeks ago. The DME initially at auto ramp. When I saw her a month afterwards to get different mask, she showed me how to set to 45 m ramp. I found that 45 minutes was way too long to ramp up my setting especially because my setting is just a couple units. So about what we could go I moved it to 5m ramp. I’m liking that much better. It still takes an hour (?) for it to get to the max pressure not sure why. (does the machine detect that I’m not lying down and therefore it doesn’t go to the maximum air pressure ?)
Let's try to separate the problems you're talking about here into their component parts.

1) How long does it take you to get to sleep? When you are in the process of falling asleep do you feel like you are breathing comfortably?

2) Aerophagia problems: Do you wake up during the night with aerophagia? Does the aerophagia start before you get to sleep? Or do you notice the aerophagia only when you get up in the morning?

3) Breathing problems: You seem to feel like the machine is forcing you to inhale more air than you want to inhale. Is that an accurate description of the problem? Are you exhaling completely and fully and comfortably? Or do you feel like you can't exhale completely and fully and comfortably? Did this problem get better or worse when you reduced EPR from 1 to 3?
3-I don’t have a laptop or desktop so I couldn’t
Download Oscar. Is this a program that I will need just at the beginning until I can tolerate the machine or will I be needing this software long-term. Would I be able to just go to a friends house to download it on their computer and access my data on my card? But if I can’t fall asleep on the machine I wouldn’t have any data would I? I was gonna go to the library to do this but then I just realize the public libraries do not allow us to download anything on the public machines. Just have a tablet and phone.
Oscar is what folks around here use to monitor their therapy, particularly when something seems off or wrong. When things are going well---i.e. we're falling asleep easily, sleeping through the night reasonably well, and waking up feeling rested in the morning, it's not particularly critical to check the data in Oscar every day. But even after we get everything optimized, our bodies do change with time and age, and some of us start to have problems a few years after we had everything sorted out. Then Oscar becomes useful in figuring out what to do next.

But if you don't have a laptop or desktop to install Oscar on, there is a far amount of data available on your machine's LCD and in the MyAir app. It's decent overall summary data, but it doesn't help pinpoint what is going on that might be triggering pressure increases or whether leaking might be a source of multiple wakes during the night.
Yesterday I did stumbled upon some videos on nasal polyp and turbinates which seems to be pretty prevalent in allergy sufferers. I’ve had these overnight us for about 15 years on and off— i’m very weather dependent also. I came back a month ago but the ferocious winds & the storms. Would it be beneficial to see an ENT and have do a scan of my nose to see if this procedure right aways abit? I stumbled upon to dr Casey li who seems to have had a connection with dr Christian g, the father of sleep med. I did not realize he co-founded the sleep lab with dr cg.
Maybe. Maybe not. Only you can answer the question of whether nasal polyps and turbinates are presenting significant problems for you and whether an ENT's proposed solution sounds reasonable. Personally, I'd be reluctant to have any surgery done without a really thorough idea of what was going to be done, exactly how it was supposed to help, and what the risks of the proposed surgery are, particularly in terms of not actually fixing the problem or making it worse. In particular, I'd be asking an ENT about the risks of empty nose syndrome and whether the ENT has had any of his patients develop empty nose syndrome after turbinate surgery, and if so, what (if anything) he recommends to those patients who unlucky enough to wind up with this complication after surgery.
And on the days that our nasal allergies r really bad (despite doing nasal rinses) r we just unable to use the machine?
Most of us use the machine regardless of how bad our nasal allergies are. Many of us find that the machine helps with our nasal allergies---particularly if we've put a hypoallergenic filter in the machine. The hypoallergenic filters do a good job of filtering out many common nasal allergens so they're not coming through the tube into the mask.
Joined as robysue on 9/18/10. Forgot my password & the email I used was on a machine that has long since died & gone to computer heaven.

Correct number of posts is 7250 as robysue + what I have as robysue1

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Sl33pD3priv3d!
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Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2023 4:55 pm

Re: newbie—can you help with mask choose (Asian female) & air settings

Post by Sl33pD3priv3d! » Tue Feb 07, 2023 7:27 pm

My machine started leaking!!!
I thought maybe I might’ve tipped it over..my futon bed got all wet. When I have time during the day I am wiped the bottom of the tank and the bottom at the machine then begin scrutinizing… looks like the plastic separated the a tad bit… is there a warranty on these items? I can’t believe it I just got the machine less than three months ago… and I do believe it was used previously by somebody else… not that many hours but I was shocked after waiting for seven months for the machine I thought I was going to be given a brand new one (One day I was scrolling up and down the LCD screen and I found that there was a log of how many hours used and I knew there was no way I logged that many hours).

Contacted the DMV office to see what they’d want to do.

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beautifuldreamer
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Re: newbie—can you help with mask choose (Asian female) & air settings

Post by beautifuldreamer » Thu Feb 09, 2023 9:07 pm

I am also Asian Female, was given sleep apnea diagnosis 10 years ago -
Been through several different machines, masks, and a number of overnight sleep studies.

I had initially started with the auto cpap, then to the bipap, and then to the ASV - I wanted to get a new ASV and had moved to an area that doesn't have Kaiser Permanente,
and my new sleep doctor (new to me), wanted me to have another sleep study, to make sure I needed the ASV, and now the doctor says I don't need it and have gone back to the regular APAP (ResMed Autoset 11), which has been working fine for me -

The hardest part of the machines, was that the first few PAP machines I had were Philps Respironics, and I did not do well with the algorithm on the Philips PAPs (and now all those devices I initially had are on the big recall). . .

The best thing that happened for me was switching to the ResMed PAP devices which are better suited for me, algorithm is better for me.

I have used many different masks, and the one that is my Favorite, is the Bleep- and yes difficult to find DMEs that carry that mask. My local DME didn't carry it and then carried it when I asked, but they no longer carry it- so I have switched to an online DME for my Bleep. The Bleep is the most comfortable for me because I don't have to deal with straps in the normal headgear.

I don't have the major allergy issues you have shared about. But at one point I did have some struggle with the burping (but not burping since I have been using the Bleep Mask).

*Hope your DME is able to take care of the leaking problem of your Autoset).
Machine: ResMed AirSense 11 Autoset
Mask: Bleep