Since my last posts I've had a sleep study which I failed miserably. I was told there wasn't enough data collected, but my sleep doctor still ordered a new cpap machine. I have yet to receive it. I also changed my settings from 7 on cpap because my consecutive nights kept getting worse and I was still constantly waking up. I'm not sure if I gave it enough time, though.
Throughout this winter I've woken up nearly every day to allergy-like symptoms very shortly after getting up. Runny nose and sneezing a lot within 5 minutes. This also happened near bedtime. I never had this before even with my old cpap. I also didn't get these symptoms while using my cpap during the night. I have since discovered that having humidity set to the max (5) seems to have fixed this.
This brings me to the best night of sleep I have had in probably a couple of years. I woke up naturally during the night multiple times - the slow subtle kind of waking up. I never have those. I woke up feeling almost like a different person which is something I've been waiting for for years. This was also the first day I used a hose cover.
I continued to use the same exact settings, but every night got worse. I also felt worse during the days to come. I can post those if someone wants me to, but I don't want to add too much clutter.
After this I went back to pressures of 7-15. 7 because it's the lowest tolerable pressure while not giving me aerophagia when trying to fall asleep. 15 to give a higher range (looking at a lot of my old data it seems my max was anywhere between 9.5-15).
I ordered the vcom to see if that helped with aerophagia which it did, but I was still having it. It also was easier to inhale, but mine was making a whistling noise and I stopped using it after the second day. Here's screenshots for those who are interested.
vcom day 1 - also first day using a new mask liner which apparently caused leaks
vcom day 2 - no mask liner
Here is a screenshot from last night. I changed out my hose, mask, elbow, and headgear before as it was time to.
Usually my breathing looks like this (taken from last night):
and it starts looking like the waxing and waning of periodic breathing:
and continues until I wake up and turn off the machine to take a break:
This even happens when on cpap mode with all pressures of 7-10. Again I get aerophagia starting at 7.5 when I'm awake so I'm at a loss as to why this occurs and how to deal with it. I've never tried cpap mode below 7 as it feels like it's harder to breathe.
I haven't had a good set bedtime/wake time in probably 15 years so I have started trying.
I am also planning on trying a nasal mask whenever I get my new cpap machine.
I hope either of those (or both) improve my sleep, but does anyone have any suggestions until then?
