still snoring

I have been using cpap for 10 days now and still snore a lot. Is this right? I called the healthcare specialist but she is not in. What should I ask? Any suggestions?
Thanks
Ross

Ross Taylor wrote:I have been using cpap for 10 days now and still snore a lot. Is this right? I called the healthcare specialist but she is not in. What should I ask? Any suggestions?
Thanks
Ross

Yes.

Unfortunately, you didn't tell us a darned thing about your therapy. How are we supposed to help?
We don't know what machine or mask you're using......what humidity setting you're using......or what pressure setting your machine is set to.

Snoring can be indicative of you mouth-breathing/leaking your therapy air out your mouth if you use a nasal mask.
It can also mean that your pressure is not adequate.
It could mean that you're using too much humidity.

Is there anything you can tell us to help you try to figure it out?


Den

Well right off the top of my head and being new at this I would say snoring is not a good sign. I have been doing a little of that recently. Since i started with a head cold. Before the cold started i ordered a chin strap because i was mouth breathing. Basically i was bypassing the mask by mouth breathing. The chin strap helped settle it down and then the cold started and i have some snoring going on. In order to get some help we would need to what type of mask you have what pressures it is set to etc. Are you using a chin strap? Do you have a full face mask etc?
the snoring can be anything from the wrong pressure on your machine the wrong mask the need for a chin strap. You came to the right place thougth a lot of great helpful folks here.

Little more info:
Machine, ResMed S8 Escape II/humid
Mask, Respironics FillLife fullface large
Setting, 10
Humidity setting highest available (because I woke up with dry, sore throat)

I will try backing off humidfier. Anything else recommended?
Should snoring be gone or minimized? My wife said it was quite a bit.
Thanks
Ross

Ross Taylor wrote:Little more info:
Machine, ResMed S8 Escape II/humid
Mask, Respironics FillLife fullface large
Setting, 10
Humidity setting highest available (because I woke up with dry, sore throat)

I will try backing off humidfier. Anything else recommended?
Should snoring be gone or minimized? My wife said it was quite a bit.
Thanks
Ross

If you woke up with a dry sore throat, it sounds to me like you are mouth breathing. Tape, polident dental strips, or a full face mask are the only cures for this I know.

JeffH

After first starting therapy my wife and daughter told me I was snoring again, I had stopped for the first two to three weeks and then started again. I would first suggest you try to contact your doctor but in the mean time you might want to try adjusting the altitude setting on your machine to the next highest altitude setting once or twice, this worked for me at which time I adjusted my pressure setting accordingly. This in effect is increasing your pressure setting to the next highest level each time you increase the altitude. Also I live in a dry climate and have extreme allergies and only have my humidity set at 2 and have had no problems with rainout or sore dry throat. I also use a full face mask with a chin strap to keep me from breathing through my mouth. The full face mask allows you to breath through your mouth but I have found that for me the use of the chin strap helps allot. I have only been at this since last August but am very pleased with my results although getting comfortable and finding what works for you can take some time so don't get to frustrated. My AHI, apnea-hyponea index, at my sleep study was 130 incidents per hour and I am now consistently under 2-3 per hour.

Ross Taylor wrote:Little more info:
Machine, ResMed S8 Escape II/humid
Mask, Respironics FillLife fullface large
Setting, 10
Humidity setting highest available (because I woke up with dry, sore throat)

I will try backing off humidfier. Anything else recommended?
Should snoring be gone or minimized? My wife said it was quite a bit.
Thanks
Ross

Regardless of whether you use a nasal mask or a full face mask, if you can't breathe through your nose, you're going to have to breathe through your mouth. Mouth-breathing will usually result in a dry mouth/throat. It also can enhance snoring and contribute to more apneas.
Nasal cleansing/rinses before bedtime will help keep the nasal passages open. (Stay away from Afrin nasal spray)
Try training yourself to stick your tongue to the roof of your mouth while you sleep.
Are you a side-sleeper or back-sleeper? Sleeping on one's back (supine position) is worse for enabling more apneas to occur.

You may need a little extra pressure, but try the other options first.
From my own personal experience, I was still snoring like crazy at 10 cm. (with very low AHIs), but after I increased my machine's pressure up to 12 cm., the snoring was practically eliminated.

Sorry to see you don't have a data-capable machine. Since you're only 10 days into your therapy, you might be able to get them to switch you to an Elite II (which is fully data-capable). I would try it if I were you. All CPAP machines have the exact same insurance code. The only difference is how much profit the DME makes. If THEY got to choose and gave you the cheapest machine, they made more profit.......and your therapy may suffer if you can't tell how it's working.
It's YOUR therapy. It's YOUR money.


Den

Ross Taylor wrote:Little more info:
Machine, ResMed S8 Escape II/humid
Mask, Respironics FillLife fullface large
Setting, 10
Humidity setting highest available (because I woke up with dry, sore throat)

I will try backing off humidfier. Anything else recommended?
Should snoring be gone or minimized? My wife said it was quite a bit.
Than
Ross

Welcome to the forum. If you've been on cpap 10 days, then you may be able to return your ResMed Escape and exchange it for an S8 Elite II, or the newest model S9 Elite. The Elite's are data capable,which means you can read your lcd screen, and see if you have leaks, and how many apneas or hypopneas you are having. Your Escape does not have that capability, even though it has a data card, it only records hours used.

If you are snoring, it sounds like you are not getting effective therapy. It might be because your mask or mouth is leaking air, and leaks over 24 liters per minute are going to affect your therapy. But without a data capable machine, you will not know that. You will not be able to monitor your apneas and hyponeas, to know if your therapy is effective at the pressure you are using, or if you need to raise it.

If you have a dry sore throat, with the humidity at the highest setting, it's probably is because you are mouth breathing. Options are to tape your mouth, use a chin strap or get a full face mask which will cover your mouth and nose.

Good luck, it takes awhile to figure all this out. Read and learn as much as you can, to make your adjustment time easier.

Ross,

I used to snore at the world class level. My neighbors would complain about it. During my last sleep study, the RT was able to adjust the machine to knock out all of my snoring. But when I got home, things were just different enough that I would still snore from time to time. After getting used to the machine and tracking my data, I decided to bump up my pressure by 1 cm. That knocked out all of the snoring. I was right on the edge, and just a small tweak took care of it.

The issue in your case is that your machine isn't collecting and reporting the data that would be needed to figure this out. As a result, even your doctor might have trouble solving the issue other than by trying a few experiments. As a result, I am going to whole heartedly second Katie's suggestion of getting your machine replaced with a data-capable machine.

Excessive snoring is not a good sign. Some folks suggest that any snoring disrupts your sleep, so you really want to solve this problem. If your sleep doctor will not work with you, then get a different sleep doc.

-john-

To add to the above suggestions have someone check your sleeping position when you are snoring, and if you are on your back, then you may want to try sleeping on your side and see if you still snore in that position. If your snoring is due to your sleepingn position (amongst the above suggestions) then the difficult part could be staying on your side. If you do not want or can't stay on your side, then raising the pressure to ????, getting rid of leaks etc., may help.

Another option is to incorporate an oral appliance with your CPAP use and it may or may not help, depending on what is going on when you snore and what is causing it. I use one to keep my jaw closed, as otherwise, my jaw drops, my mouth opens, and my airway closes off causing me to snore and increases apneas. There are many types of oral appliances and to do this simple job, you may not need to use a really expensive one that is designed for jaw advancement (which rarely helps OSA except for a few with mild OSA).

I'd suggest that you video tape your sleep for a few nights so that you can see what is going on and then try to figure out some solutions. Otherwise you could just go through a lot of blind trial and error.

Hmm i have a bit of snoring left myself. i am hoping they up the pressure a bit the next time i head in for a visit to the docs. My wife says i have slight snoring compared to the world class snoring I used to have it is still a major improvement.