Snoring...again???

I've been on a CPAP machine for about 5 years. It has worked wonders, to me feeling better & getting a good nights sleep. My snoring was so bad before I was on the machine, that my wife & I didn't sleep in the same room for years. But after getting it, we enjoyed nights back in the same room...until now... The snoring is back! Not as bad she says, but it's back. Still wakes her up, so now she's back to sleeping in another room. Just trying to figure out now what has caused this? I have lost a little weight over the past year. (about 20 lbs.) I have tried changing the humidifer to different settings & also have changed the pressures up & down a little. Still nothing seems to help & still snoring. Took my machine in & had it checked out & they say it's fine. So here just looking for a possible solution. I can't afford to go back for another sleep study, as I no longer have health insurance & my doctor here wants too much for an office visit. Thanks! Ken.

ResMed S8 Escape - Press: 14 - Using chin strap & full mask

Several things come to mind. Your pressure needs are not the same. Maybe you are having a lot of mask leaking and are not aware of it. I am not as knowledgable as others on this board so hopefully someone else will chime in with a better answer or solutions.

Your machine is not efficacy data capable so you can't 'see' what is happening from your overnight data. If you've had that machine for 5 yrs, it might be time for a new one that is fully data capable. Without being able to view the leaks and pressure variables that occur overnight, you are just guessing and trying things on a whim.

If you are using insurance, and it has been 5 yrs, you should be eligible for a new machine. If you are not using insurance, consider a new or gently used machine that is newer and can give you the data with which you can make changed effectively.

Speedracer1962 wrote:I've been on a CPAP machine for about 5 years. It has worked wonders, to me feeling better & getting a good nights sleep. My snoring was so bad before I was on the machine, that my wife & I didn't sleep in the same room for years. But after getting it, we enjoyed nights back in the same room...until now... The snoring is back! Not as bad she says, but it's back.

-----

ResMed S8 Escape - Press: 14 - Using chin strap & full mask

I'm not a doctor...this is just my opinion -- If CPAP has eliminated snoring for awhile (years, for you!) but snoring eventually returns, my guess is that the pressure needs to be raised. You mentioned that you had "changed the pressures up & down a little." If raising the pressure "a little" meant just fractions of a cm, and not one or two full cms, I'd try raising the pressure 1, 2, or even 3 cms to see if that knocks out the snores. If it were me.

bap40 made a good point about leaks. If leaks around your full face mask are what's been letting snores sneak back in, and if the mask cushion has been getting some age on it, perhaps something as simple as a new cushion would do the trick and pressure wouldn't have to be raised from the 14 you were prescribed five years ago.

Emilia wrote:Your machine is not efficacy data capable so you can't 'see' what is happening from your overnight data. If you've had that machine for 5 yrs, it might be time for a new one that is fully data capable. Without being able to view the leaks and pressure variables that occur overnight, you are just guessing and trying things on a whim.

I agree with Emilia that it would be much better to have a machine that provides the kind of data an Escape can't. However, guessing can get the job done sometimes. It can be an educated guess with the help of a bed partner's observation. Quite a few people in a study some years ago were able to titrate themselves at home to an effective pressure without having any machine data to go by:

"Can Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Titrate Their Own Continuous Positive Airway Pressure?"
http://www.tnlc.com/Lara/laura/osa/CanP ... wnCPAP.pdf


You have a built-in data provider in your wife, Speedracer1962.
She can tell you if she hears snores or not, should you decide to experiment with more pressure.

Good luck!

Since Ken can't afford to go to a Doc I would suggest that he read the article that "restedgal" gave a link to and ask questions about the setting of the S8 Escape, such as pressures, EPR, and RAMP (there is nothing else to set on this machine except the humidifier). Ken, is already on a pressure of 14 cmH2O. Adding up to 3 cmH2O would stop the snore?

I would use a figer-tip Oximeter during the sleep to be more safe.

Check this:

http://www.go2nonin.com/

UPDATE>>>>>I RAISED MY PRESSURE FROM 14 TO 16 LAST NIGHT & MY WIFE SAID IT WORKED!!! NO SNORING!!! THANKS TO ALL WHO REPLIED!

WONDERFUL NEWS

Way to go, Speedracer.

Regarding this part of your original post:

Speedracer1962 wrote:Just trying to figure out now what has caused this? I have lost a little weight over the past year. (about 20 lbs.) I have tried changing the humidifer to different settings & also have changed the pressures up & down a little. Still nothing seems to help & still snoring. Took my machine in & had it checked out & they say it's fine.

It's possible that with aging (five years older) muscles and tissue along your airway have gotten slacker, laxer...more apt to collapse.

Perhaps that's why the snoring returned at a pressure that had been fine before, but couldn't get the job done (the "job" being...pushing soft tissue aside to keep the airway truly open) five years later. Your weight loss is a wonderful accomplishment, but apparently wasn't enough to keep up with possible age related sagginess along the airway.