DanM

Hi @Not2bSleepy. The sensations you describe are common for new CPAP users. You can attempt lowering your humidity setting to 2, and you should know pretty quickly whether you feel like you are getting dry. If so, just bump it back up to 3. You did not describe the feeling of not getting enough air, even though you use the work 'suffocated' in your description. If you feel the problem may be that you are not getting enough air, you might consider talking to your equipment provider. When I started CPAP, I definitely felt like I was suffocating. My starting pressure was bumped up by only 1 cm, but it made all the difference. I would also recommend you practice wearing your treatment before you actually go to bed. Sometimes wearing it while watching television or reading a book in the evening helps people adjust to the feeling of treatment, and then there is less anxiety at bedtime. Hope this helps, and please keep us posted!

Hi @grammygg. While I have not personally experienced this on my own machine, I have worked with patients who have had problems with humidifiers on various machines. The home care company that provided your equipment should be able to assist with troubleshooting the actual humidifier. ResMed warrants the AirSense and humidifier for 2 years, so it should be replaced if it is not working correctly. See http://www.resmed.com/us/en/consumer/support/treatment-and-maintenance/resmed-warranty-information-for-all-products.html for warranty info. As for the heated tube, it helps maintain the temperature from the humidifier to the mask and helps prevent moisture from building up in the tube. If your humidifier is not heating correctly, the heated tube will likely not help much. Hope this helps, and please keep us posted!

Hello, @DyreLogan, and welcome to MyApnea.Org. It sounds as if you have a challenging situation with both your new machine and with getting proper healthcare. While we cannot give medical advice regarding pressure adjustments, it may be helpful for you to look at the data from your machine. Many posters here on the Forum have talked about Sleepyhead software, which can be found by doing a quick internet search. It is software that allows a user to download data from the memory card in most machines. The machine data should give an idea of whether it is controlling your sleep apnea. Any changes made to your pressure settings should be monitored so you know whether you are having respiratory events. I hope this information is helpful, and maybe some of our other members can help by providing their experience with Sleepyhead or other monitoring software. Best wishes!

Hi Sheila, and welcome to MyApnea.Org! Good to hear you are not getting up as often during the night, and hopefully, that will eventually help with your fatigue. It sometimes takes time to adjust to CPAP and to start to feel better. However, there may be other causes for your fatigue. Other health conditions, medications, and other things that may be causing disturbances during the night can contribute to your fatigue. It may be good to discuss the issue with your physician to see if there are other factors that can be considered that will help improve your sleep and reduce your level of fatigue.

Hi @DanC121. Welcome to MyApnea.Org, and congratulations on 2 months of treatment! There are many reasons a person may still feel tired while using CPAP. Medications, other health conditions, and even environmental factors such as temperature, noise, or an uncomfortable sleep surface may contribute to feeling tired. Patients who sleep in a room that is too cold or too warm, for example, may arouse from sleep to adjust bedding but have no recollection the following morning of waking. Noise like traffic or a dog barking may also cause brief arousals from sleep that patients do not remember. However, they still interrupt the sleep cycle. Another thing to consider is whether your CPAP pressure is correct and your treatment is working properly. Your physician should be able to check the machine's data to determine whether everything is as it should be. I hope this information is helpful!

Hi @mightymouse. It sometimes helps to have a "travel letter" from your physician, should you run encounter any questions while traveling. CPAPs are pretty common these days, and I have not heard of many patients who have had problems traveling with their equipment. I would recommend making sure your travel machine is compatible with the voltage requirements for wherever you are going, and you may need to make sure you have an adapter that fits the electrical outlets at your destination. Finally, it is usually safer to use distilled water, which many manufacturers recommend anyway. Some hotels can arrange to have this available for you upon arrival. Hope this helps, and safe travels!

Hi @DiligentCrimsonJellyfish9090. Many patients, including me, struggled with the early days of CPAP treatment. There have been some posts from patients here on the Forum, and I have personally worked with many patients over the years who have shared stories similar to yours. As frustrated as you are, I do congratulate you on taking these first steps of getting tested and treated, and for persisting with your treatment. Many years of research have helped to establish links between sleep apnea, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and many other health conditions. There have even been studies that suggest a link between snoring and hearing loss (see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12921130) and between asthma severity and sleep apnea . Regarding treatment, there are many types of masks available. You may find that you tolerate certain masks better than others. There are also things like CPAP tubing holders to help hold the CPAP hose up and out of your way. A quick internet search can help you find those. I usually recommend that patients practice wearing CPAP while not in bed and while doing some other activity such as reading or watching TV. This often helps adjust to the feeling of the mask and of exhaling against the air pressure. You may also consider talking to your physician about other treatment options if you truly cannot tolerate CPAP. Depending on the severity of your sleep apnea, you may be a candidate for an oral appliance or some other form of treatment (hypoglossal nerve stimulation, Winx, etc.). Best wishes, and thanks for sharing your experience! Please continue to ask questions and share your progress.

Hello, @purush. The MyApnea.Org Forum cannot provide official medical advice, but I can share some information that may be helpful for you to know. As a technologist, I have seen both CPAP and APAP work effectively to treat residual upper airway resistance. Sometimes, it cannot be completely eliminated. RERA stands for Respiratory Effort-Related Arousal. Since arousals occur in the brain and are identified by looking at brainwave activity via an EEG recording, a CPAP/APAP machine cannot actually identify a true RERA because it cannot identify arousals. However, the machines do detect decreased airflow. If you are on CPAP machine at a fixed pressure, the machine is not going to do anything when it detects decreased airflow. However, APAP can adjust based on how a patient breathes and will usually respond to decreases in airflow, snoring, and other events. The pressure settings dictate the range within which the machine can adjust to your breathing. For patients on APAP who do not have the correct settings, it is possible that breathing issues do not completely resolve. EPR stands for Expiratory Pressure Relief. It detects breathing and briefly reduces the amount of positive pressure when a patient is about to exhale and quickly returns to a therapeutic pressure to keep the airway open and prevent obstruction. This is designed for patient comfort and ease of exhalation (less pressure when you breathe out). The settings simply determine how much relief is provided. I hope this information is helpful, and best wishes for better sleep!

Hello @UMUTEJDER. Welcome to MyApnea.Org. Weight loss can definitely help improve sleep apnea, but it does not always completely resolve the problem. Congratulations on your new bicycle and cycling! As for playing the didgeridoo, you should consult your physician to see how long you should wait after surgery before playing. Hope this helps!

Hi @ModestIvoryHedgehog2007. The totals (arousals=77, apnea=3, etc.) are the total number of each type of event during sleep. The index is the average across the amount of time you slept. For example, if you had a total of 30 arousals in 6 hours of sleep, your arousal index would be 5 arousals per hour. Your AHI is the average of all types of apneas and hypopneas that were present during your total sleep time. The RDI includes the apneas, hyopneas and RERAS (which are Respiratory Effort-Related Arousals). There are published guidelines that sleep technologists and physicians use to determine how each event type in a sleep study should be classified. Our "Learn" page has information on the different types of sleep apnea, including Central Sleep Apnea. You can view this information by clicking "Learn" at the top of the page and scrolling about halfway down. I hope this helps!