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Hi sidesleeper, I to have a DreamStation and my pressure was originally set as 5 to 15. I couldn't do the nasal only masks at all. I had the exact same feeling of not being able to exhale. I went to full face masks also and after trying some found the Simplus to work really good for me and my pressure is now 9 to 15 and I no longer have any issues with not being able to exhale. For me I have to do the full face mask. Going to try a different style and see what happens but the Simplus works well and I'm going to always keep it around just in case.
Have a good one
Roy
Yea pads probably would help save the beards not sure my wife would argue for the pads and beard lol. I said I was going to stay the course on pressure adjustments till after vacation but I couldn't I raised my minimum pressure one to nine last night and had my best Ahi to date 3.5 so hopefully it continues I'm still on the middle EPR setting I think I will leave that till later.
Sweet dreams and good Ahi's to all
All, for what's it worth I got a cpap pillow and for me I love it. The contours work well for me when I sleep on my side my mask stays well sealed at least when I trim my bread which for me seems to really help and I have a very thin beard as beards go. The pillow I got is pretty firm but that's what I like but if you don't like firm pillows then the Cpap one I have probably won't be right for you.
I did trim my whiskers very close and it did help which my seal but my Ahi last night was 6.4 better than the night before but not where it needs to be yet. I'm going on vacation Friday for 10 days so I'm going to stay the course for now after I get home I'll try some pressure adjustments.
Thanks all Roy
Wiredgeorge, here's the info as best as I can interpret. My best night three nights ago (Ahi 4.78) was a minimum of 24 l/min the 95% was 36 l/min and the max was 40 l/min with a leak rate of minimum of 0.0 the 95% was 0.0 and the max was 4.
Two nights (Ahi 8.02) went 23 l/min 42 l/min and 51 l/min with a leak rate of 0.0, 0.0 and 20 respectively.
Now last night (Ahi 5.7) I have what I would assume are my worst leak numbers minimum of 24 l/min, the 95% was 41 l/min and the max 168 l/min and the leak rate was 0.0, 0.0 and 168!
Being new to all this not real sure what this is telling.
Wiredgeorge, I'll have to get into sleepyhead to get the information and I'll do that later today. The only information leak wise I get from the machine app shows only a 0.2% large leak for the night with a 100% mask fit, but no correlation to Ahi event occurrences. Last night I turned my EPR down one and the humidity down one from 5 to 4 (I have a Respronics DreamStation and it's humidifier settings are 0 to 5 plus I have a hose cover on my tubbing to help prevent rainout). I was getting a whistling from the diffusion holes and mostiure in my mask (I too use a F & P Simplus) since the nights are now getting cooler. Last night my Ahi was a little bit better 5.7 and the whistling and mostiure were gone. My mouth and nose were a little bit dryer but not bad by any means. So we'll see. Baby steps are better than no steps right?
Hi all, I too have Afib and because of it I am very committed to making my cpap treatment work. I had my first follow up, at six weeks with my sleep Doctor (well his under study but she was/ is good also) two days ago. Anyway two weeks ago I also raised my starting pressure from 5 to 7 on my own and saw a 40% improvement in my ahi to around an average of 7 still not where it needs to be. My doctor was fine with my having raised my starting pressure on my own. I personally won't mess with the high end (15) and she said that still looks fine since my machine in 6 weeks has never gone over 14 and my nightly average is 9. She raised my starting pressure to 8 and shut off the ramp on startup (which is fine with me) I can still hit the ramp button and it will kick in then but I have yet to feel the need for that. The first night (2 nights ago) at the new starting pressure my Ahi was 4.7 good for me but last night it was 8. No large leaks at all so i'll stay the course here 8 - 15 thru vacation and see what happens then revaluate in mid October. My machine does allow me to adjust the pressure relief setting and currently I'm using the most relief I can but since I'm more use to it now I probably could reduce it without it bothering my much and see if my Ahi scores improve. As with most things in my life anymore it's progress not perfection.
29 days and slowly getting better so just an update. As many have said finding a good mask is trial and error. I started with a Amara full view I liked the design but couldn't stop leaks. I'm now with the F&P Simplus and I'm much happier with it. Even with the new mask and leaks under control my AHI stayed in the upper 7's at least they were now from 11's better but not great. So since the overwhelming amount of mr Ahi was Hypopneas I raised my starting pressure from 5 to 7 two nights ago and last night had my best night ever an Ahi of 3.8 and a much better night of sleep. I find the increase in starting pressure much more enjoying. Anyway just sharing my progress hopefully it continues.
Hi Buckeyemike! I have a the DreamStation also. I've only been on it 16 days but I've had pretty much your experience. What I will say is increasing the humidity to 5 has greatly helped my dry mouth but because we like the room very cool 65 to 68 degrees I had to get a hose sleeve to keep the hose warm enough to not let moisture accumulate in my mask before the sleeve I couldn't run the humidity past 3 without it raining in my mask. The other thing I found was what are called Xylimelts by oracoat. You find them at cvs, Walgreens and I'm sure other drugstores etc. the increased humidity and Xylimelts have eliminated my dry mouth problem. I'm still working on getting my Ahi scores down but slowly things are improving. Hopefully you can get rid of your dry mouth problem I've at least for now gotten by that one or so it seems. I did have it during my sleep study so hopefully you'll have the right solution for yours. There is also a gel by Biotein which helps me also but the melts are the best. Good luck and hang in there!
Well it's been two weeks now since I started therapy. My ahi score went from a low on day four of 8.1back to 12 yesterday and 11 today. I've never been the most patient person at times and I am committed to making this work so I am wondering is it normal or at least not something to be alarmed over for my ahi scores to raise over this last week given I'm still real early into therapy. My mask fit is averaging 99% it was 100% last night. I'm using it an average of nine hours a night but I'm not sleeping that well for the majority of the time. The medical supply company looked at my machine data and just said everything looks to be working. Then said maybe my raising ahi was due to mask leaks. At upper 95+% I doubt it's that but what do I know. Any thoughts any has is more than welcome.
Good dreams to all Roy
