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Recently diagnosed More tired since using CPAP advice needed

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paul9298 +0 points · over 5 years ago Original Poster

Been using the airsense 10 for a couple of weeks . Am feeling a lot more tired and just cant seem to get a good night sleep.

Ive found the tube gets wraped around my neck The nasal mask is uncomfortable and often moves as I am a restless sleeper who likes to sleep on my side My mouth feels dry when using although I dont breath through my mouth which means I have to wake up and drink 3 -4 times a night This measn several trips to the washroom

Am feeling shattered since using . Have severe ob with some central apnea . The results on the airsense sleep report say my incidents of interupted sleep are low between 2-5 times a night which is puzzling .

Any advice for me would be great.

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Sierra +0 points · over 5 years ago Sleep Patron

It takes some time to get used to sleeping with a mask and hose. I use the AirSense 10 as well with a ResMed AirFit P10 nasal pillow mask. I find if I loop the hose through my bed headboard it comes down from behind me and generally stays out of my way.

Are you using the heated hose with the humidity control in Auto? If you are not letting air escape from your mouth your mouth should not feel dry.

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ericj +0 points · over 5 years ago

I’m new to all this (just finished night 4), but like Sierra, I found that wedging the hose between my pillow and headboard so it comes down from above my head helped considerably the last couple nights. I also prefer to sleep on my sides and rotate throughout the night (the sleep study was horrible because they kept forcing me to lay on my back), so holding the hose down meant I tangled up in it.

On the mouth dryness, again echoing Sierra, you’re probably opening your mouth. You may need a chin strap to keep your mouth closed or might want to try a full face mask. The tech that set me up with my Airsense 10 thought I should use the Mirage FX nasal mask, but I was uncertain I could keep my mouth shut (I have extremely severe nasal allergies, so I mouth breathe when they’re bad), so he loaned me one of the full face masks from their lab so I could test both. The first night with the nasal mask was hell before I went to sleep because I kept opening my mouth and would get air blowing out (I also didn’t get the mask aligned right and it was blowing air around the bridge of my nose and into my eyes). The full face helped with alignment and mouth opening, but it was ultimately worse because it was noisier and the feeling of air going over my face was more annoying.

The numbers it gives are the resulting numbers with the help of the CPAP, as it cannot identify events that didn’t happen due to the added airway pressure. If the AHI it reports is lower than the AHI from your study, it’s helping you.

Another random thing I figured out last night is that movement of the mask isn’t as big a problem as I thought it was initially. Since it was a Saturday, I thought I’d play around and wear it extremely loose to see what would happen. Surprisingly, last night’s stat claimed no air leaks at all, yielded my best AHI number so far, and it is the first time I woke up without red lines on my face. You may want to play with that a bit as well, but the hose position is the first thing I’d try.

Change one thing a night and compare results until you hone in on what works best for you.

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cCRAP +0 points · over 5 years ago

Wow, so true. Before getting this I never had problems sleeping. Always woke up and ready to go... Now I'm on day 30 and still hate every night with it. When I took the sleep study my score was 6.5. Of course the place was like you get a cpap. I was given one with the only message I walked out with was I MUST BE COMPLIANT! 4 hours manitory. I spent the first 2 weeks really trying but with no luck. I would ware it 4 hours with me being awake the taking it off and then really sleaping... got to sleep. I was walking around like a zombie at work and nearly fell asleep at the wheel. I called stating my problems. They gave me ambient. In reading I found that the high pressure was the problem. As I stated I was at a 6.5 going in, my prescription was 8 low to 15 high. This is way too high.

I found the way to turn down the pressures. Hold down the DIAL AND THE HOME KEY at the same time for 5 sec. I keep turning it down to see the results. Currently my low is 4.8 and high of 5.5, with my ahi of under 2.

I saw the DR for the first time. I explained I changed the levels and as long as I stay under 5 no problems. I have problems that it was set so high I the first place. I stated that I still could not sleep all night. Was offered more drugs ..... Wow.

For now the snoring is gone with it on. However that is the only plus side. I'm overtired now every day I'm sleeping about 6-7 hours with it, but never asleep all night. I hope this helps someone.

It just sucks

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Sierra +1 point · over 5 years ago Sleep Patron

A CPAP is not automatic nirvana. One needs to understand what it is doing and how it works. It has taken me 6 months, but now I am actually starting to see the benefits.

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cCRAP +0 points · over 5 years ago

When your in the DR office they sure make this sound like magic that fixes everything. DR pointed out surgery and the mouth pice and ground on both. To be honest this is more for my wife than me. My snoring was very load and bothers her. So now I'm $1,500 at this point and will have a buy out in 60 days for $300 so no more COMPLIANT.... BS.

However, I regret All the money at this point and find my self resenting everything.

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Blitz40 +0 points · over 5 years ago

cCrap - I am right there with you. This has been the worst 2 months of my life. I wake up feeling completely wrecked, foggy, dull, no energy Every Single Day. It's effecting my work, night classes mood and health -- all negatively. I have never had ANY problem sleeping & I don't think I need this machine. My PCP wanted this because of some lab work result, but I'm pretty much done with it.

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cCRAP +0 points · over 5 years ago

I set it to pressures 4 for the min and max not the DR. I still can't make it though a night with it. But I'm not waking up with my heart racing in a panic attack.

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Sierra +0 points · over 5 years ago Sleep Patron

It sounds like you have the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet machine? Is that correct?

If you want to take the next step in optimizing your machine for comfort and performance and you have a PC or Mac with a SD card reader, I would suggest downloading the free SleepyHead software. With it you can see what is going on during the night and what can be improved with the pressure and comfort settings available on the AirSense. Here are some links. Just post if you want help. Probably best to start a new thread though.

SleepyHead Download

SleepyHead Basic Instruction Manual

Assuming your machine came with a SD card all the detailed data since day one of use will be stored on it. You will be able with SleepyHead to go back and examine it all. I see you have already jumped into the Clinical Menu on it, and the next step would be to optimize all the settings.

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wiredgeorge +0 points · over 5 years ago Sleep Enthusiast

Folks with a low AHI are often good candidates for an oral appliance which might suit you better. We have a couple of sleep dentists who visit the forum and I would ask one of them about this type therapy. CPAP is OFTEN pushed as the therapy of choice because it works almost every time if things are set up correctly. Sounds like you were not and your prescription needed tweeked. I firmly believe that if you monitor your AHI and it needs tweeked to get it where it should be that the prescribing sleep doc be consulted. Don't give up and be suspicious of doctors who push things like sleeping pills rather than do a root cause analysis and fix the underlying issues.

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