CPAP Settings

[Barely Awake]

Symmit is right in my opinion, and an APAP certainly helped me, I would also underline that there are things one can do to get the best out of sleep. When a newbie myself I found there can be a tendency to become preoccupied with pressure as if it is the answer to everything, but over the years getting the pressure just-so was only a part of the story.
Think of sleep as cycling up a hill for X hours and CPAP as the same journey on a moped. You may still be tired after the journey on the moped, but not anywhere near as much as on the bike on which you failed to complete the journey. Pulling harder on the moped's accelerator isn't necessarily going to improve things though.
What would help make this journey much smoother would be to prepare as much as possible - eat with sleep in mind and adjust your alcohol intake in preparation for the journey - no heavy meals within 3 hours beforehand for example (if need be I opt for a very small bowl of bran flakes or 2 oatcake biscuits). Giving up alcohol as I have is a tough call, but try to reduce or abstain until you have CPAP under your belt. More fine tuning may help, something called 'sleep hygiene' comes into play - bedroom not too hot etc. Practical things such as a hose lift will also make sleep more comfortable perhaps.
From hoping for big things from an instant cure as a newbie, I now think small to make a difference I can stick with. The more nights and hours I get in with CPAP, the more used to the kit and the better sleep will get.
Best of luck.

[portlanders]

Wow thanks guys, before joining this forum i had read lots and lots of posts for advice on what i was likely to expect, but even now i'm still reading useful tips and advice, so thanks very much for that.

When diagnosed i instantly gave up smoking, i don't really drink alcohol (perhaps a few glasses of whisky once a month), but it's the losing weight that i'm wanting to do and finding harder than stopping smoking, although i've only just started on trying a diet and getting more exercise so that will come in time.

Last night i managed 5.8 hours on the new pressure setting of 11 - took a few days to adjust to the new pressure, but seem to have got there. Funnily enough my wife told me i started snoring as soon as i hot the pillow last night, but stopped after 15 mins and didn't snore all night.....I immediatly remembered i have the machine ramp set at 20 mins, so hopefully the pressure could be correct for me for the moment.

I wear a full face mask, with no humidifier - i was told at the hospital if i show signs of needing one then one will be issued to me. All i've noticed at the moment is my skin which my face covers has become very dry and requires daily moisturising. Does anyone here go ok without an humidifier or do you feel it best to request one as i do wonder if the cost element is being weighed against medical nescesity?

My only other wondering is, as i lose weight (positive thinking) how will i know if the pressure is too great, or even come to the point when i won't need a machine at all? as the machine i have been issued with only records times and duration of when i have used it.

Thanks for your help guys, and sorry if i'm hijaking this thread - not used to these internet forum things

[Barely Awake]

If you are not drying out and have a sore throat in the morning then perhaps you won't need a humidifier.
Re the face being sore where the mask sits, you will find advice on here about the correct clean wipes* to keep the mask and face clear of oils, and the sort of cream to moisturise. Other people use REmzzzz liners, which I personally find brilliant if I have a problem although I don't use them all the time.

*Just checked - someone suggested alcohol-free cleansing wipes (Tesco own brand) and that's what I got last time as they were on offer.

[portlanders]

If you are not drying out and have a sore throat in the morning then perhaps you won't need a humidifier.
Re the face being sore where the mask sits, you will find advice on here about the correct clean wipes* to keep the mask and face clear of oils, and the sort of cream to moisturise. Other people use REmzzzz liners, which I personally find brilliant if I have a problem although I don't use them all the time.

*Just checked - someone suggested alcohol-free cleansing wipes (Tesco own brand) and that's what I got last time as they were on offer.

Thanks very much for that, added them to this weeks shopping list, i also got some vaseline moisturiser from Tesco as it is half price at the moment, the coca one smells all chocolatley.hhmmmm

Been back on the phone to the nurse again as last couple of days been back to my usual afternoon naps and apparantly snored last night - seems the plan B i was told that would be implemented is just increasing pressure by 1 each time, so now on 12 and if i see no improvement after a few days, notch it up again........seems a bit of a hit and miss attitude to take, though apparantly the machine will go up to 20 and if i get near that they will need to re-evalulate things.
Don't think i'll be seeing my driving license back anytime soon

[James @ Intus]

Which exact machine do you have there portlanders?

What you could do is take note of the Epworth Sleepiness Score every day, and cross-reference it with the pressure your CPAP is currently on. Perhaps supplement the Epworth score with the Stanford Sleepiness Scale. What you should see is that your sleepiness reduces as the pressure goes up. By charting it this way, you will find a sweet spot where sleepiness is much reduced.

We have print-out-ready score sheets available here:

http://www.eu-pap.co.uk/epworth-stanford-sleepiness-scales

[portlanders]

Which exact machine do you have there portlanders?

What you could do is take note of the Epworth Sleepiness Score every day, and cross-reference it with the pressure your CPAP is currently on. Perhaps supplement the Epworth score with the Stanford Sleepiness Scale. What you should see is that your sleepiness reduces as the pressure goes up. By charting it this way, you will find a sweet spot where sleepiness is much reduced.

We have print-out-ready score sheets available here:

http://www.eu-pap.co.uk/epworth-stan...epiness-scales

Hiya James, and thanks for your reply.

I have been issued with a ResMed S9 Escape machine

Thanks for the links to the sheets, i'll have a look at them in more detail after writing this.

Since my last post i've been getting 6 hrs+ on a pressure of 13, one night going over 10 hours, but still no improvement on the sleepiness, thus today have cranked it up to a pressure of 14 and hoping i will see an improvement on that. It takes a few days to get used to the new pressure and to help have the ramp set at 20 minutes.

It really is a matter of keeping everything crossed at the moment and that i soon see a positive effect. I triple check my mask with my missus every night to ensure there are no leaks, so guess i just keep going as i am.

[James @ Intus]

Bear in mind that you may already be on your optimum pressure, but that you have to 'pay off some sleep debt'. It's not a very scientific concept but many leading sleep consultant still subscribe to the idea of people collecting sleep debt over many years, which you have to 'pay off' with quality sleep before you feel normal again. Having said that, some people feel CPAP effects overnight so especially if you log your alertness levels, you should find some evidence of progress soon. Sometimes it's the poeple around you who notice it first.

If you are willing to allocate some budget to this, you could do what others here have done and by a £100 or so oximeter which records your oxygen desaturation at night. This is another guage in seeing which pressure improves your breathing best.

The fact that you now can sleep 6-10 hours with CPAP is very encouraging so keep that up and I'm sure you will feel the benefits very soon.

Of course also look elsewhere in your life/health as some rely on CPAP to fix problems it wasn't designed to fix. For example, if you eat unhealthy food that offers little in nutrients and energy, can you really expect to feel energetic? CPAP aside, take a more holistic view too.