Is my incoming air flow pressure too high when apnea incident?

[Lucy Davis]

Hello there I am a new user of ResMed AirSense 11. I have the nasal cushion model mask.
My pressure setting is on 4. I managed around 4 hours last night but found myself waking up every time there was an apnea incident as the pressure of compensatory incoming air was so great I had to puff it out through my mouth.
Is there a way to alter these settings?
Lucy

[Kelly @ Intus]

Good Morning,

Thank you for your post.

Is your airsense11 and auto CPAP machine? If so the pressure will start at 4cmh20 and stay at 4cmh20 until you fall asleep. Once you are asleep, the pressure will increase and decrease as and when you need it.

If you wake up in the night with high pressure this is normally because you have rolled over in your sleep and knocked the mask seal. This causes an air leak. The machine detects the air leak and increases the pressure to compensate. If this happens, switch the machine off, adjust your mask. Turn the machine back on and settle back down to sleep.

It does take a little while to get used to using the CPAP equipment but is worth it as it is the gold standard treatment for sleep apnoea.

Kelly

[Lucy Davis]

Hello Kelly,
Yes it's the airsense11 and auto CPAP. I don't think the increase in pressure was when I moved or jolted the mask. I was on my back and I believe it was when I had an apnea incident. My record this morning says 7 apneas an hour. So the extra surge of compensatory air when I have an apnea seems to wake me up. And I got woken up a LOT! But
I will keep trying!

[Giny @ Intus]

Hi,

Perseverance is the key. Do you know the setting of your unit? 7 events per hour is good as the ideal score is under 5 events per hour. When you were initially diagnosed, how many events per hour did you have? If you wake up with too much air, press the off button to restart the unit at the lowest pressure and to allow you to get back to sleep.

[Lucy Davis]

Thank you! In the initial test I had 18 events per hour. I will keep trying but had to sleep two hours this afternoon to catch up!

[Kelly @ Intus]

Hello,

If you have naps to catch up on your sleep please do use the CPAP equipment.

It will take a little time to adjust but you will get there.


Kelly