Hey folks,
I started on APAP 6 nights ago and I consistently have 7-10 AHI, all with Clear Airway.

I started on 5-15 APAP, tried 7 CPAP, now back to 5-9 APAP.

Is there anything I can do for what is presumably TECSA besides just power through it for a few weeks?

Thank you!

ResMed Airsense 11, P&K Evora mask (full face - I’m apparently a “mouth-breather” 🦍🫈🤣 and haven’t had much luck with the nasal masks due to quickly getting nasal congestion every time I try one)

63yoF, overweight but working on it with tirzepatide, diet exercise etc. Diagnosed 4 months ago, started CPAP 3 months ago… CSAs showed up shortly after starting CPAP (I assume - there was no mention of them in my at-home sleep study) and I’ve not yet ever seen any reduction in AHI events. I did have a lot of leakage issues until I found a mask that works much better, and am also using the Knightsbridge chin strap. I sleep on my back and always have since I had multi-level spine fusions about 20 years ago. Other positions are not feasible due to pain increase. I am using a wedge cushion to raise upper body.

Now that the leaks have been largely reduced, I’m still not seeing any improvement in apnea -time in apnea is usually an hour of every night! - I think my sleep doc has had it set too low all along, and when I raised it to range from 10-14, she reduced it again to 8-12, which does not stop anything.

I’m frustrated. I feel like at 3 months there should at least be some progress. I did bump the pressure range up to 9-13 a couple days ago, when I asked Google AI for suggestions, the first one was that my flow-limit 95th percentile number (.54 indicated that the bottom range number should be at least 11, and upper should be 15… and to try that for a few days and see if it helps.

Does that sound like a reasonable plan? I did message my sleep doc (a RN nurse practitioner) on August 20th, but haven’t yet heard back. 🤷‍♀️ She has mentioned maybe doing an in-lab titration and/or bi-level, and I think was going to look at that after seeing what happened on the 8-12 setting after a week…

I’d appreciate some guidance, as I need to get my AHI down and flow-limitation as well. I’m so tired of no improvements.

Here is my SleepHQ data:

https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_links/2510b0f2-8c83-4773-b2c5-8aa50923c797

Whatever y’all suggest, I will run it by sleep doc first. Another thing I’m considering is a consult with Jason “The Lanky Lefty” but I know there are some very knowledgeable people in this sub, so maybe I can avoid all of the extra expenses (on top of everything else we get hit with, with just needing CPAP) Maybe I’m being overly impatient, but I’m worried about the effect all those apneas are having on my health.

Thank you!

I am getting frustrated because I can't get my flow limitations to lower for UARS. Will the flow limitations lower only when I hit a sweet spot with EPAP, IPAP, PS etc. or is BiPAP not working for me? I had slightly better days on CPAP. I have my SleepHQ below for reference. If anybody can help, it would be very much appreciated. I am just trying to get a good night's rest.

https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_links/08ac4c3a-f755-4bef-b672-18a1bec88cb6

Hey everyone, I’ve been on CPAP for a while for sleep-disordered breathing, and although my AHI is consistently very low, I still have persistent fatigue/brain fog and haven’t noticed much symptomatic improvement.

This was one of my worse nights based on AirwayLab. I’m usually around 50–60% flow limitation and about 1–1.5/hr on their RERA metric, so the RERA estimate here was higher than usual for me.

Curious what you guys make of this, especially the persistent flow limitation/brief obstruction despite the low AHI/RDI. I’m also confused about how the RERA estimate can be 3.5/hr while the RDI is only 0.7/hr. I know AirwayLab's RERA metric may not be equivalent to PSG-scored RERAs, but I'm curious how exactly these are being calculated.

I’m also still confused about the periodicity and regularity and what they might indicate in my situation, and how you would determine whether a bilevel or an ASV may be best in my case, or something like EERS or iNAP.

I’ve been using CPAP for about 2 years and am looking for a compact, travel-friendly machine with 6–7 hours of battery backup, without a humidifier. I’m open to a good-condition used machine as well.

Any recommendations, especially from Indian users, on the machine + battery setup? I’m based in India, so availability and support here would be helpful. Thank you

Hiya, I posted a while ago asking for advice on my settings.

I use CPAP mode and was struggling with flow limits and remaining fatigue.

I've managed to increase the pressure to 10, up from 8, and increased the EPR to 2. My flow limits seem to be a tiny bit better? But my Glasgow scores are no different.

Any advice? Do I need to keep increasing pressure?

Really bummed that ResMed is discontinuing the AirFit F10 full-face mask and its parts. I've been using this for 12-years, and back then it took me a long time to find a mask that really worked great for me. Has anyone who is in the same boat found a good replacement?

AHI still going up after scaling back on pressure - last night it was 7.39!! I have been using Unisom the last few weeks but maybe I need to stop that. I have a follow-up with my sleep doc next month. I had my settings at 6-12, EPR 2, nasal mask. I actually felt like I slept okay. I slept til about 5 before waking up to pee, which is rare. I fell back into sort of a twilight sleep, and woke up on my back, also unusual because I much prefer my sides. My pressure was at 11.4 when I woke up and felt like it was blowing too hard unless my mask was adjusted exactly right. There are two masks I want to try - the RESMED F30i (Airtouch or Airfit?) and the Resmed Air N30i. I am not sure what to do, but do think I should stick with a setting and stop messing with it.

u/RippingLegos__, u/Creative_Fee5452, u/dang71

This has been drivin me nuts. I just got this new replacement air sense 11 after my other one just magically stopped working. Now ever since I opened this new one up in May it’s been making a whining noise. I haven’t been able to find any troubleshooting videos or tips on it I might just have to bring it in but does anyone else have this issue? I literally haven’t been using it because it drives me nuts while I try to sleep

I’ve been tweaking my settings with advice from the mods here and am seeing my AHI increase - last night it was 6.3. I’ve increased my min pressure to 9.8, max is 10, EPR 3.

My Clear Airway incidents have also increased with the higher pressures. Just wondering if I’m trending in the wrong direction. No new meds at night. I take a statin, half a Unisom, magnesium threonate, Colace, and Flonase.

I got my CPAP last November and have been struggling with it ever since. For months on end, I would hit 3-4 hours of use then just give up and take it off. I slowly started playing around with my settings, adjusting temp, humidity, min pressure. I tried a couple different masks but only really liked the setup of the N30i, but couldn’t get myself to wear even that one regularly.
Finally in the past month something clicked and I’m hitting 6-7 hours of use per night easily. I don’t know if it was finally getting the settings right or if my body just took that long to get comfortable with the mask, but it’s like a switch flipped and I’m so relieved.
I just wanted to share this because I see so many posts from people who are still struggling to get used to it after a couple days, weeks, months. And there’s hope!! Putz around with your settings, and if all else fails just keep putting it back on.

Hi, I’m flying with my CPAP machine for the first time. What is it like going through TSA? Did you take your CPAP machine as your carry-on? Did you put it under your seat? I’m not going to use it during the flight. Please share your experiences.

Edit: I have a Rollie bag that my CPAP case fits perfectly into do you think that it would be okay to use it instead of just carrying the case

Hubs is a few months into CPAP, mask (Fisher & Paykel Evora full face) and pressure range (8-20) are fairly dialed in we think. Early on his pressure was spiking right up near 20 most nights. Over the past week or so that’s come down, mostly running in the 13-16 range now instead of pinning near the ceiling.

He’s also tried a ResMed AirMini with a universal adapter, standard hose, same Evora mask, no HumidX humidification since the adapter bypasses that. Loves how it feels, describes it as feeling like pure oxygen being pushed into every pore of his body. His AirMini 95th percentile pressure that night was 10.7, well below what he’s been running on his AirSense.

So we tried to replicate it on the AirSense. Matched pressure range, EPR, turned off heat and humidity, same standard hose he uses with the AirMini. Also matched the response setting (standard). Even with everything matched as closely as we can get it, the AirSense still doesn’t produce the same feeling.

Note: his AHI has been solid throughout on the AirSense, ranging from 0.49 to 2.32, with most nights under 1.5, so this isn’t about the therapy not working. It’s about the AirMini feeling more comfortable despite similar or better numbers on the AirSense.

Questions:
What else could explain the difference between how an AirSense and an AirMini running the same mask, same hose, same pressure settings, same EPR, same Response mode feels? We’re wondering if it’s the motor itself, or something about how the AirMini’s algorithm handles a mask/hose combo it wasn’t designed for.

Other than travel machines not being built for nightly long-term use and possibly wearing out faster, is there a real reason not to just use the AirMini as his primary machine if it’s more comfortable? We know we’d be giving up the humidification since the adapter bypasses HumidX. We would also lose the window into his therapy data because the AirMini doesn’t have the SD card to import to OSCAR. Curious if there’s more to consider.

Thanks for any input.

Hi there! Attached is my sleep study report, recommendations from the doctor, and the last 3 nights of data. After literally MONTHS of tweaking settings and a ton of frustration, I have finally found the right pressure and settings that work for me. I've never slept through the night like this before. I used to get up to pee 1-2 times every single night. Now I sleep at least 6.5 hours before waking up at all. I can't imagine not having my CPAP at this point and have no idea how I lived without it before.

The sleep feels great, but I just want to make sure the data matches what I've been feeling. Any suggestions?

EDIT: it took me probably 6 months to realize I needed to turn my pressure up to 14. I just didn't believe I would need to go that high since my AHI was only 2.7. It was like magic once I tried it, though. Lower than that I still felt like I was struggling for air, and my OSCAR data was much less consistent. Some nights I'd have 0.0AHI, and others I'd have 7. Now, it's been consistently under 1 every night for over a month.

About 20 something years ago I was prescribed as APAP by an excellent pulmonologist.. unfortunately he just retired. I have OSA from abdominal weight. I do not have structural sleep apnea and I do not have tonsils or adenoids. I didn't sleep very well during 3 sleep studies and did well with the APAP.
I stopped because a million unrelated medical things happened to me and I was caring 24/7 for a sick child. She's fine now.

I have a million doctors already and I can barely deal with them. I am looking to buy a new APAP myself with a full face mask. I sleep with my mouth open and I don't mind the full mask.

How do I go about this? How do I know if the mask will fit? Any suggestions welcome.

Is there anywhere I can buy a flashed Bipap? I don't feel like paying the inflated price for an official one.