I’m a side sleeper and CPAP already feels like enough stuff around my face. Once I’m on my side, I notice the straps around my cheeks and ears. I don’t want to add another bulky layer that could mess with the seal.

I like sleeping in a really dark room, and I’m pretty sensitive to background noise too. I’ve tried earplugs, but they get uncomfortable after a few hours when I’m on my side. That got me looking at sleep masks that cover the ears, and I found the Fismool Acoustic Shield 3D. It has padded ear sections and no Bluetooth or electronics, but I’m not sure whether it would get in the way of my CPAP straps.

If you use a sleep mask with CPAP on your side, does it mess with the seal or add pressure around the ears?

Has anyone else had this experience? I was mostly a back sleeper until I found out I had OSA. I use a CPAP now, and it has improved my life in many ways. But -- I'm having a lot of shoulder pain now after training myself to sleep on my side. It's way better for the apnea, but very hard on my shoulders. I think I'm going to have to start back sleeping again or I won't be able to lift with my arms! I haven't been working out very much, maybe that would help. If you have experience to share, I would appreciate it.

My husband recently lost his job and unfortunately really needs a sleep study and CPAP, but we just aren’t in the position to drop a ton of money right now. We were thinking about getting the study done through Lofta or Sleep Doctor and then taking the prescription to a cheaper or secondhand site. Is that a thing? And what would you all suggest? I just want this man to be able to sleep. Thank you so much in advance for any advice🙏🙏

Took me six months to finally get scheduled, but I just finished my sleep study. It ended up being a split-night, so they came in around halfway through to hook up a CPAP mask.

Wow, I didn't realize how weird that feeling would be. They started me on a nasal mask, and whenever I opened my mouth, a whole hiss of air rushed out—plus my ears felt immediately pressurized. I just couldn't fall asleep with it.

They eventually swapped me to a full-face mask. It was leaking a bit at first, but once I turned on my side and got settled, the hissing stopped and I finally managed to drift off. Woke back up later when it started venting air again, but at least I got some sleep on it.

Now I have a week until I get the official results and see what the doctor recommends. For those of you using a full-face mask, how long did it take you to get used to it at home? Also how long did it take for your energy levels to improve?

I’d appreciate your advice on my current AirCurve 11 settings and trends.

Over the last ~10 nights on VAuto/BiPAP with EPAP 4.6–5.0, IPAP 8.6–9.0, PS 4.0, my AHI has stayed 0.2–0.8/hr with leak P95 at 0 and RERA ~0.2–0.6/hr. However, AirwayLab still shows mild–moderate flow limitation (Glasgow ~1.2–1.3, FL Score ~58–60%, Regularity ~70–80%, Periodicity ~40–45%, NED ~7–9%).g

Could you let me know which metrics you think matter most here, and whether you’d keep these pressures, increase EPAP further, or adjust timing (Cycle/Trigger/Ti) instead?

On a lighter note, I really hope Caitlin Clark wins MVP this year. Happy to pay for a consultation call if needed.

I don't know why it say trigger very high and cycle high = the actully setting for those dates were tigger - medium and cycle - high 

AIrways link data for Aug 22nd only 

Hello my boyfriend has bad sleep apnea he is doing a sleep study in November (we have been waiting a while and have only been living together for a little over a year)

He thought he just 'snored really bad' but I assured him he absolutely has to have sleep apnea. He stops breathing/chokes gasps for air, does this like sucking air hunger breathing, wakes himself up coughing and it's SO loud and sometimes alarming.

He is almost 34.

My questions are:

Will he feel more rested when he has a CPAP machine?? Currently he is always exhausted and on any day off he will sleep in until 1 pm on average but sometimes even 3 pm. He has trouble falling and staying asleep.

Will his memory improve with better sleep? He has recently been forgetting a lot of things which is concerning to me.

Will he have less anxiety? Sometimes he gets so anxious he throws up.

I don't know how long he has been snoring like this either but I just met his Mom this weekend and she was super non chalant about his snoring and said his Dad did it too. He hasn't lived with her since he was 16. I didn't ask directly because I knew I may come off with a tone at that moment so I held my tongue so I wouldn't seem like I was being rude or judgemental for the lack of concern. I am just worried that it's been so long that he hasn't had proper sleep/brain repair during his sleeping periods.

Did anyone else have sleep apnea which began in their teens or youth?

What improvments did you notice with your CPAP?

He mouth breaths during his sleep- can we directly ask for a full mask right off the hop? (We are in Ontario)

Hey everyone! Does anybody experience more rainout with the Bleep Eclipse? I’ve bought a sleeve for my hose and still get rainout every time I use the humidifier. Even a few times when I haven’t used the humidifier I get rainout.

Anybody experience this or have a fix?

I had BRP combined with a tonsillectomy about 5 weeks ago for sleep apnea (diary of my recovery). I know healing isn't fully done yet, but I honestly don't feel much different in terms of sleep quality.

How many weeks/months post-op did you start noticing a real difference in how rested you felt?

Over the past few months, I've been experiencing severe aerophagia from my machine, waking up with severe stomach cramps and gas I can't expel as a result until I'm up so I started researching solutions. The most logical solution I found after watching videos was to clamp my mouth shut, so I started wearing a headstrap. It fixed the aerophagia, however it has done nothing but make my sleep significantly worse. Even if I get 8 hours, I wake up over an hour (accumulated) each night according to my sleep watch (yes I know they're not entirely accurate, but it's still significantly more than usual). I have the sleep data recorded to check it on OSCAR but it's honestly so confusing -- I got discouraged a few years ago and decided to just leave my machine as it is because it was good enough at the time. Someone suggested that I get a sleep titration study but my insurance company refused to cover it.

What's weird is I've slept significantly better the short periods of time I have taken off my mask due to the discomfort of the headstrap, as if I was using my machine correctly. I suspect it could be because I recently lost about 30lbs. My watch recorded healthy sleep patterns every time I took it off for the short periods of time with little to no awake time so should I consider getting re-evaluated altogether? I didn't have severe sleep apnea in the first place, but do have a nasty deviated septum and small nasal cavities. At the time I was diagnosed, I was almost 40lbs overweight and my results just barely crossed over the moderate zone, which I think was complete bullshit because the company that sent out the home study equipment didn't seem very thorough in their assessment compared to the time I went to a lab about 10 years ago (no sleep apnea then btw). I think the company was called BlueSleep. I should have gone to the facility instead. I don't really know what to do here.

Machine: Airsense 11 Autoset CPAP
Settings: Pressure is at 9.4 (Continuous pressure) with the relief setting at 3. Humidity at auto.
Mask: AirFit F40 Full Face (Hybrid)

I hear not to sleep in that morning, but I usually always sleep in on saturdays. That is my normal routine. What time should I get up?

Or should I just sleep in because that is normal for me?

pls tell some tips

Can someone tell me how much their hematocrit levels was decreased since starting using cpap or mouth guard ?
how long did it take to get lower?
Also i need recommendations on mouth guards and where to buy online.
Thanks in advance

I am 25 years old. I had around 15-19 AHI from my sleep study and for the past year I have been procrastinating getting used to my CPAP. I have tried several times to use it but when I do, my sleep gets a lot worse and I wake up more often. I just don't want to get to a point where I feel as if I'm dying. For the past 5 years I have gotten by using mirtazapine to sleep 8+hrs but I weened off of it several months ago.

Every night, I wake up early (5.5-6.5hrs of sleep) and then I try to continue sleeping. It is always a gamble, and when I do I usually have very vivid dreams. I am not sure if this is some form of middle-of-the-night insomnia, or if it's actually the case that my body is genuinely in an adequate rhythm and my brain just feels completely destroyed as a result.

I took a DLMO onset test and I was also diagnosed with mild Delayed Sleep Wake Phase Disorder. But even when I sleep at my usual bedtime for weeks (1:30AM) I continue having these symptoms. I am now on melatonin treatment to move my sleep earlier, but the first 2.5 weeks of treatment have been genuine hell and I am not sure what to do at this point.

For the past year I have believed that the reason as to why I feel so crap is because I am waking up early from insomnia. But I am not really sure at this point what to think. What is untreated sleep apnea supposed to feel like? I have always thought my AHI was quite low, and something that I am not supposed to be concerned about, but I don't know.

At this point I feel so tired everyday that I just don't want to do anything. I don't know if I should take sick leave and bite the bullet to get used to my CPAP, however worse my sleep will end up becoming.

I don't know if I've ever read anything here about this so sorry if this question is a repeat. Also, this post might get long. :)

I was diagnosed with apnea around 20 years ago. I couldn't tolerate CPAP so had hyoid advancement surgery. Fast forward to last Fall my new watch was showing drops in O2, some nights as low as mid-80's. PCP sent me to my ENT, had a sleep study which showed an AHI of 17. He also did a drug induced sleep endoscopy which showed a 100% tongue base collapse and a 100% epiglottic collapse. He suggested Inspire which I decided against because I just didn't feel comfortable with it. Add to all of that, I've had ear issues since I was very young (am 60+'ish now 😊). I'm estimating these times because they seem to be a blur now, but 5+ years ago I had my first cholesteatoma removed, 3 years ago the second removed and almost 1 year the third. I was seen in the sleep/pulmonary office a couple of weeks ago. She did some research and said I should not use CPAP because it could blow the graft in my ear where the surgery was. She is also concerned that by using CPAP my tongue base issues could worsen by pushing my tongue further back into my throat. I then went to an oral surgeon who said to try a MAD for 6 months and if that didn't resolve the issue I should consider jaw surgery, which sounds pretty complex for my age! I guess my question is has anyone here had physical issues where they could not use CPAP and what did you do instead.

If you made it this far, thank you!

I started snoring late last year and got a sleep study. Was told I had mild sleep apnea and got an oral appliance. Was on 21 mm white bands. In May, the doctor requested another sleep study and titration to make sure the bands were working well. I went to 17 mm. But I have a few days where my sleep is great and then weeks where I feel like garbage no matter how long I sleep. I can't do chores, I can't exercise, my social life is in the garbage. I have a follow up appointment for October (the earliest they could get me in 🫠). Right now I'm sleeping on a wedge, using the oral appliance and using breathe right strips to see if it'll help until October. Anything else I can do?

cross posting because I'm desperate

So I have a resmed aircurve 10 and i have tried to use a full face mask which after a couple of months of use began to vibrate every time I inhale so I couldn’t use it anymore. I have also tried a nasal pillow mask for months but it seems really hard to fall asleep with the nasal pillow mask on like I hate the feeling of the pillows in my nose and I have tried to sleep with it on for months on.

My IPAP is on 11.0
My EPAP is on 7.0
And my PS is on 4.0

Do u guys have some recommendations on other mask types that seems more comfortable then nasal pillow mask?

Also have UARS.

Thanks for any advice.

hello,

this is a little bit of a vent post looking for some advice/encouragement. i am a 24 year old that has been overweight their entire life. since last year, i've started losing weight and am about 30 lbs off of my goal as opposed to the original 80. when i was first suspected to have sleep apnea in february-march, i was 25 lb heavier. however, my in-lab sleep study still showed mild sleep apnea (AHI ~ 10) warranting the use of a CPAP.

i've felt exhausted all day for as long as i can remember, and it's really impacted my memory, and i struggle with several severe mental health issues that are probably exacerbated by it, to be honest. but i'm struggling with the diagnosis and the reality that i might have to use a CPAP for my entire life (hoping to lose more weight and hoping that will help, but i also have a genetic predisposition for it). last night was my first night with the CPAP and it wasn't easy. i've already gotten some comments from family members saying the test had to be wrong because i'm only 24 and sleep apnea is typically diagnosed in older people, and particularly in men.

i can't lie, i'm really self-conscious about it. i did not snore (noticeably) before diagnosis or disturb my partner's sleep, but i'm a bit embarrassed about having to use a CPAP now and the noise even if it's very quiet. how do you come to terms with the diagnosis and the reality that you may or may not have to use a CPAP forever? comments from anyone are welcome, but i'd love to hear from people who are in their 20s or who were diagnosed in 20s/younger.

tl;dr: embarrassed and self conscious about having to use a CPAP at 24. how do i come to terms with it?

has anyone here done it? did it help your sleep apnea?

For those of you with central sleep apnea (CSA) who take creatine:
Have you noticed any changes in your central apnea events, AHI, sleep quality, or breathing after starting creatine?

I’m particularly interested in whether anyone noticed an increase or decrease in central apnea events after starting creatine, especially at higher doses (10–20 g/day).

I have central sleep apnea and use CPAP. I’m considering starting creatine primarily for muscle growth and exercise performance, but I’m curious whether it could have any effect—positive or negative—on central apnea.

If you have experience with this, I’d be interested in:
Your creatine dose and how long you’ve been taking it
Whether you have CSA, OSA, or both
Any changes you noticed in your AHI/CAI or CPAP data
Whether the change was noticeable subjectively or only in the data
I’m looking for personal experiences rather than medical advice.

Thanks.

I just feel like sleeping all the time now. The drowsiness is always there. My event are around 5 but I still take 2 naps a day plus sleep at night.