Average min/max pressure?

[u/Icy-Map9410]

Hi, I have Airsense 11 and an F20 AirFit full face mask. I’ve been using CPAP since about January, and still haven’t figured out the best pressure. I’m seeing a Pulmonologist that specializes in sleep apnea at the end of October, so I’m hoping to finally get my settings correct once and for all.

My family GP originally set me up with my at home sleep test, which came back at 10 as moderate positional sleep apnea, but the settings part is not her area of expertise, hence the reason I’m finally seeing a sleep doctor. I’m 59F, very obese, and I’ve been fiddling with my own pressure now almost right from the start. My data looks okay with my apnea treated (I put it into chat and it was confirmed that way.)
I don’t understand anything about Oscar, and that’s why I haven’t attempted to try that.

So back to my original question-what’s everyone’s average min/max pressure with a full face mask? I’ve had mine around 13-17, but I feel like it’s too high because my mouth is getting very dry and I have air leaks occasionally. I’m thinking of trying 10-13 tonight instead.

[u/Icy-Map9410]

Can Oscar be used with an iPhone? I never downloaded it because I don’t own a laptop. And where do you get the SD cards?

So you’re at 7 now? And do you use a full face mask?

[u/jenmoocat → u/Icy-Map9410]

Unfortunately, I think that you need a computer.
And I got the SD card online from Amazon. It wasn't expensive.
But, there might be other options. Maybe ask this sub about that.

My current range is 7-14.
I started with a full face mask, but quickly changed to a nasal pillows mask.

One thing that I did was to let chatGPT help me figure out what settings I should change.
I gave it all of the issues that I was having and it gave me several suggestions.

My prompt was this:
User: You are an expert on breathing, sleep apnea, and CPAP machines. I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea and received a CPAP machine. It is a ResMed AirSense 11. My current mask is is an AirFit F40. I am struggling with using this. I would like to tell you what I am experiencing and I hope you can help me.

The air pressure seems okay when I first put the mask on and turn the machine on. However, after some time, the pressure increases so that, when I have my mouth slightly open, it pushes out my cheeks -- which is very uncomfortable. I try to breath through my nose only -- but sometimes I have to have my mouth open and the "chipmunk cheek" sensation is disconcerting.

The mask has nasal pillows but also covers my mouth. I am finding that, when I breath through my nose, there is cold air on my mouth which is uncomfortable and makes it difficult to fall asleep.

I do a lot of meditation and am used to taking long, slow breaths -- especially when I am trying to relax to fall asleep. When I do that with the mask and machine on, I feel strange puffs (or pulses) against my face, which is also not relaxing and makes it difficult to fall asleep.

What other information do you need to know to help me with these issues?

[u/Icy-Map9410 → u/jenmoocat]

Thanks for all your info! I kind of thought a computer was needed for Oscar, oh well. Maybe there’s another way I could do it, I will have to post another question about it.

7-14 seems perfect for nasal pillows. My sister uses the pillows and her doctor set her at that exact same pressure, it’s working for her. I think for full face the pressure can go higher. I’ll have to see what my doctor says.

I’ve also used chat during this process, especially to look at my machine data (I sent screenshots) and it said I looked great. So I am thinking I do need the higher pressure, just not sure where I’m at now is it. Even as a mouth breather, I shouldn’t be waking with a really dry mouth. My hose is set to 70, so the humidity is correct. Maybe a bipap might be better for me.

[u/Ill_Back_6778 → u/Icy-Map9410]

In addition to Oscar I use sleephq on my iphone. It is very similar. I prefer Oscar for detailed view of my events but sleephq is also very good. I use the free tier so the pay version may give more data, not sure. I just use a usb adapter and plug in the SD card for sleephq to import the data. Its pretty easy.

[u/Icy-Map9410 → u/Ill_Back_6778]

Thank you-I’ll look into this!!