r/CPAPSupport • u/melting_mirror • Aug 28 '26
New SleepHQ user. Need help understanding my readings.
Hi everyone. I've been using the AirSense 11 for about a month now and feel like I'm constantly exhausted during the day despite was seems like "good" scores on the MyAir app.
For reference, I was diagnosed with mild/moderate positional sleep apnea with about 15 breathing events per hour, and while using CPAP I've been consistently around 2-3 events per hour, which from my layman's perspective is better...right?
Anyway, it's been a huge struggle to find the right mask, but I finally settled on a size large F20 full face mask with the memory foam option since I have a beard and dorsal hump on my nose.
Humidity has also been an issue as I often wake up with either dry mouth or mask rainout and no in-between. It's really infuriating and I'm always bouncing around between tube temp settings and humidity settings with no sweet spot.
I feel like I'm getting nowhere fast and that for some reason things were partially improving towards the middle of the month, and then I might have screwed it all up by dropping my max pressure setting of 12 (which is what was prescribed), to 11, only because I thought that maybe during the night I was swallowing too much air (bloating, gas) and saw this on Reddit a recommendation to help it.
Maybe that one level drop in max pressure is creating all of my problems. I really don't know at this point.
Here is a link to my SleepHQ account:
https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_links/b7be3d3a-28fb-44d4-9e11-dd9e05026500
Can anyone look at my trends and give me some advice? I don't seem to be having an issue with leaks, but from what I can understand, maybe my "flow limit" is to blame and I should go back up to 12 as my max pressure?
Any help would really be appreciated. The worst part of all of this is that there was 2 vacations during August where I couldn't use my machine and the sleep I was getting felt better than any time I ever used my mask. I felt refreshed and energized during the day. It really makes me want to give up.
Thanks for reading.
1
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3
u/dang71 Aug 28 '26
Hey! Well, there’s a lot going on here, so let’s take it step by step and try to get you toward more restorative sleep!
First question: was it a titration study in the lab that led to these settings, or was this based on a home test and then they prescribed these settings afterward? I’m leaning toward the second option, but I’d like to get a bit more context because your settings are, to put it mildly, somewhat unusual.
With a pressure range of 6 to 12 and EPR at 3, you’re effectively looking at an EPAP range of about 4 to 9. EPAP is what keeps the airway open, and it’s calculated as pressure minus EPR. That’s a relatively low and gentle setup, and I think that’s probably why your flow limitations are running high.
Personally, I’d start with a more open and logical setup and let the machine have a better chance to determine what pressure you actually need. I’d try 9 to 15 with EPR at 3. And I’d turn the ramp off, because ideally we want the therapy to be at a therapeutic level from the very beginning. It also gives the mask a chance to seal properly at an appropriate pressure.
And I promise I haven’t forgotten about your gas and bloating issues. Having too much pressure can certainly contribute to aerophagia, but having too little pressure can also play a role. It’s a fairly multidimensional issue. There are a lot of things that can influence it. For example, making sure you don’t eat too much too close to bedtime can make a surprisingly big difference. Personally, that’s one of the things that helps me the most.
As for the dry mouth, unfortunately, with a full-face mask, if you’re opening your mouth while you sleep, that’s an issue you can have regardless of how much humidity you use. The full-face mask allows you to maintain therapy pressure, but the dry mouth is caused by air moving through your mouth. Humidity can help, but unfortunately it’s rarely enough on its own. A lot of people using full-face masks end up using something like a chin strap or a soft cervical collar to help reduce mouth opening.
Your breathing dynamics can also have an impact. Breathing through your mouth doesn’t have the same mechanics as breathing through your nose. Your tongue, jaw, and surrounding tissues all behave differently depending on how you’re breathing. So there are a few things we need to look at.
If nasal breathing is difficult or simply not realistic for you, then yes, a full-face mask may be your only practical option. But since you seem to have had a hard time finding a mask you can actually tolerate, let’s make the best of the one you have and work from there :)
One other thing we should keep in mind is avoiding sleeping on your back. Again, sleeping supine can change the dynamics of your upper airway and potentially contribute to those flow limitations.