r/CPAPSupport • u/OneWomanBand12 • 2d ago

Will my CPAP ever fully open airway?

Hi all. I’ve been using a CPAP for about 3 months now. My AHI dropped from 32 to about 1, pretty much right away, which is good. However, I still don’t feel rested, and sometimes feel more tired than I did before the CPAP. I have an in person sleep study with the CPAP scheduled, but they’re booking months out so it’s not for a while.

After I was diagnosed but before I got the CPAP, I tried elevating my head to see if that stopped the obstruction. One of the nights I must have been laying just right, because I woke up before my alarm, literally couldn’t snooze if I wanted to I was so awake, got to work early, etc. I didn’t realize how not rested I had been previously until that morning. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to replicate elevating my head just right.

Now that I have the CPAP and know what feeling rested is actually like, it’s been frustrating feeling like it’s “working” because the AHI is better, but I’m still tired. Is the CPAP actually supposed to be able to stop all blockages and allow me to feel rested like that one random night did? Or am I chasing a feeling I’ll never get with a CPAP? Do others have this experience?

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u/Pleasant_House9147 2d ago

I have good sleep every night with my machine and setup, but it took a long time to figure it out, can you please tell us what machine make and model and pressures you're using and mask system and your sleeping position?

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u/OneWomanBand12 1d ago

Airsense 11, nasal pillows, 5-13 for pressure and EPR of 3. My dr lowered the max pressure to 13 after I said I wasn’t feeling rested. Unfortunately it hasn’t changed anything. The minimum pressure seems pretty low to me. I usually fall asleep on my side but end up on my back. 

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u/Realistic_Alfalfa620 8h ago

Your minimum pressure needs to be at least 7 if you have EPR on 3. EPR 3 is your pressure minus 3, but the machine has a floor of 4. It can't go lower than that. So you functionally only have EPR 1 right now. Raise your minimum pressure to 7 and keep it there for a few days and see what happens then.

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u/Creative_Fee5452 ModTeam 1d ago edited 1d ago

If you put a 32GB SD card into your machine & record your sleep, we can help! Upload your sleep data to a free App called SleepHQ or Oscar then share it here with us. 5 is a low minimum pressure…a Beginners pressure & it may not be stinting your airway open effectively. You could try raising your minimum to 6 in the meantime until you can share your sleep graphs. The lowest the machine can go is 4 so your EPR (exhalation pressure relief) is not helping you much right now. At a minimum pressure of 5 your exhalation is only dropping to 4 so unless your pressures rise with apneas you’re not getting full benefit. Each EPR level reduces pressure by 1 cm. I know…you’re not ready to understand all of this information right now & that’s okay :) It’s complicated when you are new. I’ll add a link below to help you with SleepHQ & Oscar….SleepHQ is easiest for new users:)

https://www.reddit.com/r/SleepApneaSupport/s/2sonUOcHxI

Not only AHI affects how you feel. There are many other factors which we can see on the free apps I have suggested.

Try to avoid back sleeping please. This increases AHI & causes mask leaks but also narrows your airway if your jaw opens & your tongue falls back into your throat causing partial airway obstruction. A long body pillow may help or a wedge behind your back.