Hi,
I have been using my C-PAP for about seven weeks on a setting of 7.  I started off using just the nose mask (five weeks), then I went onto a full face mask because of getting a dry throat plus I was blowing out through my mouth.  Anyway the dryness just got worst even through I had a humidifier set at 4 of the 5 settings.  
Last night I went back to my nose mask and taped my mouth, before I took this step I read a lot of topics on this forum and another.  Last night I did not have a dry throat and my humidifier was on a lower setting.
My question is that even after stopping the dry throat which kept waking me up, I could not sleep for longer than 2 1/2 hours (alot of the time less than 2 hours).  Could anyone tell me if this sounds like my pressure setting of 7 is too low and this is waking me up because I am not getting to the next level of sleep.  In the seven weeks that I have been using the C-PAP I have never had much more than the 2 1/2 hours in one go.
Would a auto PAP machine be better because it is adjusting to the pressure that I need.   The reason that I ask is that my rental will soon be completed and I see my sleep doctor next week.  If the auto is better for me I need to try and get the doctor to prescribe it for me.
Thanks Dave

Quote:

Would a auto PAP machine be better because it is adjusting to the pressure that I need.

Yes, I think so.  I'm not a doctor - just a happy autopap user.  If you get an autopap AND if you'll get the software for it, you can look at your own overnight data on your own computer each morning.  Some straight cpaps will also give that kind of data via software.

Dave,

I would make sure your doctor knows about your sleep patterns you've experienced these past few weeks.  

I don't have the auto cpap.  But it would be nice to have a machine, auto or other, that collects data about my apneas.  And I'm not positive, but I think that autos can be set to straight cpap if the auto method does not work for you.  Some have great success with the auto, others report going back to cpap.  The differences?  I really don't know.  But be sure to discuss it all with your doctor.  Maybe because of your short sleep patterns he might suggest you extend your rental for awhile, using perhaps an auto, to see if your patterns improve.  You might consider that.   If your condition was fine with the use of your rented cpap, then I would say stay with that type (stay with whatever works), but perhaps another approach might be better considering your problems.

Good luck.

Linda

I'm glad that someone has brought up this issue here.  With my prescription of CPAC at  6, I've been shopping around to look for what to buy.  Yesterday, I dropped by ResMed.  The salesman pushed me to buy an Auto, saying that nowaways most ppl prefer auto, coz once you use it, you don't have to worry about future changes of OSA level and that the machine will adjust automatically, but it costs alot more.  The nurse at the hospital said that I only need to buy a CPAC set at 6, but what i'm worried about is as time goes by if my osa gets worse or better, I have to go thru the study again to determine the right level, which is something I kinda want to avoid.  Any comments and suggestions would be highly appreciated!

OK, here is the ages old (OK, well maybe only as long as APAPs have been aroun) debate.  Whether one is better than another is still way, way up in the air.  There is not enough peer reviewed literature to lean one way or another.  There are plenty of plus and minuses with both.  It is up to you and your doc. to decide which is best for you, not some sells rep. with a motive.  It is simply not true that most ppls. perfer Auto.  OK, you guys (and you know who you are, I tried my best to be neutral).

Straight Vicki


_________________
That which does not kill you makes you stronger-Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich must of had apnea.

After posting this question I spoke to the technican at the sleep clinic and asked her about an auto PAP.  She said because my pressure setting was only 7, the auto might actually cause more sleep interruption that the C-PAP.
So it seems that everyone will have a different opinion on this, and maybe the auto would work for some people on a low pressure setting than others.
She said that I need to have more time before my sleep pattern will settle down, I now realize that I started with Apnea about 25 years ago and it has got gradually worse.

Dave