Did anyone have trouble getting used to a bipap after cpap usage?

@brendaelk1558 Yes, the transition from CPAP to BIPAP only took a couple of nights. I am still struggling with the head gear; waking several times in the night to readjust and reposition. I am a side/stomach sleeper and have no control over my position after I fall asleep. Then I have to reposition the mask and head gear and make sure the areas venting the mask are clear. I do think I am doing better after almost two years and the machines are doing good things to me and my body.

@dalebout123 I am on the fourth night so maybe I will let it do its job. Yes I know they help alot in fact they extend your life! I am a side sleeper too, I have a sleep apnea pillow that helps a lot too! I was swallowing a lot of air at first! Also I filled the water tank too much I think when I took a little nap today. I never nap during the day, but I had little slept the first few nights so I
went for it.

@brendaelk1558
Wow; you were going through a lot while trying to use the CPAP.
I didn’t have the air curve long enough to learn about all the settings, so I can’t offer much help.
It does sound like the water tank might have been too full; I can’t think where else all that water would come from. Unless your tube temp is set high and the air in your room is much cooler-could it be condensation? Four sounds like an average setting for humidity.
The time of four minutes is very strange if you slept for 1 1/2 hours; could the machine have shut itself off for some reason?
There also are settings for how long the inhale and exhale pressures are; maybe your dme can help you with that. My problem was that the pressure would drop before I was through inhaling or rise before I was through exhaling. Very frustrating.
Hopefully you will adjust.

11@kudzu Yes that is why is hard for me to get used to, my breathing is not in sync with it! I did get the leak fixed; it was from filling it too full, I think. I wore it last night for 5 and 1/2 hours and that is good, but I had events of 48 it said!! I have a F40 mask and I am thinking it is not good with higher pressure possibly. Wow it is tough getting used. I am a TV watcher at night and I sleep on my side to watch it then fall asleep. Any feedback is nice!

My events were 14 not the AHI. I don't know how to find the AHI. I am not sure what that is to tell you the truth. I heard of it. I have the app My Air. IS it on there or in the settings of the machine? `I never got to learn much about it all due to getting it then having to start chemo and radiation and immunotherapy. I wore the cpap all through it but evidently it was not fully treating me. I finally got a pulmonologist and she ordered the in-lab sleep study and that is how I got the bipap.

@brendaelk1558 Try apneaboard.com forum. They have a software, it's free, and safe, called OSCAR. It's in a link on the page's top marquee, the black band near the top of the page. Get your machine's data for the past month or so into OSCAR and then place the results in graphic depiction as an attachment to a post you make asking for help. You'll get so much help you won't know what to do with it, but whatever of it makes sense and seems consonant with each other is what you try to use. Trust the moderators who respond who are all gurus of PAP therapy. Note that none of them are MDs that I know of, but you have nothing to lose since you don't seem to be making any headway with MDs and respiratory consultants.

@brendaelk1558
I wish drs would explain more to their patients but they don’t.
The ahi is your apnea-hypopnea index. It’s your total number of events divided by the number of hours you slept. It’s definitely in your clinical settings, and if I remember right also in your MyAir report.
If your events were 14 what was 48? Where did you see these?
I prefer to look at the report in the clinical settings of my machine. It gives a better breakdown of the events(ahi, total ai, and central ai) A hypopnia is like a mini-apnea. It also tells you your mask leakage and how high the pressure went.
Your machine also should have come with an sd card, a small rectangular thing that fits into a slot on the side of the machine. That records your breathing and events throughout the night and looks like a bunch of squiggly lines. Your dr should know how to read them. It can be very helpful as far as seeing where clusters of events occurred at what time. It may also show if/when you took the mask off, shut off the machine, or whatever. If it doesn’t have one, your dme may have them or you can buy one at a computer/electronics store or dept.
I suggest talking to your medical equipment person; something may not be right with that machine. They might suggest a different mask more suited to you.
What is an f40 mask? Is that full face, hybrid, or nasal?
You’re not alone, as far as I can tell most people go through quite a period of trial and error.

@brendaelk1558
I just looked up the f40 and it’s one that I tried. For me, it was too flimsy, esp with higher pressures, which made it hard to get a good seal. Also, that thin silicone piece with nostril holes that goes under your nose gets misaligned very easily, at least in my experience.
I’ve had the most success with the Airfit f20 for Her.

@kudzu I seen my AHI was 14.1 or close to 14. Does that sound right? I see there is two AHI numbers in the settings. Oh The 48 was the events per hour on the display, which is supposed to be under 5! I am usually around 15 Per hour. The F40 is a full face but it is really soft and comfortable. They say to put pillows in for the info in settings though. I really like it better that F10 or F20 but I cannot handle that darn red face on my display! I know what an SD card is but my person at the medical supply store said I do not need one with RESMED's My Air App, I had ask her about that with my CPAP machine. I have clinical Sleep Apnea and obstructive both it said.

@dalebout123 Are you feeling better with the right pressures? I was on the wrong pressure with the CPAP the Doc said, and that was almost three years I was on that machine!
I knew it was no medical miracle at all, because I did not feel any better! I am hoping this bipap will work the have me at IPAP is 17.0 and EPAP at 10.0, whatever that means?