u/Toxer95

Hi,

I recently started treating UARS with success, and I’d like to share my experience with you.

Symptoms

I used to sleep well, but over the past few years some symptoms started to appear: clenching my teeth, snoring, frequent awakenings, and gasping for air. I started making recordings with an app and often heard heavy breathing, as if my throat was being constricted.

During the day, I was often tired, had trouble concentrating, and generally felt foggy and unfocused. In the evenings after work, I was exhausted and had little energy left for hobbies, which does not seem normal for a 30-year-old.

Diagnosis

I went to the doctor, who sent me to a sleep lab. I had a WatchPAT at home sleep test, which showed an AHI of 2.5 and an RDI of 5.1. The sleep doctor said it was not sleep apnea because the AHI was well below 5. I was not convinced because of my symptoms, so I requested a polysomnography. That showed an AHI of 3.5; the RDI was not reported. The conclusion was therefore still that I did not have sleep apnea.

I had read a lot about UARS and suspect that this is what I have. In addition, my AHI during REM sleep was 8.5, which may also be contributing to my symptoms. I decided to simply buy a PAP machine to see whether it could improve my sleep. In the worst case, it would not work and I could sell the machine again.

Treatment

I bought an AirCurve, a heated hose, and an F40 full-face mask. The first few nights were very bad and I spent a lot of time awake. I was very aware of my breathing, and the mask and pressure felt unfamiliar. In the beginning I put the pressure fairly low at first to get used to it, actually too low, so I was still seeing many flow limitations and apneas.

Gradually, I increased the pressure a little. After a few days, I was able to sleep through most of the night reasonably well, and I already felt more alert during the day, despite the remaining flow limitations in the graphs. I read a lot online about how to titrate the pressure, so I started experimenting.

I have now been on bilevel therapy for about a month and have found settings that work very well for me. I now consistently get an AHI of around 1, and there is hardly any flow limitation visible. I have become very accustomed to sleeping with the mask and barely notice it anymore. I often sleep through the entire night without lying awake, and I clearly feel more rested and alert during the day. My girlfriend says I also seem much happier than before.

I did not expect the therapy to be such a success after only one month.

Hi,

I recently started treating UARS with success, and I’d like to share my experience with you.

Symptoms

I used to sleep well, but over the past few years some symptoms started to appear: clenching my teeth, snoring, frequent awakenings, and gasping for air. I started making recordings with an app and often heard heavy breathing, as if my throat was being constricted.

During the day, I was often tired, had trouble concentrating, and generally felt foggy and unfocused. In the evenings after work, I was exhausted and had little energy left for hobbies, which does not seem normal for a 30-year-old.

Diagnosis

I went to the doctor, who sent me to a sleep lab. I had a WatchPAT at home sleep test, which showed an AHI of 2.5 and an RDI of 5.1. The sleep doctor said it was not sleep apnea because the AHI was well below 5. I was not convinced because of my symptoms, so I requested a polysomnography. That showed an AHI of 3.5; the RDI was not reported. The conclusion was therefore still that I did not have sleep apnea.

I had read a lot about UARS and suspect that this is what I have. In addition, my AHI during REM sleep was 8.5, which may also be contributing to my symptoms. I decided to simply buy a PAP machine to see whether it could improve my sleep. In the worst case, it would not work and I could sell the machine again.

Treatment

I bought an AirCurve, a heated hose, and an F40 full-face mask. The first few nights were very bad and I spent a lot of time awake. I was very aware of my breathing, and the mask and pressure felt unfamiliar. In the beginning I put the pressure fairly low at first to get used to it, actually too low, so I was still seeing many flow limitations and apneas.

Gradually, I increased the pressure a little. After a few days, I was able to sleep through most of the night reasonably well, and I already felt more alert during the day, despite the remaining flow limitations in the graphs. I read a lot online about how to titrate the pressure, so I started experimenting.

I have now been on bilevel therapy for about a month and have found settings that work very well for me. I now consistently get an AHI of around 1, and there is hardly any flow limitation visible. I have become very accustomed to sleeping with the mask and barely notice it anymore. I often sleep through the entire night without lying awake, and I clearly feel more rested and alert during the day. My girlfriend says I also seem much happier than before.

I did not expect the therapy to be such a success after only one month.

Hello,

I bought a second-hand AirCurve 10 ST and started my UARS therapy this weekend. I'm still tuning in the right pressure settings but I'm going in the right direction. I'm in S mode and I configured the rise time to 450ms, so now EPAP to IPAP feels in sync with my natural breath, but the transition back from IPAP to EPAP is very abrupt. If only there was a fall time parameter... Easy-Breathe is supposed to improve this, but that option just is invisible in my Aircurve machine. Like it's not there at all. Is there a way to enable that?

Thank you