hi - i've been cpap-ing for about 10 days, off and on. last night my husband woke me up and said that he heard me snoring, even with the machine on. my mouth was shut (and lips sealed from lack of moisture, so i know it had been shut for awhile.) i tried to snore consciously with my mouth shut - and it could be done. so -- my question is, does this mean that the pressure isn't set high enough? or can you still snore slightly, but have your airways open? thanks in advance.

Same thing happened to me; my mouth was still opening with the cpap…my advice: get a quality chinstrap one that doesn’t slide around on your head when you move, that should take care of the snoring.

Yes, pressure needing to be raised some is what audible snoring usually means, IF you were not having mouth air leaks.

You really need to check the leak rate though, before considering raising pressure.

nappingqueen wrote:can you still snore slightly, but have your airways open?

Yes. The snoring indicates at least some restriction of the airway...some closure... but it might not be closed badly. Problem is... some people's brains are hypervigilant to the slightest beginnings of closure. If you are prone to UARS (Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome) arousals, those arousals (I think of them as micro wakeups we aren't even aware of) can disrupt your sleep stages even though the slight closures are not becoming full apneas.

If it were me, I'd raise the pressure until you can't produce snores or closure in the back of your throat yourself while awake and deliberately trying to let back of throat relax into collapsing.

But that's just what I'd do. (And did do for myself.) I'm not a doctor.

Feedback from bed partner is probably what helped a lot of the people in this study adjust the pressure of their CPAP machines:
Link to a study that concluded, "yes."
"Can Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Titrate Their Own Continuous Positive Airway Pressure?"
http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/reprint/167/5/716

That will happen to on occasion if my humidifier is set too low. You may want to consider bumping up your humidifier setting.

mdintx wrote:That will happen to on occasion if my humidifier is set too low. You may want to consider bumping up your humidifier setting.

Good point, mdintx. Worth trying.