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[CPAP] Beginning My Journey and a Big thank you
#11
RE: Beginning My Journey and a Big thank you
will do all..I installed sleepy head and will try to get some good data tonight.

I will move lower pressure upwards as suggested....Hopefully i can get the mask to seal tonight up to 15...my biggest issue thus far seems to be when the pressure gets to 15+ it comes unsealed from my face...

Thanks
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#12
RE: Beginning My Journey and a Big thank you
(04-27-2017, 01:23 PM)OpalRose Wrote: Hi ninja707,
Did you have a sleep study done?  If yes, do you know your titrated pressure?

I ask, because the pressure on your Apap is set wide open at 4-20.  You range should be set to bracket your titrated pressure, or your 90% pressure reading.

A minimum pressure of 4 will make you feel air starved, especially with a full face mask.

For now, until we can see some data, move your minimum pressure up to 8 and leave the maximum at 20 for now.  The pressure shouldn't rise past what is needed.  
You can also set the EPR to 2, that will give you an exhale pressure of 6.
This should be a little more comfortable for you.

Thank you so very much!!

I do not know my titated pressure , so I will adjust as per your recommendations! I will get some data over the next few days then attempt to get it off the machine hahaha!!



Also, I don't know if it is all in my head or if results could be this fast but I feel more energy this afternoon than most afternoons.....perhaps 6 hours of better sleep with only 'mild' apnea was better than 10+ hours of severe apnea?
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#13
RE: Beginning My Journey and a Big thank you
there should be a mask fit function, where it will blow a high pressure test. you lie down and adjust your mask using this.
mask fit http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ask_Primer
For auto-cpap, from machine data or software. You can set the min pressure 1 or 2cm below 95%. Or clinicians commonly use the maximum or 95% pressure for fixed pressure CPAP, this can also be used for min pressure.
https://aasm.org/resources/practiceparam...rating.pdf
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#14
RE: Beginning My Journey and a Big thank you
Night 2 Update

I changed my minimum pressure from 4 up to 7 so now my range is 7-12

Did a mask fit, and it fits better

I turned EPR to 2 (it was off)

I turned off ramping altogether, so it just starts out at 7

I Turned down the humid temp to 79 (it was on auto i believe)

--------------------------------------

So, it was an interesting night....I slept more (almost 7 hours)...and my mask leaked less (i had like 50% less leaking than the night before)
but it said I had more AHI than the 1st night. (24 up from 14). I am wondering if this is because the mask was leaking less so it 'detected' more events properly....

I didn't feel quite as rested as I did night 1....even though I got around an hour more sleep.

My mouth keeps opening and kind of my bottom lip comes unsealed , which is the main source of the leaks...I am pretty sure I have a good fit untiil that happens and then its a major leak.

I tried to get the data from my machine, but there was no SD card and I couldnt find one with my paperwork or box...I may have tossed it out but I ordered a new one and a SD card reader from amazon that will be here in the next couple of days.



I think I am going to try a range of 8-13 and turn EPR back off to see if i can get back down under 14 AHI.  I might even turn the humidity back to auto. I jhave sleepy head installed so as soon as I get an SD card and reader, I will post some data.


Questions:

DO you think turning epr to 2 from off could be a factor in AHI going up?
Is there any memory in the machine thats keeping my data or will I lose the data until I get my sd card?


Thanks again!
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#15
RE: Beginning My Journey and a Big thank you
Hi Ninja. Until you put an SD card into your machine, you will not be recording data and any previous sessions data will not be available.

EPR is a factor for myself in that when I use it, invariably my CA events go up and by extension my AHI number. I would recommend you leave it off if possible. But having said that, EPR doesn't affect everyone the same way.

8-13 is not a bad spread. But I would go to a maximum of 15 for now just in case. The thing is, until we see your Sleepyhead data it is really hard to say for sure. If you are getting mouth leaks, try to use a chinstrap. Also check out the mask fitting guide in my signature.
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#16
RE: Beginning My Journey and a Big thank you
(04-28-2017, 02:39 PM)ninja707 Wrote: Questions:

DO you think turning epr to 2 from off could be a factor in AHI going up?
Is there any memory in the machine thats keeping my data or will I lose the data until I get my sd card?

Thanks again!


EPR can possiblly cause more Clear Airway events in some people.  Turn it back to off if your AHI went up, but until we can see some actual data, it's hard to advise.

If you are experiencing CA events, it's not a good idea to raise your pressure.  If you are not seeing clear airway events, then it's ok to raise pressure.  
Can you look at your display screen and tell us your 90% pressure reading?

As far as the SD card not in the machine, I believe you will only lose detailed data, but it should still give us some basic information to see.  I may be mistaken though.  Dont-know
OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

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#17
RE: Beginning My Journey and a Big thank you
Night 4 Update

Still waiting for my card/card reader to arrive so I can import data to sleepyhead...Night 3 I didn't use the machine at all, as i fell asleep with my 1 year old and 5 year old while reading stories at bed time...and didnt wake up until morning LOL...


BUT  Night 4 was a breakthrough!!

- Raised Minimum pressure to 9
- Max Pressure raised to 15
- Turned EPR back to 'off' from 2
- left ramping completely off

I got 6.5 hours of 4.3 AHI sleep!!! I had a good mask seal and really the biggest issue I had was I woke up twice (one about 2 AM and again at 6AM) with a pretty dry mouth. I think my mouth was opening up....but it wasnt causing my mask to break the seal....I am feeling refreshed and rested today! I can't wait to get my sd card and fine tune this even more.



Thanks to everyone here for helping me try new settings etc...Im pretty surprised it only took 3 nights to get under 5 because I really was (and am) prepared for a long battle. If I can get the dry mouth part under control then I will be super happy but even if I have to wake up twice in the night, and get some water.....I think thats worth it for me. Maybe I will try to raise the humidity settings up a little and see if that helps....I like cool and 'warm' bugs me when sleeping so I dunno if I am going to like it though.

Thanks again all.
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#18
RE: Beginning My Journey and a Big thank you
If you have a really dry mouth, then you need to find a way to keep it closed. A chin strap might be a good thing to try first. Congrats on the breakthrough!

Really though, the data is key. If I was you. I would try not to change the settings too much until we can see some data.

Even if we do change settings. It's best to leave the same setting for a number of days so that the numbers settle down. You don't want to be changing your settings every day.
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#19
RE: Beginning My Journey and a Big thank you
Night 5

As suggested I kept the settings the same as the previous night

Results were again very good...

6.5 hours of sleep @ 4.5 AHI

14 Leak rate which was the lowest leak rate so far....

Dry mouth was a lot better, probably because of the lower leak rate

I am hoping like heck the SD card will show up today!!!

I will probably run it just like this for a couple of weeks to get some data on the SD card as long as I am under 5 ahi.
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#20
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RE: Beginning My Journey and a Big thank you
Wishing you a happy journey Ninja !

I started using a RedMed Airsense 10 with a ResMed Airfit F20 mask a couple of weeks ago, so far it's been a hellish experience for me.

My sleep problems started in the 80's with sporadic episodes of insomnia that over time became regular, eventually none of my "natural" products worked, even Melatonin stopped helping, five years ago I started on Ambien which was the ONLY thing that helped me fall asleep and stay asleep ... problem is, I never woke up feeling rested, every morning started off with me feeling just like I did going to bed the night before, this pattern has gone on for many years to a point of depression.

I have only added a few pounds since my graduation from high school, I weighed 180, I'm 65 now and I tip the scale at around 185, I was what you'd call a serious "gym rat" until excessive daytime sleepiness had me feeling like superman holding a box of Kryptonyte !

So ... after a recommended sleep study, sleep apnea was discovered to be a problem, some 34 apnea episodes per hour I was told. Since starting I had a rough couple of nights followed by what seemed an improvement, sleep lasting up-to 11 hours!

Then ... for whatever reason/s I started waking up having a tough time nodding off again, and when I wakeup I feel like I had no sleep whatsoever, is this NORMAL ? I'm pretty depressed right now, my life seems to be slipping away without me, my first grandchild is coming this July, I have to get better than this !


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