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[Equipment] Resmed S8
#1
Resmed S8
I have a Resmed S8 and a nasal pillow. My AHI readings are often unsatisfactorily high, even when I have managed to ensure minimal to no leakage with a chin strap or even mouth tape to ensure loss of exhaled air is kept to a minimum. (I have previously tried larger face masks however just too uncomfortable and actually leak too much)
I have managed to get AHI down to 8-12 which is much better than previously. I have done an experiment whereby I have just used this device while sitting awake in the chair for a few hours and I have watched the AI HI and AHI records on the Clinical Menu. What I have noticed is that the HI records have actually started high (even up to 60 and then going down to say 30 and then 20) and then gone down. Is this how these machines work? ie the AI starts at 0 (as expected) however the HI goes from high to low before panning out over a few hours........ie, need to use this device for a minimal few hours before t begins to provide a proper record of the HI readings. (AI starts at 0 as expected and then gradually goes up) j
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#2
RE: Resmed S8
Not the way it works. Also, any readings taken while awake are to be disregarded. When awake, the conscious mind is at work.
Which S8 do you have? Although still in use, the S8 is approximately 8 year old technology. Reading data from them is limited. The data card and card reader are proprietary; and hard to find.

You likely need to upgrade to an S9 or A10 machine that has full data capability. Download software like sleepyhead; and drill down into the details. When did you last have a sleep study?
Admin Note:
JustMongo passed away in August 2017
Click HERE to read his Memorial Thread

~ Rest in Peace ~
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#3
RE: Resmed S8
(01-05-2015, 11:14 AM)justMongo Wrote: Not the way it works. Also, any readings taken while awake are to be disregarded. When awake, the conscious mind is at work.
Which S8 do you have? Although still in use, the S8 is approximately 8 year old technology. Reading data from them is limited. The data card and card reader are proprietary; and hard to find.

You likely need to upgrade to an S9 or A10 machine that has full data capability. Download software like sleepyhead; and drill down into the details. When did you last have a sleep study?
Thx for this response. What exactly do you mean by "not the way it works" pls? Are you saying that (1)the readings don't "start high" and then go down, or are you saying (2)that one just shouldn't use it while you are conscious? In response to this, might I suggest/ask...... (1)this is what I observe........actually I have just been doing another 5 hours with the CPAP device on while sitting awake and in the chair. (what a nuisance) I observed that the HI started at about 35+ and is now about 28 while the AI started at about 5 and is now 3, meaning the AHI started at mid forties and is now about mid thirties. So it seems to start off at a crazy high and just be slowly going down but even after such a long time it is still crazy high. I am supposed to be at AHI total of less than 5, although I have never seen it below 8.
(2)What about when you are lying awake at night in your bed and not sleeping? Yes I have had some of these lately (it is hot at this time of year here) and I have noticed that the AHI still remained very high before I finally drifted off and went to sleep............when I woke up some hours later I must say that I noticed that the readings had gone down. So what you are saying does seem to make some sense to me, ie when I was awake the readings are still seemingly too high but they finally went down when I went to sleep. But does this mean if you have a regular night's sleep but had some periods of being awake, or just took a long while to get to sleep (as I often do) then the records are wrong? At the end of the night the machine gives an average reading, so does this mean that if you have been awake for a lot of the night, that somehow your readings are bogus and not to be regarded as correct? Is it possible to get the records of AHI for the period when you are JUST asleep? Also are you able to explain what is going on here please? ie, how does the machine know if you are asleep or not? Or is it just that when you are awake that you actually breath differently than when asleep and that you naturally have lots of "events"?...ie, you naturally breath with lots of AIs and HIs when you are awake?? Is this not bad for you? Sounds like I need to get some serious knowledge about conscious breathing so that I can more fully understand this CPAP process. Does this all mean that I shouldn't take too much notice of these daily records that I am just looking at in my "Clinical Menu" and perhaps instead should I simply look at the print out that I get at my CPAP centre when they download my data after a week? Finally, I have a "Resmed S8 Autoset Spirit". Yes it would be about 8 years old, which is about when I last had a sleep study. I occasionally go to the CPAP place in town and have them download the data and do a printout of data since my previous visit. This data shows various graphs and info that seems to cover everything and is easy to understand. Are you saying that if I got a later machine, that I could somehow download this "Sleepyhead" software and do my own charts here at home, and likely get better info? Sorry for the long discussion. j
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#4
RE: Resmed S8
During a session, all event counters are set to zero at the start.
You may use it while conscious; but the event numbers are not accurate.
You should ignore scored events when lying awake trying to fall asleep. You ask, how can I do that?
The machine cannot tell if you are awake or asleep. If you knew you went to bed at a certain time; and it took you say an hour to get to sleep, you could disregard those apnea while awake. It's nearly impossible to do with the S8 because of what data is recorded; and the technical challenge to get the data in graphic form.

"Are you saying that if I got a later machine, that I could somehow download this "Sleepyhead" software and do my own charts here at home?"
Yes, absolutely. Probably 80% of the people on this forum do it.

Here's an annotated version of a home graph. Events are flagged and scored by type and duration.
Flow waveforms and pressure waveforms are available. It can even tell if you are snoring!
[Image: 63j7.jpg]

Keep in mind that the AHI is an attempt to distill the efficacy of therapy into a single number. It's value is limited as it does not present the full picture.
Admin Note:
JustMongo passed away in August 2017
Click HERE to read his Memorial Thread

~ Rest in Peace ~
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#5
RE: Resmed S8
(01-05-2015, 12:38 PM)justMongo Wrote: During a session, all event counters are set to zero at the start.
You may use it while conscious; but the event numbers are not accurate.
You should ignore scored events when lying awake trying to fall asleep. You ask, how can I do that?
The machine cannot tell if you are awake or asleep. If you knew you went to bed at a certain time; and it took you say an hour to get to sleep, you could disregard those apnea while awake. It's nearly impossible to do with the S8 because of what data is recorded; and the technical challenge to get the data in graphic form.

"Are you saying that if I got a later machine, that I could somehow download this "Sleepyhead" software and do my own charts here at home?"
Yes, absolutely. Probably 80% of the people on this forum do it.

Here's an annotated version of a home graph. Events are flagged and scored by type and duration.
Flow waveforms and pressure waveforms are available. It can even tell if you are snoring!

Keep in mind that the AHI is an attempt to distill the efficacy of therapy into a single number. It's value is limited as it does not present the full picture.
Again thx for your reply. You have said that "during a session all events are set to zero at the start". I have noticed that my S8 zeros out at midday each day and then just goes in twenty four hour cycles. With this machine and its data set up it is hard for me to get the graphs until the next time that I have the printout from the CPAP office and of course I am not going to have a complete recollection of when I was awake and not by this time. Yes I agree with problems of my data with S8, although the printout looks pretty similar to what you have displayed here thx. The graphs show the same HI (blue dots) and AI(red lines with duration) and I also see readings of the leakage and flows and some other stuff.....however my doctor (a sleep specialist) and the CPAP techo both only focus on the AHI.............and even then, only on the final number at the and of any given period. I have got the AHI down from ~20 to ~10 which he says is acceptable although prefer to get down to 5. Generally my AIs are about 1-2 with most events being the HIs (unlike the example given in your graph that appears to indicate mostly AIs). What is meant by IPAP and the two lines there please? cheers J

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#6
RE: Resmed S8
(01-05-2015, 01:10 PM)baggy8 Wrote: Again thx for your reply. You have said that "during a session all events are set to zero at the start". I have noticed that my S8 zeros out at midday each day and then just goes in twenty four hour cycles. With this machine and its data set up it is hard for me to get the graphs until the next time that I have the printout from the CPAP office and of course I am not going to have a complete recollection of when I was awake and not by this time.
The machine's day begins and ends when its internal clock hits noon.
An S9 machine stores 365 days of compliance data; 30 days of detailed data; and 7 days of "high rate" data -- flow and pressure data sampled at 25 samples per second. High rate data is only stored on the S9's SD card.
(01-05-2015, 01:10 PM)baggy8 Wrote: Yes I agree with problems of my data with S8, although the printout looks pretty similar to what you have displayed here thx. The graphs show the same HI (blue dots) and AI(red lines with duration) and I also see readings of the leakage and flows and some other stuff.....however my doctor (a sleep specialist) and the CPAP techo both only focus on the AHI.............and even then, only on the final number at the and of any given period. I have got the AHI down from ~20 to ~10 which he says is acceptable although prefer to get down to 5. Generally my AIs are about 1-2 with most events being the HIs (unlike the example given in your graph that appears to indicate mostly AIs).
5 is an accepted standard for good therapy. For many people it's good enough. I have been able to tune my AHI lower. Last night I showed 9 hours on my machine with an AHI of 0.6 My doc doesn't even read my data. He's a 3 minute wonder. He pops in for 3 minutes; then you wonder where he went. I only see him to keep a current prescription to buy supplies.
(01-05-2015, 01:10 PM)baggy8 Wrote: What is meant by IPAP and the two lines there please? cheers J
IPAP means Inspiration Positive Airway Pressure.
That's not my graph... I annotated it for another person.
Their machine is an ASV. An ASV is used for Central Apnea and other forms of sleep disordered breathing. On the left, before the break, the IPAP is cycling to non-invasive ventilate the patient.

My machine is an auto Bilevel -- my pressure goes up and down in time with my breathing cycle -- between IPAP and EPAP.
Admin Note:
JustMongo passed away in August 2017
Click HERE to read his Memorial Thread

~ Rest in Peace ~
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#7
RE: Resmed S8
(01-05-2015, 01:28 PM)justMongo Wrote:
(01-05-2015, 01:10 PM)baggy8 Wrote: Again thx for your reply. You have said that "during a session all events are set to zero at the start". I have noticed that my S8 zeros out at midday each day and then just goes in twenty four hour cycles. With this machine and its data set up it is hard for me to get the graphs until the next time that I have the printout from the CPAP office and of course I am not going to have a complete recollection of when I was awake and not by this time.
The machine's day begins and ends when its internal clock hits noon.
An S9 machine stores 365 days of compliance data; 30 days of detailed data; and 7 days of "high rate" data -- flow and pressure data sampled at 25 samples per second. High rate data is only stored on the S9's SD card.
(01-05-2015, 01:10 PM)baggy8 Wrote: Yes I agree with problems of my data with S8, although the printout looks pretty similar to what you have displayed here thx. The graphs show the same HI (blue dots) and AI(red lines with duration) and I also see readings of the leakage and flows and some other stuff.....however my doctor (a sleep specialist) and the CPAP techo both only focus on the AHI.............and even then, only on the final number at the and of any given period. I have got the AHI down from ~20 to ~10 which he says is acceptable although prefer to get down to 5. Generally my AIs are about 1-2 with most events being the HIs (unlike the example given in your graph that appears to indicate mostly AIs).
5 is an accepted standard for good therapy. For many people it's good enough. I have been able to tune my AHI lower. Last night I showed 9 hours on my machine with an AHI of 0.6 My doc doesn't even read my data. He's a 3 minute wonder. He pops in for 3 minutes; then you wonder where he went. I only see him to keep a current prescription to buy supplies.
(01-05-2015, 01:10 PM)baggy8 Wrote: What is meant by IPAP and the two lines there please? cheers J
IPAP means Inspiration Positive Airway Pressure.
That's not my graph... I annotated it for another person.
Their machine is an ASV. An ASV is used for Central Apnea and other forms of sleep disordered breathing. On the left, before the break, the IPAP is cycling to non-invasive ventilate the patient.

My machine is an auto Bilevel -- my pressure goes up and down in time with my breathing cycle -- between IPAP and EPAP.
OK thx for that..........wow, you got AHI of less than one? Yes I don't have IPAP or EPAP...........and so far, not treated for central apnea thx goodness. Can you please explain for me......does one breath differently when awake and when asleep? Do we tend to have more of these events when we are awake than when we are asleep? Is that normal? That sounds actually pretty bad doesn't it? Or does it not matter? Is there a resource to read up on this please? I will now focus more on trying to get the AHI for the period of when I am just asleep although this is hard with S8. thx for your advice, J


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#8
RE: Resmed S8
Hi baggy8,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
You're not treating AHIs when you are awake so you can disregard those; the ones you are treating are those that occur during your sleep time, I hope that make sense.
Hang in there for more responses to your post, )and a better explanation than I could give you,) and much success to you as you continue your CPAP therapy.
trish6hundred
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#9
RE: Resmed S8
(01-05-2015, 01:47 PM)baggy8 Wrote: OK thx for that..........wow, you got AHI of less than one? Yes I don't have IPAP or EPAP...........and so far, not treated for central apnea thx goodness. Can you please explain for me......does one breath differently when awake and when asleep? Do we tend to have more of these events when we are awake than when we are asleep? Is that normal? That sounds actually pretty bad doesn't it? Or does it not matter? Is there a resource to read up on this please? I will now focus more on trying to get the AHI for the period of when I am just asleep although this is hard with S8. thx for your advice, J
Hang around the forum and you'll learn. There is a Wiki that defines some of these acronyms. For better or worse, you have conscious control of breathing while awake. The minimum apnea that a machine can score is 10 seconds in duration. You could hold your breath for >10 seconds and score an apnea.
Admin Note:
JustMongo passed away in August 2017
Click HERE to read his Memorial Thread

~ Rest in Peace ~
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#10
RE: Resmed S8
Thx very much Trish........do you have a reference for this pls? J
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