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First week
#1
First week
I finally have a machine (Resmed autoset 10, Dreamwear nasal mask), and went through the first week. I know this is early.

The main reason I needed CPAP was because oxygen (spO2) levels dropped during the night several times to ~80%. I didn't have a proper study done to see why this was.
After the first week, it seems the oxygen problems are gone. My oxygen level stays above 90% all night.  Lolabove

But, I'm waking up every two hours, and have a hard time falling back asleep. I'm not totally sure why I wake up. And I didn't record the exact times to correlate this with sleepyhead data. (because measurement will change the data in this case....) In some cases I seem to wake up with air coming out my mouth. I tried to tape my mouth shut, but I still woke up every two hours. (general leak levels are low. The Resmed does not complain, though you can see leakage in Sleepyhead)

I could post my sleepyhead data, but it is pretty useless, because you can't tell when I'm awake or asleep.

One question I have is this: in some cases, when I wake up, the machine is giving me "high" pressure (for me, but it is only 8-10 cm H2O). I then have a hard time falling back asleep, because I have a hard time breathing out. What I started doing is turn the Resmed off and on (hit button twice) to get ramp up again. Is there anything else I could do?

I think I'll also switch to full face mask. 

Oxygen is good, but so is sleeping  Cool
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#2
RE: First week
Posting the charts is useful because we can not only see the causes of sleep disruption and when the breaks occur, but we can see all the machine settings as well. Are you using EPR? If you're not having a lot of events we could coach you in some alternative settings that might alleviate your need to reset the machine for ramp.
Sleeprider
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INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#3
RE: First week
Here is some of sleepyheads data - from yesterday. I had a hard time falling asleep, and woke up many times. The times where the
pressure resets to ramp-up are some of those. I also took off the masking tape in the middle of the night (not sure why...I think I felt like
I couldn't breathe, but exact memory of that event is gone)

[attachment=3851]
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#4
RE: First week
Great chart!  Now we can see your settings are 5-12 with EPR and Ramp are off.  Events are mainly CA which is not unexpected for disrupted sleep. You were disrupted by the machine pressure increasing above 9 cm and some mask leaks. It is hard to tell why pressure is increasing, but snores and flow limits are not to bad in the statistics. 

Since obstructive events are non-existant and your sleep is disrupted, I don't see any reason you can't limit pressure to a range of 5-9 and perhaps use EPR at 1 for comfort.  We can always revisit this if you do start to have more events, but for now, getting a good comfortable night of sleep is the ticket.

[Image: attachment.php?aid=3851]
Sleeprider
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www.ApneaBoard.com

____________________________________________
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INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#5
RE: First week
Thank you for the quick reply!
I wonder why sleepyhead says Ramp is off, even though I have ramp set to "Auto".
I didn't see the EPR setting. Cool - almost like a BiPAP.
As you say, the CA events could easily be while "half awake/half asleep". I feel as if when in that state I "forget to take a breath", then the machine gets all worried, ramps up pressure and wakes me up.
I might try EPR=1 and 5-9. Thank you.
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#6
First month!!!
OK, I'm on my fourth week. I'm getting used to my mask, I think. I haven't changed any of the settings, other than EPR=1, which helped a lot! (I want to meet my doctor before I start messing with the settings. For now, I still trust him... )
Tomorrow I'm meeting my doctor for the first time after I got my machine. I used it every night other than one camping trip!

Overall, I'm very happy. SpO2 levels are always above 90%. I still wake up a bit at night, but much less than at the beginning - maybe 1-2 times a night.
There seem to be some CA episodes, but it is unclear to me if one should worry about those.
Thus, some episodes seem to be associated with an increase in SpO2 - I seem to take several deep breaths, and then I don't inhale for a long time.
Many CA episodes are also associated with times I'm awake or dozing/falling asleep. Thus in the first image below, Oct 9, I woke up at 6, and I'm not sure if I fell back asleep.

Here are my last two days. Should I post more?

[Image: Re8H9As.png]

[Image: sTyY8bO.png]

Just a reminder, this is what my SpO2 looked like before:
[Image: attachment.php?aid=3609]
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#7
RE: First week
This looks like a great start. You can pretty much discount the CA during periods of sleep disruption which makes your AHI quite low. Your results look great and no changes are needed, however it looks like a minimum APAP pressure at 6.0 is likely to be where you end up. As you can see your median pressure is near 7 cm anyway. I think you will settle right into this and have no problems. SpO2 data is good, no problems at all.
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com

____________________________________________
Download OSCAR Software
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing Therapy
Organize your OSCAR Charts
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How To Deal With Equipment Supplier


INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#8
update
I just wanted to post an update.
I started with the dreamwear mask, but I kept waking up because of leaks through my mouth. Then I switched to the amara view, which worked fairly well, but after some time developed leaks. Then I went back to the dreamwear, and it turns out that I learnt to keep my tongue in the right place, so now there are no leaks through my mouth. I also switched to the dreawear mask with pillows, which stays better on my nose (That was actually a result of a mistake in an amazon order...). Now I'm fairly happy. I still am sometimes tired during the day, and fall asleep more often then I'd like. That could be not because of the mask, but simply because I don't sleep enough.

My spO2 levels are always good  Big Grin

AHI are most often 1-2, with around 7 CA events, each of which is around 10-15 seconds. It would be better to get down to 0, but I'm not sure how, and for now I don't worry about it too much.

Any comments? Is 1-2 OK?

[Image: Utky2lp.png]
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#9
RE: First week
Wow! Way to go! You're persevering, and advocating for yourself!

The mask dance is an interesting one. I am glad you're finding success with masks and the tongue-suck trick!
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#10
RE: First week
This is representative of well-treated sleep apnea. I think you can try a narrowed range so that you get a bit less pressure variation through the night, and that may help with the centrals. 7.0 minimum 9.0 maximum EPR 1. You can always fall back on these previous settings if you prefer them.
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com

____________________________________________
Download OSCAR Software
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing Therapy
Organize your OSCAR Charts
Attaching Files
Mask Primer
How To Deal With Equipment Supplier


INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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