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How to Lower the AHI with nasal mask
#1
How to Lower the AHI with nasal mask
Greeting all on Forum :


I am looking for help - and wish I had located this forum earlier .

For five years I have been using a full face mask - its been a horrible journey - I have had to have the mask so tight that its left permanent  indentations in my face at contact areas  around my mouth. And I wasn't  so good to look at before that ! 

I first  tried in 2013 to use the nasal pillow so as to get rid of the face mask but it seemed to be impossible to not open my mouth . Two weeks ago I tried again with help of head strap and I have now  had 5 nights will nasal pillow . Its a lot better than when I first tried as at that time I could not seem to get  the right amount of air  that face mask was allowing - straight to the throat no nose in the way . . So I turned up the volume from 7 to 11 to 11 to 17 ( without permission or checking with doc or sleep clinician )  .I have lost faith in all of them  sorry to say.  

At least I seem to sleep  longer the  last 5 days . But AHI reads  12.1 . I don't know what it was before with face mask as Im not computer savy and have no sense of that at all - for data   card in the back of CPAP .

I have two questions :
 
 1.  Is 12.1  a  problem indicator for AHI . I see  5 to 15 is "mild" on  sleep apnea grid .

2. What can I do to get the AHI lower . 

Thanks to anyone who might help .

Pat
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#2
RE: How to Lower the AHI with nasal mask
Hi pat - Welcome
Your Resmed S9, if I understand your profile, is compatible with #SleepyHead, a free sleep analysis software.   Please download it and get some recent sleep data to post.    Instructions are listed in my signature below.

Finally, What lead you to increase your pressure?
Crimson Nape
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com
___________________________________
Useful Links -or- When All Else Fails:
The Guide to Understanding OSCAR
OSCAR Chart Organization
Attaching Images and Files on Apnea Board
Apnea Helpful Tips

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: How to Lower the AHI with nasal mask
Thank you fro the reply CN .

I am age 68 and not very good with data tech  - but I will try - this is at our age known as plating  the "seniors card  " .If I am able to down load the Sleepy  Head  what am I to do with that - how does that help ?

I increased the pressure because it seemed with the full face mask at 7 to 11 that I was   getting sufficient  air - right to the back of my throat . But initially with nasal mask I seemed lacking in air volume at 7 to 11 - so I increased it after looking at an online  note that explained how . I would have tried this years ago had I known how or that this was a realistic option .

Any help much appreciated . 

Is getting  the AHI down possible in my circunstsmces . 

 Very Much Obliged.

Pat
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#4
RE: How to Lower the AHI with nasal mask
The normal standard of practice is to get AHI below 5, and if you can't then see what can be done for a treatment change. I also would encourage you to download SleepyHead so you can look at your results and post them here. See the links at the bottom of my post for help. Using SleepyHead is not hard. I am also 68 and have managed it. Once you have SleepyHead downloaded and installed, all you have to do is create a profile, and while there is a whole bunch of boxes that could be filled in, all you really need is a name in the first box. Just use your first name if you plan to post charts, as the name will be shown on the chart. All of the rest of the boxes and pages can be left blank. The default screen that comes up has an icon in the shape of a SD card. The SD card is on the back left of the S9. Just push it in and it will pop out. Put it in your SD card reader on your computer (yes you will need one), and then click on that SD card icon. A box should come up asking if you want to import the data it found in drive J: or whatever it calls the reader. Click on yes, and it will download the last 30 days of data you already have. Then click on the Summary tab to see a summary of your data, and then the Daily Detail one to see the nitty gritty stuff. That should get you started.
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#5
RE: How to Lower the AHI with nasal mask
Thanks a lot RON AKA 

I will try all of what you have  suggested and will read all these suggested sites . Very helpful indeed !

Much Obliged and I'm hopping for a change . Its been quite a challenge these last 5 years . 

I'm not sure what a "treatment change" actually means ,but obviously something I"m not doing  now . 


 Grateful for your efforts . 

Pat

Thanks a lot RON AKA 

I will try all of what you have  suggested and will read all these suggested sites . Very helpful indeed !

Much Obliged and I'm hopping for a change . Its been quite a challenge these last 5 years . 

I'm not sure what a "treatment change" actually means ,but obviously something I"m not doing  now . 


 Grateful for your efforts . 

Pat
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#6
RE: How to Lower the AHI with nasal mask
(04-04-2018, 05:06 PM)Ron AKA Wrote: The normal standard of practice is to get AHI below 5, and if you can't then see what can be done for a treatment change. I also would encourage you to download SleepyHead so you can look at your results and post them here. See the links at the bottom of my post for help. Using SleepyHead is not hard. I am also 68 and have managed it. Once you have SleepyHead downloaded and installed, all you have to do is create a profile, and while there is a whole bunch of boxes that could be filled in, all you really need is a name in the first box. Just use your first name if you plan to post charts, as the name will be shown on the chart. All of the rest of the boxes and pages can be left blank. The default screen that comes up has an icon in the shape of a SD card. The SD card is on the back left of the S9. Just push it in and it will pop out. Put it in your SD card reader on your computer (yes you will need one), and then click on that SD card icon. A box should come up asking if you want to import the data it found in drive J: or whatever it calls the reader. Click on yes, and it will download the last 30 days of data you already have. Then click on the Summary tab to see a summary of your data, and then the Daily Detail one to see the nitty gritty stuff. That should get you started.

  Does he need to lock the card before putting in the computer?
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#7
RE: How to Lower the AHI with nasal mask
(04-10-2018, 02:17 AM)Hellodare Wrote:
(04-04-2018, 05:06 PM)Ron AKA Wrote: The normal standard of practice is to get AHI below 5, and if you can't then see what can be done for a treatment change. I also would encourage you to download SleepyHead so you can look at your results and post them here. See the links at the bottom of my post for help. Using SleepyHead is not hard. I am also 68 and have managed it. Once you have SleepyHead downloaded and installed, all you have to do is create a profile, and while there is a whole bunch of boxes that could be filled in, all you really need is a name in the first box. Just use your first name if you plan to post charts, as the name will be shown on the chart. All of the rest of the boxes and pages can be left blank. The default screen that comes up has an icon in the shape of a SD card. The SD card is on the back left of the S9. Just push it in and it will pop out. Put it in your SD card reader on your computer (yes you will need one), and then click on that SD card icon. A box should come up asking if you want to import the data it found in drive J: or whatever it calls the reader. Click on yes, and it will download the last 30 days of data you already have. Then click on the Summary tab to see a summary of your data, and then the Daily Detail one to see the nitty gritty stuff. That should get you started.

  Does he need to lock the card before putting in the computer?

On an S9 machine the card needs to be locked before being placed in the computer it does not matter on a later Resmed A10
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#8
RE: How to Lower the AHI with nasal mask
Good. Thanks.
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#9
RE: How to Lower the AHI with nasal mask
I'll be honest. I know that SleepyHead warns you to lock the card first, but I keep forgetting, both with the S9 and A10. No ill consequences that I have seen.
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#10
RE: How to Lower the AHI with nasal mask
The S9 was the problem child.  Resmed wrote their code to look at the SD card's file structure and would not allow any additional files.  They have since corrected this on the A10 series.   Windows 7, and higher, writes System Volume information to removable devices to allow for faster indexing of the device.  This is  where the Write Protect warning came about.  You can turn off the SysVol write feature in Windows so it won't be a problem for the S9's. I have a registry modification file that allows you to turn it off or back on. I have offered it in the past to other members. Let me know if anyone would like a copy.
Crimson Nape
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com
___________________________________
Useful Links -or- When All Else Fails:
The Guide to Understanding OSCAR
OSCAR Chart Organization
Attaching Images and Files on Apnea Board
Apnea Helpful Tips

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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