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New CPAP User – Settings Help!
#1
New CPAP User – Settings Help!
First off, a HUGE thank you to the team that builds and maintains the OSCAR project and Apnea Board!  I seriously do not know how I would handle my sleep apnea without the data that I get from OSCAR and the info I get from Apnea Board.  The idea that this data is kept from patients is mind-blowing.
 
For the past two months I have been using my Phillips Dreamstation APAP with a Dreamware nasal mask (not the pillow.) Over that time the pressure has been adjusted and my mask tweeked so that I now have a setup that seems to work well. 
 
The charts that I am getting, however, are not as free of events as others I see on the board and I am wondering if there are changes that I can make to my setup.  I have attached my OSCAR charts for a few sample nights and the summary page that shows the changes that have been made over time.  (I followed the instructions for capturing the screen shots.  Apologies in advance if I missed something.)  Could I get feedback and pointers based on what folks seen in my charts?
 
Thanks in advance!
  
Dreamstation APAP
Dreamware nasal mask
Pressure: 9 – 15 cm/H2O
Humidity: off
Heat: off
Flex: off
Ramp: off
Untreated AHI:  48
Treated AHI: 1.6 (avg)

   
   
   
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#2
RE: New CPAP User – Settings Help!
Welcome to the forum.
You are still having a lot of underlying flow limitations. This is evidenced directly with the presence of RERAs,we like to see none present, and FL events and indirectly by a shaggy look to your flow rate. Your only choice in reducing this with your machine is to increase min pressure.

The million dollar question, how do you feel? The answer to this here, or to your medical team should never be "fine", rather a critical look into how you feel, your symptoms. So, how do you feel?

Our preferred treatment would have been increasing EPR on a ResMed AutoSet as that is very effective for treating flow limits. Flex on PR machines does not do this.
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#3
RE: New CPAP User – Settings Help!
Thanks for the feedback.  I will take the pressure change under consideration.  I may also try enabling the flex function, since I haven't used that yet.

To answer the 'million dollar question', I feel better but suspect I could still be getting better sleep.  Medically, there has been a huge improvement.  Lower AHI, snoring stopped, gasping stopped, minimal nighttime trips to the bathroom, leg movement stopped, and no more morning headaches.  My doctor's opinion is that all of that is great, APAP is working as expected, check in with him in a year. The sleep that I am getting is vastly better that what it was.  That said, I have had better sleep in the past.  There are a thousand reasons that might be at play here, but I want to start by getting my APAP dialed-in as much as possible.

Thanks again for taking a look at my charts.
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