Hello Guest, Welcome to Apnea Board !
As a guest, you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use.
To post a message, you must create a free account using a valid email address.

or Create an Account


New Posts   Today's Posts

New Member Not getting anywhere
#1
New Member Not getting anywhere
O where do I start, as I have been tied daily for many years, I was tested for sleep Apnea in 2013 and was told that I snored but no sleep Apnea, so I thought OK I don’t have it, but my tiredness continued.
I went and saw a respiratory doctor earlier this year, he discovered I have CORD which I wasn’t surprised as I was a plumber and smoked in my early years, which I gave up 20 years ago, this doctor is also a sleep doctor who arrange for me to have sleep test at home with all those wires attached to every part of my body.
And guess what, I do have sleep Apnea and have had it for years, my AHI was 15 to 22, I started on a Resmed 10 Air Sense 10 Cpap machine and a Resmed F20 full face mask, I have been renting it during this test period, which I started mid-September, it has taken some time starting at 4cm pressure and now I am at 8cm, which has brought my AHI down to around 7 to 10AHI.
I have had one or two good days but overall I am still as tired as hell, any advice appreciated.
Post Reply Post Reply
#2
RE: New Member Not getting anywhere
G'day AMF1. Welcome to Apnea Board.

Your late diagnosis is unfortunate, but at least you now have the opportunity to got on top of the apnea. Some people take to the hose like a duck to water and get amazing immediate results. Most of us don't. Apnea is a chronic disease which creeps up on you over a long period of time, and it doesn't quickly go away. However with a good machine properly calibrated it's possible to overcome the effects of apnea. That's good, but we have to recognise that it's a life-long commitment.

It's a very good idea to monitor your progress yourself so you can see on a daily basis what's working and what isn't. We recommend the OSCAR software, which is free and is written by apneacs for apneacs. You'll need an SD card in your machine so if there isn't one already get one from Hardly Normal or JB HiFi. (Any standard card less than 32 Gb will be fine). Then you can download your data and see what's going on. Upload your charts to this forum and we'll give you some advice for discussion with your doctor.

Get Oscar here: https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/

How to install it: http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...stallation

How to format and upload the charts: http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ganization

Oscar help: http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...OSCAR_Help

One thing I notice from what you've said is that your doc has you on a fixed pressure, even though you have an automatic machine. Once we see your data we'll probably recommend changing to a variable pressure which most (but not all) people find both more comfortable and more effective. A lot of doctors will try and give you a single fixed pressure, which I personally think is an old-fashioned approach. But I'm not a doctor, I'm just a bloke on the internet.

Hope this helps. Let's see some charts and we'll do our very best to help.
Post Reply Post Reply
#3
RE: New Member Not getting anywhere
I agree with Deepbreathing, and 8.0 is still a low fixed pressure for obstructive apnea. What would be more informative is to know what your events were from your sleep study and remain on your CPAP therapy. I'm going to guess you mostly have hypopnea, and if we look deeper into the data you have a lot of flow limitation as a result of your COPD. If so, I'm certain we will ask you to put the machine in Autoset mode with a minimum pressure of 9.0, maximum pressure of 15.0 and EPR (exhale pressure relief) on full-time at 3.

Your machine is capable of providing bilevel therapy limited to a pressure support of 3 (PS is the difference between inhale pressure and exhale pressure). It is PS that can make breathing effort easier and assist with inspiratory effort. This is important for COPD, and many patients with COPD do better with a bilevel machine. With that said, it would be great to see some real results posted so we can help rather than guess.
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.
Post Reply Post Reply
#4
RE: New Member Not getting anywhere
Welcome to the Apnea Board. I agree with Sleeprider and DeepBreathing. I have COPD myself and EPR will help you. Granted, I'm on a different machine because of Mixed Apnea, but I'm sure with the data asked for we're going to help get you set-up ASAP.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
Post Reply Post Reply
#5
RE: New Member Not getting anywhere
AFM1, it's not clear what machine you have. Sleeprider's suggestion applies to a Resmed Airsense 10 autoset but you mention an airsense 10 CPAP which is a fixed pressure machine. Your profile lists a Philips Remstar Auto. Please update your profile and clarify which machine you are using.
Download OSCAR

Organize Charts
Attaching Charts

Mask Primer
Soft Cervical Collar

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.

Post Reply Post Reply
#6
RE: New Member Not getting anywhere
Melman has raised an important point which I missed. If your machine is a Resmed "CPAP" it will not give the relevant data for Oscar (or the doctor's software, which is probably ResScan). If it's an "Elite" then it will give data but only works at a fixed pressure. Assuming you have plain vanilla obstructive apnea the machine you want is the Resmed Airsense 10 AutoSet, or the AutoSet for Her. These give both full data capability and the ability to vary the pressure as needed over the night.

The model name is printed on the lower right corner of the machine.

   
Post Reply Post Reply
#7
RE: New Member Not getting anywhere
(10-18-2019, 10:21 AM)Melman Wrote: AFM1, it's not clear what machine you have. Sleeprider's suggestion applies to a Resmed Airsense 10 autoset but you mention an airsense 10 CPAP which is a fixed pressure machine. Your profile lists a Philips Remstar Auto. Please update your profile and clarify which machine you are using.

Sorry for the confusion, I am trialing a Resmed AirSense 10 Autoset, which has Cpap and Apap but not Bipap and after nearly five weeks I am as tied as ever, I starting to wonder if I am on the right machine? and how long does it normally take to feel better as in less tiedness.
Post Reply Post Reply
#8
RE: New Member Not getting anywhere
How do I update my information on what Cpap etc I am using
Post Reply Post Reply
#9
RE: New Member Not getting anywhere
Look in the upper right of the webpage for the UserCP.  Once in you User Control Panel, scroll down and on the left side you will see the Menu column.  Look under the Edit Profile options for modifying your information.
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.
Post Reply Post Reply
#10
RE: New Member Not getting anywhere
(10-18-2019, 11:41 PM)AFM1 Wrote:
(10-18-2019, 10:21 AM)Melman Wrote: AFM1, it's not clear what machine you have. Sleeprider's suggestion applies to a Resmed Airsense 10 autoset but you mention an airsense 10 CPAP which is a fixed pressure machine. Your profile lists a Philips Remstar Auto. Please update your profile and clarify which machine you are using.

Sorry for the confusion, I am trialing a Resmed AirSense 10 Autoset, which has Cpap and Apap but not Bipap and after nearly five weeks I am as tied as ever, I starting to wonder if I am on the right machine? and how long does it normally take to feel better as in less tiedness.

This is yet another of those areas that apnea symptoms vary greatly from one to another patient. Some say they start feeling better for CPAP therapy right away and others may not feel the better for it for months. Take into account that you're probably dealing with a circumstance of many months or years without treatment. The body will need time to adjust and heal up.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
Post Reply Post Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  New Member with new BiPap question Pbeth1 9 136 03-25-2024, 05:13 PM
Last Post: Sleeprider
  New member from Down Under AussieBobJ 6 495 01-10-2024, 12:45 AM
Last Post: AussieBobJ
Gross Family member thinks my SA is a scam?? sleepadventurer 19 1,023 12-02-2023, 08:43 PM
Last Post: SarcasticDave94
  New member, first night of Oscar data michael7 19 1,558 10-31-2023, 07:07 PM
Last Post: michael7
  New member sghalloway 11 998 10-07-2023, 02:13 PM
Last Post: sghalloway
  [Pressure] New member and new OSCAR user squiddog 4 456 09-19-2023, 01:06 PM
Last Post: squiddog
  New Member Intro and OSCAR charts DaveInDenver 2 429 08-11-2023, 04:02 PM
Last Post: DaveInDenver


New Posts   Today's Posts


About Apnea Board

Apnea Board is an educational web site designed to empower Sleep Apnea patients.