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 bipap machine troubles
#11
RE: New bipap machine troubles
Sorry palerider, here's a better one: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fzapwnagf0gb7x...d.zip?dl=0

Thanks vsheline, I'll cancel that as soon as I can.

Cheers
Post Reply Post Reply
#12
RE: New bipap machine troubles
(04-16-2016, 10:46 AM)robotman Wrote: But I just checked the sdcard in SleepyHead, and I'm really disappointed. I'm getting 30 AHI every night, mostly central apneas. I spoke with the respiratory therapist yesterday (before I looked at the results) and he said it looked good!
How many days are we talking about? (I am trying to open your zipped data inside my SleepyHead. But I'm on my backup computer while Hubby does taxes on the real one, and I'm having problems unrelated to how you zipped the data together.)

The RT may have looked at nothing more than usage data. At the very beginning usage data may actually be the most important data to look at: If folks are not using the machine, that's the first priority to fix. Sometimes the docs and RTs get so hung up on usage data, however, that they don't check much of anything else.

Quote:The sleep clinic bipap test said "The most satisfactory pressure was IPAP 12.0 cm of H20 EPAP 5.0 cm H20, which resulted in an apnea-hypopnea index of 6.0 events/hour and a total arousal index of 2.0 events/hour." So why isn't it working? The doctor gave me a sleeping pill (zopiclone, a hypnotic) to take when I went to the sleep clinic; I was literally almost falling over when I walked in; do you think this could have affected the test results?
Maybe, maybe not.

If the zopiclone allowed you to very quickly get to sleep and it helped you stay asleep during the night, then you would have had very few restless periods where sleep onset centrals can occur.

In your own bed you may be having some extended periods of wakefulness or periods where you are drifting in and out of a light sleep. I'll refer to that kind of "light dozing between real wake and real sleep" as "Sleep-Wake-Junk" or SWJ for short. It is not uncommon for a few CAs to be recorded during SWJ periods because the machine cannot tell that you are not fully asleep: In the transition between wake and sleep, the CO2 breathing trigger is reset, and as part of that "reset", it's pretty common for people to skip one or two breaths, which can be just long enough to register on an APAP or CPAP as a Central Apnea. These sleep transition central apneas are not considered part of sleep disordered breathing and are not typically recorded on an in-lab sleep test.

Quote:The nurse at the sleep clinic also said that maybe my raspy-can't-hardly-talk throat problem was caused by using the nose pads type of mask, and suggested using a full face mask. This has been uncomfortable, with constant leaks around the eyes and chin, no matter how much I try to fix it. I end up breathing mostly through my nose anyway (even though it's hard sometimes) because when I breathe through my mouth it actually hurts my brain in a couple of spots, which scares me a lot.
First, a raspy-can't hardly talk throat problem that starts immediately after starting CPAP often does point to night-time mouth breathing while using a nasal mask or a nasal pillows (prongs) mask. The usual suggestion is indeed to switch to a full face mask. But that can have it's own problems, as you've found out.

It is imperitive to find a mask that is comfortable enough to sleep in. It sounds to me like your current mask is adding to your problems. (And hence may be creating more SWJ and a higher CAI.) Since you wind up breathing through your nose anyway, I'd strongly suggest that you switch back to the nasal pillows mask or try a nasal mask instead. Hubby uses an F&P Eson when his allergies are not acting up because he does not like the feel of nasal pillows. I use a nasal pillows mask because the feel of the pillows against my nostrils is less irritating than not being able to scratch my nose.

You may also need to fiddle with the humidity setting. If you've got it maxed out, you might try reducing it, even though that's counter-intuitive. Some noses and airways really don't like a lot of excess humidity. And they can respond to excess humidity by getting irritated and congested.

Quote:Frankly, I'm about ready to give up. Even though I have felt way more rested the past few days. I also think I might have made a mistake by getting this respiratory therapist to purchase the machine through my insurance; maybe I should have done that through someone else - doesn't that basically mean I'm committed to using him now?
Maybe, maybe not.

But keep in mind, the problem may not be the machine. Right now, you need to work on finding mask that suits you better. You could give the RT one more chance: Call the DME back and say that the new mask is not working out and see if they'll help you find a mask that is much more comfortable than the one you are currently having no luck with. Bring your machine along when you go in to try some masks out. Try them out at your full pressure, preferably when lying down if at all possible.

Quote:I don't know what to do. I'm getting very frustrated.
I know the feeling. It took me more than 6 months to really straighten things out. And even now (5.5 years later), I still have the nights that are awful. Fortunately they're now few and far between.

Questions about SleepyHead?  
See my Guide to SleepyHead
Post Reply Post Reply
#13
RE: New bipap machine troubles
30 an hour! yep way too many, something is not right with your therapy. You are either being treated with the wrong machine (ASV needed) or your setting are causing a ton of centrals and you are on the wrong machine (ASV needed). vsheline is providing great information and suggestions.
Post Reply Post Reply
#14
RE: New bipap machine troubles
(04-17-2016, 12:02 PM)robotman Wrote: Sorry palerider, here's a better one: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fzapwnagf0gb7x...d.zip?dl=0

there's no detailed data *at all* on that card, how'd you do that?

all the directories under DATALOG are empty.
Post Reply Post Reply
#15
RE: New bipap machine troubles
Sorry palerider, I don't know. I must have messed it up somehow.

Robysue, thanks for the suggestion. Another thing that makes this difficult is that the respiratory therapist's office is out of town (he was the only one willing to let me trial a cpap machine for like six months until my insurance kicked in, after my stroke) so I can't just go to his office and get another mask. He'd probably want to mail it to me. Pretty inconvenient, now that I think about it.

PoolQ - yup, my life sucks lol.
Post Reply Post Reply
#16
RE: New bipap machine troubles
(04-17-2016, 07:25 PM)robotman Wrote: Sorry palerider, I don't know. I must have messed it up somehow.

what exactly did you do?

you did have the card in the machine while you were using it right,??
Post Reply Post Reply
#17
RE: New bipap machine troubles
Yes of course. I still have the data in SleepyHead, I just looked at it. So I'm not sure.
Post Reply Post Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Which biPAP? HalfAsleep 9 253 03-14-2024, 09:04 AM
Last Post: HalfAsleep
  New CPAP User - f30i Mask Troubles CcReesezzzzz01 6 824 01-31-2024, 10:55 PM
Last Post: CcReesezzzzz01
  bipap Innisfree 2 421 12-12-2023, 07:00 PM
Last Post: UnicornRider
Exclaimation CPAP Machine Choices - read this before you accept a new machine SuperSleeper 283 262,155 11-10-2023, 10:24 AM
Last Post: robbob2112
  Got Bipap instead of prescribed ResMed Autoset machine. Please help me get going. marvin2023 2 548 10-10-2023, 07:26 PM
Last Post: marvin2023
Sad [Treatment] Need help/advise after changing BiPAP Machine dnar82 6 712 09-29-2023, 06:59 AM
Last Post: Crimson Nape
  Can I use Bipap Machine for Cpap Julia63 8 688 09-21-2023, 08:46 AM
Last Post: Sleeprider


New Posts   Today's Posts


About Apnea Board

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