New boy and need guidance please

[Peterseaford]

G'day Everybody - thanks for this forum and I will value your guidance

My name is Peter and I am 78 years old - have heart failure as well as COPD and Sleep Apnea

I have had my Philips System One for a month now and my doctor did a print out to find that I now stop breathing one time every hour when before I was not breathing twenty five times every hour

My pressure he has set at 10 and he has booked me for another Sleep Apnea Test to see if the pressure is correct

My Cpap machine has a notice that the software is SleepMapper but I cannot find that at the Apple Store so is there other software I can use at home?

I use a full ResMed mask because my mouth opens when I sleep - the mask is quite comfortable for me

For the past few days I have noticed small traces of blood when I first blow my nose in the morning and am interested to know if this could be caused by the constant air pressure when connected to the machine

I have started to feel much better now that I have the machine and no doubt things will be even better when I have had more time

Have a great day

Regards 

Peterseaford

[AlanE]

#Sleepyhead software should support the System One 450P models and above.

This is the link to the beginner's guide to Sleepyhead: http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...SleepyHead

[chill]

Hi Peter, and Welcome!

The software has been renamed to DreamMapper.  It does not provide much information.  Most of us use SleepyHead (link at top of page).  I am not sure if it supports more machine or not, I think it does.

The bloody nose is caused by dryness, not pressure.  Increasing the level of humidification from the machine should fix this.

Happy to hear that you are feeling better now!

[Sleeprider]

Whether you get good efficacy information depends on the model of your machine. The DS150, 250, 260 do not give anything but the hours of use. The 450, 460, 550, 560 and above all produce data that includes your pressure, AHI, type of apnea, hypopnea and in the 60 series, even respriratory event relate arousals, as well as cheyne-stokes respirations. The latter devices also show your respiratory rate, minute volume an tidal volume and chart each breath. It's an amazing amount of data. If you can be more specific about what kind of machine you are using it will help.

I'm sorry to hear that you are experiencing heart failure. To understand more about where you're at, do you know your left ventricular ejection fraction %?

[Peterseaford]

Thanks very much - will ask my Dr about ventricular question and let you know - my machine is a Remstar pro [ system one 60 series] [461p] [p183529448dif v3.06]

Seems good to me but I know no better yet

Have a nice day

Regards 

Peter

[DeepBreathing]

G'day Peter. Welcome to Apnea Board.

he has booked me for another Sleep Apnea Test to see if the pressure is correct

I really wonder if a second test is necessary at this point. Your machine provides full data which should be all that's needed unless you have some specific difficulty (perhaps related to your heart condition). If your AHI is down to 1 then prima facie the treatment is working. Sleep tests are very labour intensive, therefore expensive. Somebody has to pay, whether it's bulk billed (in which case I'm paying, as a taxpayer) or else billed privately in which case you'll pay out of pocket or through your health fund. They're not a lot of fun, either unless you enjoy sleeping with 19 different probes and electrodes attached to your body.

[Peterseaford]

Well I just believe what my specialist says - he put me on Cpap and it is working or so it seems

Regards peter

[OpalRose]

Hi Peterseaford,
Welcome to Apnea Board!

The blood you may see when blowing your nose in the morning is from the dry air. Just increase your humidity a bit.  
Also, you could try using a nasal lubricant like Ayr Nasal Gel or a lanolin type cream.  

Good luck with your therapy, and ask questions anytime.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Peterseaford,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
It’s great that you are noticing improvement with this therapy.
Good luck to you on your CPAP journey.

[Peterseaford]

Thanks so much for all the help from the forum. 
My humidity has only three settings and it was on one so I moved it to two and this morning no trace of blood
I know the matter would be of little concern to many but in my condition every little change counts

On my Cpap machine for a little over a month now and I feel much better already - again of minor concern to many but most important to me at 78 because I now feel that a retirement home is a long way off as I can do most of the little things around our home again - and enjoy it

We have a little pug and he takes me walking every morning ang works with me all day

Kind regards and thanks again

Peter