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New member introduction
#1
New member introduction
Looking around I didn't see a forum for introductions so I'll post here. If there is a more appropriate forum for this, admin please feel free to move this post.

I'm at the tail end of the silent generation. (I don't think my ex-wives would agree, particularly about snoring.)

I've used 'my' machine less than a week. So far so good. I don't officially have sleep apnea I'm told as my number falls within the "normal" range. But because of other issues, the pulmonary doc suggested that I try a loaner machine for a week. I did so with good results (including headaches going away in 3 days) so I sprung for the co-pay and have had my own for 5 days. I got used to it quickly in two days and use about 7 hours a night now, very low pressure from the min 4 to about 6. I'm sleeping better and I think not snoring as I no longer wake up with a dry mouth. Nobody on the other side to let me know. Sigh.

I'm still working on understanding the terminology, options available in software, and all the rest.

A couple of questions already from reading a few posts:
1) what is total obstructive apnea, central apnea, and hypopneas? I guess that should be 1-3.
2) The machine I have comes with sleepmapper software available. Pretty basic, not much info, and the web program crashed for two days and not yet working correctly again. Emails to support say they are working on it. Because of this, I looked around and found SleepyHead which has a lot of info but still quite buggy as in beta and crashes every session. Any recommendation as to another choice in software?

Thanks for any info.
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#2
RE: New member introduction
Firstly welcome to the boards.

I have no idea yet about the software side so I'll let the experts handle that.

An obstructive apnea event is caused by your airway being physically blocked. This could be your tongue or neck fat etc.

A central apnea event is not caused by a blockage of your airway. This is caused because your brain forgets to tell your body to keep the airway open. This is very simple way of explaining things.

Hypopneas are events that are less severe than full apneas. These would be considered as very shallow breathing or a reduced respiratory rate. Simply put these aren't complete cessation of breathing like apneas are. Just note that hypopneas can be just as problematic as apneas if they constantly arouse you out of deeper sleep stages.

Hope this helps and again welcome to the boards.
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#3
RE: New member introduction
Welcome.

Which version of SleepyHead do you have? It should say on the top border of the SleepyHead window.

The 0.9.8-1 version of the program is greatly improved over 0.9.6.

Take out the water tank and turn the machine over. Look for something like "REF 560P" on the label on the bottom. Then you can put your exact machine type in your profile.

Get the free OSCAR CPAP software here.
Useful links.
Click here for information on the main alternative to CPAP.
If it's midnight and a DME tells you it's dark outside, go and check it yourself.
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#4
RE: New member introduction
With regard to your questions on different types of apnea events, click on the Wiki link at the top of this page.

You have the PRS1 560 (Auto) CPAP. That machine produces great data. Sleepyhead runs pretty good for most of us, and if you want to troubleshoot your installation, we would need more details on what is happening. The most likely fix for your problem is to use the BrokenGL executible rather than the OpenGL. Also, the program MUST be extracted and installed to the hard drive. It will not run from the archive you downloaded.

Sleepyhead provides the most comprehensive data available to a patient. You do have the alternative to use Philips Respironics EncoreBasic at this link: http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...hines-only

Both give similar data, but the reports for EncoreBasic are produced as multi-page PDF files. Also the wave form data from Sleepyhead is much more interactive and let you zoom in on events.
Sleeprider
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#5
RE: New member introduction
Hi TomM,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for more responses to your post and much success to you with your CPAP therapy.
trish6hundred
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#6
RE: New member introduction
Welcome to the board! Best of luck with your cpap therapy.
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#7
RE: New member introduction
Thank you all for your replies. More coming in while I am working on this reply to the first two!

I have updated my profile to show the full model number.

Exploring SleepyHead v0.9.8-1-Testing BrokenDL I discovered a long list of definitions that I'm sure I will refer to often. As suggested I'll check the wiki here too. As no graph information is shown under the overview section I rebuilt my data as suggested. Then discovered that it will display if click on a section.

Clearly I have a lot to learn and explore. But so far I'm sleeping better without constant headaches.

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#8
RE: New member introduction
Congrats on no headaches!

Sleeping better is SO important.

Yes, learning about Sleep Apnea/sleeping issues is quite a learning curve.

My Sleep specialist strongly recommends having a "no blue screen" time about 1/2 hour prior to going to bed. It seems the blue screen keeps the brain too active and can make it harder getting and staying asleep. I'm trying it, will see if it helps.
Evpraxia in the Pacific Northwest USA
Diagnosed: 44 AHI when supine, O2 down to 82%
Treated since 20 Sept 2014:: 0.7 AHI, Settings 7-15, EPR on Full Time at Level 3
Better living through CPAP/APAP machines!
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#9
RE: New member introduction
Continuing on with newbie stuff..... somehow I have managed to lose my data card between my bedroom and my "office." I don't usually do that stuff. I had an old 32mb SD card from a camera so I popped that in and it works fine, even loading all 8 days of my data. So my question around this is, what is the data size of the SD card that comes with the machine? Looking at the .zip files this card will hold a bunch.

Another question. I washed my tube, mask and pillows for the first time in warm soapy water today and took everything to the backyard to dry out on my patio table. The tube took hours to get all dried out. So is there a procedure that would work better?

I've started reading the manual and trying different size nose pillows and looking at the data produced. The nurse said to use small pillows but the best results are with the large. Going to cycle through all 3 again and the mask. I guess I am most comfortable with the mask at this point.

Edit: Of course another question. I am in CA on PDT but see the board is two hours ahead. I looked at where to set my time zone but did not locate. Is that available?
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#10
RE: New member introduction
(03-27-2015, 10:40 PM)TomM Wrote: Continuing on with newbie stuff..... somehow I have managed to lose my data card between my bedroom and my "office." I don't usually do that stuff. I had an old 32mb SD card from a camera so I popped that in and it works fine, even loading all 8 days of my data. So my question around this is, what is the data size of the SD card that comes with the machine? Looking at the .zip files this card will hold a bunch.

Another question. I washed my tube, mask and pillows for the first time in warm soapy water today and took everything to the backyard to dry out on my patio table. The tube took hours to get all dried out. So is there a procedure that would work better?

I've started reading the manual and trying different size nose pillows and looking at the data produced. The nurse said to use small pillows but the best results are with the large. Going to cycle through all 3 again and the mask. I guess I am most comfortable with the mask at this point.

Edit: Of course another question. I am in CA on PDT but see the board is two hours ahead. I looked at where to set my time zone but did not locate. Is that available?

Hi Tom,

The 32mb card you have should be fine for now. The card that came with my S9 is a 2GB SDcard, of which 32 mb has been used in the course of 1 1/2 years. So when you can pick up another card. It has to be an SD though. Some of the bigger guys won't work.

As to drying out the tube: Generally all you need to do is shake it good to get the majority of the moisture out, then point it at the cat when you first turn the machine on in case you missed a bunch. A little moisture will not make any difference as long as you were careful to rinse the soap out. Some people like to swing the hose over their head to dry it out. That's ok, but I recommend removing it from the machine first.

Nose pillows: I consider it a "rule" that whatever size pillow you think you need, you should go up one size with the P10. Some people disagree, but that has been my experience, so trying all the sizes is a fine plan.

Can't help you with the time zone thingy on your machine. You can, from the links at the top of the page, request the clinician's manual for your machine and learn how to do all the magic stuff yourself. So be sure and do that.

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