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Morning all. Just found this forum after being diagnosed and given a machine. Not a ton of guidance from the doctor other than I need to use for 4 hours 70% of the time or they take away the machine. First few night were rough getting used to mask and realizing I needed a SD card to record and use Oscar. Like the community here and advice from everyone. See last nights results below. Any guidance on pressure/ramp/etc? Been reading a bunch of posts but so many variables to apply to my specific situation.
CPAP is really pretty easy to optimize, and there is a good wiki for that linked in my signature links. You are already ahead of the game using OSCAR and you clearly paid attention to how to organize and post a chart. With a pressure range of 5-10 and Flex level 3, your events are within the desired range of less than 5/hour, but the minimum pressure is too low. Based on the actual pressure you had, I think a minimum pressure of 8.0 will get rid of most of these events. The Philips machine is slow to react to events, rather than increasing pressure to prevent events. We almost have to set the minimum pressure to your actual CPAP requirements to keep it in the therapeutic zone. Your minimum pressure needs to be at least 7.5, and more likely 8.0. Give a Flex setting of 2 a try. You will still get 2-cm of pressure relief, but the sync should be better and might clean up some of the variable breathing (pink shaded) that we see. Finally, you have a ramp pressure set at 5.0 cm. Most of us don't use ramp once we get accustomed to the pressure. Use what you need, but consider turning off ramp or increasing the pressure as you tolerate that.
Good luck with the therapy, and I don't think you will have any problems getting used to it. Take a look at your chart and the logic of increasing the minimum pressure should be pretty obvious. Nearly all your events occurred at a lower pressure.
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.
Tried your suggestions. AHI down to 2.2. Heading in the right direction. Sleep was better but got up to use the bathroom around 4:30 and was wide awake. Busy day ahead and mind was racing so don't think that was sleep apnea related.
Thanks for the input. Crazy I would have been stuck at 5 to 20 with ramp for 6 weeks if I listened to my doctor.
Thanks sleeprider for the early week input. Attached are the last two nights Oscar charts. AHI in the 2's so I guess that is success. Is there anything else I should try to make the numbers even better?
I think some of my sleep issues in the AM are work/stress related so CPAP is not going to fix them. My wife said this has been the best sleeping she has gotten in a long while since I am not snoring anymore. So one machine has helped two people.
I merged your new thread with the previous thread as we need the history to consider where these changes have taken us.
The increase in minimum pressure to 8.0 has certainly had the desired effect of reducing obstructive events and quieting your pressure variations. I think you can still increase pressure a bit to 8.5 and see some benefits. Give that a try, and we can revisit if 9.0 should be considered. Happy wife, happy life!
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.
