Newbie with lots of random questions

[JenWith1N]

I was recently diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea and am going into my third night using a CPAP machine. I have a machine on loan for a month before (hopefully) getting my own covered by insurance. I was given a ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her with a ResMed AirFit P10 mask. From what I have gathered from reading and watching YouTube videos, this is one of the best machines out there, so I'm hoping to get this exact one when I purchase one. I several unrelated questions (and I'm sure I will have many more).

1. On my sleep study (which was at home) I had an AHI of 18 and an RDI of 29. The study said there was no major difference between when I was lying on my back versus my side. During REM sleep, which I didn't get much of, it said my AHI was 39 and my RDI was 77. Seems crazy worse to me. Just curious if this matters much? Also, it said I had a really high heart rate variability. Is that something to be concerned about? I've been wearing my CPAP all night so far, so does all this not matter if I'm getting treatment anyway?

2. I have downloaded the Sleepyhead software and am dying to check it out, but am really nervous putting the SD card from a loaner machine into my computer. I don't want to screw up their SD card and have someone get mad at me. I have weekly appointments for the next month to check in and try different masks or settings if needed. Will putting the SD card in my comptuer set to "locked" absolutely ensure that nothing bad happens to it and that they can't tell I downloaded the data? If not, I will wait until I get my own machine to try it out.

3. I have severe year-round allergies to everything (dust, trees, grass, weeds, smoke, cats, dogs, horses, food). I seem to be doing OK with the nasal mask, though I think it might be making my nose a bit sore (they gave me an XS, S, and M to try and recommended the S but said to try the others and see what I liked). Two days isn't much to go on, especially since I basically didn't sleep the first night, but the statistics the machine is providing seem good according to what they told me to aim for (the AHI was 0.0 and 1.7 and no leaks). My allergies have been very well-controlled lately so my nose has been pretty clear. They said if I find I really can't use this type of mask I can try the other type. So far the mask has seemed okay, though at times I do feel I need to breathe through my mouth for a few seconds to get enough oxygen. I am sort of interested in just getting both types of mask to try and see which I like. I know at some point in the future, when I'm exposed to allergens, I won't be able to breathe through my nose. Is this reasonable to pay for two types of mask up-front? Or just I only try the other if this type really doesn't work?

4. I also have asthma, and this morning (the first morning I actually slept) I woke up quite wheezy and had to use my inhaler and then couldn't get back to sleep because of the discomfort, which is rare for me. I thought maybe it was because the bottled water I got for the first two nights had water and ozone as ingredients, and I've read that inhaling ozone can trigger asthma. But I got distilled water today and it says it's ozonated too. I also read it could be the humidity level, which they set to 4 but said I could adjust as needed, and I had changed that to 3 because the mask got moisture in it the first night. I'm hoping I don't wake up wheezy again, but am wondering if anyone else has had this problem?

5. Out of pure curiosity and nothing more, I'm wondering how the machine knows when to increase and decrease the pressure? They set my pressure to 5-15 and I assume I'm having weekly appointments in part to refine this, if needed. The first night when I lay awake most of the night the pressure was different each time I looked at it: 5.6, 11.8, 9.2, 12.7... I am not having any particular issues (though I did turn the ramp feature off because I felt like air whooshing down my throat every time I started to doze off was part of what kept me up all night the first night).

I think that is all for now.

[Melman]

Welcome. You can't mess up the SD card by putting it in your computer. Go ahead and get some Sleepyhead data and post it here, See instructions below.

[Gideon]

You will have no problem with the SD card and Sleepyhead.

Please post a full copy of your sleep study not just the summary.  We recently had someone where the summary said obstructive apnea but it was composed of mostly mixed apnea and central apnea.  That is a .Big difference.

[Sleep2Snore]

There is a small programme that will stop the computer from writing to the card. It was posted here somewhere in the last couple of months, however the person that posted might post it here again. I can't remember who it was, I am on a phone at the moment so I can't look it up either.
Welcome to the forum.

[Keljian]

Asthma and allergies! Ok so the humidifier will be crucial to your continued use. This will mean your airways are lubricated enough. Tweak this first to get rid of wheezing etc.

Also the Fischer and Paykel sleepstyle has the best humidifier on the market. While I don't think it is supported by sleepyhead, it is very very good.

[Fats Drywaller]

Congratulations on getting, at least temporarily, the A10 Autoset for Her, which is the best machine out there. I'm not the only one here who will recommend that you should get the same machine via insurance. If the DME (durable medical equipment supplier) that you're first referred to can't or won't provide that machine for any reason, you could try another DME after consulting your insurance rep to get recommendations of in-network (approved) companies.

Edited to add: From what you said about having been given all of the mask's nosepieces to try, which was the right thing for them do do, it sounds like your DME is a good one so far. That's encouraging. Definitely try all of the nasal-pillow sizes to see which is most comfortable or gives you the best air flow or both.

The P10 mask is ab fab also, and is one of the all-time most recommended. But be aware that masks are subjective & personal, so if it turns out not to be a perfect fit for you, either lit. or fig., there are a dozen other excellent ones to choose from. It's important not to give up on CPAP therapy just because of a bad experience with the first mask; you gotta shop around. Everyone has to go through that. I've tried five so far, in less than a year. The good news is that I have in fact found my One Mask for now (am not expecting any further changes), and that too is a typical experience. If the P10 does turn out to be your One Mask, great.

Please update your profile/sidebar with the machine make & model and the mask make & model. Thanks.

As others have said, it's safe to read the SD card on your computer. A technical point: It'll help if your computer was designed with an SD-card slot to begin with, because that should honor the setting of the write-lock tab on the card. A separate USB SD-card dongle may or may not do that; I think most of 'em don't. In any case, it's a good idea to slide the tab on the card to "Locked" before giving the card to your computer and then be sure to slide it back to "Unlocked" before putting the card back into the CPAP machine.

[JenWith1N]

Please post a full copy of your sleep study not just the summary.  We recently had someone where the summary said obstructive apnea but it was composed of mostly mixed apnea and central apnea.  That is a .Big difference.

I'm not keen on posting my full sleep report to a public forum... I would be very surprised if my diagnosis were incorrect and I have no reason to question its accuracy. But I'm curious what part of my questions triggered the comment? Do you have a link to the thread where this happened? Is there a specific part of what I wrote that makes one think I may have been misdiagnosed?

[Fats Drywaller]

A few tips about the Airsense 10 machines:

When you eventually need to change the pressure settings, you get to the "clinical menus" by pressing and holding both the Home button and the tuning knob together for a few seconds.

To get a PDF copy of the clinical guide for your machine (explaining what all those settings are for), use the "CPAP Setup Manuals" link at the top of these apneaboard web pages and follow the directions there for requesting the manual by e-mail: scroll down to Section 3, "CPAP Clinician Setup Manuals Available via Email", and copy & paste the string "ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her" from that list into an outgoing mail message as instructed.

Your machine package should have included a paper copy of the user's guide for the Autoset for Her. If not, you should be able to find a PDF of it on a Resmed web site with a little digging. A guide for each model of Resmed mask is also available.

BTW, you're not required to use the same brand of mask & machine. They all work interchangeably with one another, fortunately, using a standard hose connection. On the other hand, the various replaceable mask parts are brand-specific.

The A10 has no power switch, which confuses some folks at first. As mentioned in the user's guide, it has a low-power mode that you activate by holding down the start/stop button for several seconds, at which point the screen will go blank and the machine will be sleeping until you press that button again. Unlike unplugging the machine, that doesn't prevent the transmission of compliance data to your DME via the built-in cellular modem. During low-power mode, the "auto-start" feature is disabled until you press the button again, so you need to press that before breathing into the mask to start the machine. But if you never use the low-power mode, that's fine too; the machine while idling (motor off) uses almost no electricity.

[SarcasticDave94]

Please post a full copy of your sleep study not just the summary.  We recently had someone where the summary said obstructive apnea but it was composed of mostly mixed apnea and central apnea.  That is a .Big difference.

I'm not keen on posting my full sleep report to a public forum... I would be very surprised if my diagnosis were incorrect and I have no reason to question its accuracy. But I'm curious what part of my questions triggered the comment? Do you have a link to the thread where this happened? Is there a specific part of what I wrote that makes one think I may have been misdiagnosed?

Most members here post the sleep report with all personal info blacked out. It gives us the info of what actually happened during the study, some of which is difficult to just convey as typing the text as context. But, that's your choice to or not to do so. If you do not, you do limit what advice others can suggest.

As for machine choice, the one you currently have been issued is one of the best there is.

[JenWith1N]

Forum question: is there a way to quote multiple people's posts in one response?

The company I'm working with seems excellent so far. They asked if I had a preference for any particular machine when I mentioned screen readability being important (I'm severely visually impaired). I had looked up their website and googled information and reviews on all the machines they offered and they all seemed up-to-date and got positive user reviews. I have experience purchasing other medical devices/equipment, so fully expect to be able to pick my own, whether it's the one I'm using (which I quite like so far) or something different, since I'm the one who will be using it every day. I'm in Canada, so I don't think the whole "network" thing is an issue if I did decide to go to another company for some reason.

I used proper distilled water last night (though it still said it was "ozonated"), and also put the humidity back to 4, and this morning no wheezing. I keep the humidity of my bedroom pretty low because I'm super allergic to dust mites and low humidity helps to kill them. So it's good to know humidity is important. I will continue monitoring and adjusting it.

So far I have been wearing the CPAP for 7-8 hours at night. So far it has said my AHI is staying low (0.4 - 1.7), so I'm assuming this is good and I have no reason to be concerned. Is there a reason not to trust this number or to be concerned about settings if this number is good? I feel like I'm already feeling more energized, if it's possible to start feeling better so quickly. Most of my questions above are out of curiosity and wanting to learn more or head-off possible issues...not about concerns I have that things aren't working out.