Hello again!
(12-26-2013, 12:21 PM)DISleepApnea Wrote: Doom, your post on 12-24-2013 09:24 PM, which may have taken place after I turned off the computer, was most helpful and I will try to learn how to scale down the image until the user clicks it. I assume this helps waste space for attachments?!
Regarding my screenshots, the forum platform automatically scales down large images. You don't have to do anything in particular. However, I'm not uploading the images as attachments when I make a post. I upload them to an image sharing website (in this case imageshack.us) and then copy/paste the direct link in IMG tags.
Code:
[IMG]http://this.is.an/example.jpg[/IMG]
If my screenshot doesn't contain any photos, I make sure to save it as PNG (lossless compression format), in order to retain every detail and make it even smaller in size (as in bytes, not dimensions).
For capturing I use either the Snipping Tool of Windows 7/8 or press the PrtScn key on my keyboard and then paste the image in Paint (or Paint.NET) to do the cropping and any other editing necessary. Save as PNG, this is important.
(12-26-2013, 12:21 PM)DISleepApnea Wrote: Am I correct in feeling that, while the AHI is a beneficial stat, the amount of time in obstructive apnea may be more important in influencing how well rested I will feel the next morning?
Moving on to the more important stuff. The duration of each sleep apnea episode is not that important, as long as it lasts more than 10 seconds (in order to qualify as sleep apnea) and manages to wake you up. The number of apneas and hypopneas per sleep session is important because it shows how many times your sleep pattern is disturbed. If you keep waking up when entering Stage 3, your sleep will consist mostly of Stage 1 and Stage 2, regardless of the time it takes you to wake up during an apnea episode. This is bad. You want to maximize the time you spend in Stage 3 and REM in order for your body and mind to truly regenerate. While the AHI measurement by a CPAP machine doesn't really show us how many times our sleep is disrupted, it's a much more important indicator than the duration of apnea episodes themselves. Your AHI number together with your total sleep time are going to influence how rested you feel in the morning. Remember, it's not only about quality (apnea-free sleep) but also about quantity (how many hours you sleep). Most sources suggest getting at least 7 hours of sleep per day.
(12-26-2013, 12:21 PM)DISleepApnea Wrote: In any case, once I submit this I think I will set 12 as the min and 18 as the max and see how it works.
If I were you and was going to mess with the settings, then I would try the full range of the machine to see what its algorithm will decide and whether it's successful at eliminating my apneas. Then I would collect this data for a month and compare with the month before. Then I would schedule an appointment with my doctor and show him the improvement. Or I would keep my money and never bother with the same doctor again. But I am not you and I haven't seen your sleep study results and I don't know if you have any special conditions that might require the settings you were prescribed with. In any case, this would be a good topic to discuss with your doctor (or maybe a new one).