Hello Guest, Welcome to Apnea Board !
As a guest, you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use.
To post a message, you must create a free account using a valid email address.

or Create an Account


New Posts   Today's Posts

S9 Autoset Questions - First night - SH data?
#1
S9 Autoset Questions - First night - SH data?
Argh... just my luck. I get my cpap on a Friday, used it Friday night, and now that the DME company is closed, I have a million questions.

It seems like the pressure coming through the mask varied at times throughout the night. At different points, I could barely feel any air and other times, so much was coming through that my stomach was inflating and air way being forced into my ears (or so it felt). Each time I looked at the machine, it said that it was at 14cm. I pushed the "mask fit" button several times during the night when this was happening and for the most part got a green smiley face so I assume the mask was not leaking excessively. Is this normal?

I do have a ramp on, but it's only on for 5 minutes. It's sort of funny... I get this tiny wisp of air for 4.8 minutes then all the sudden, it's blowing the mask off my face. I can't do a slower ramp because it makes me feel as though I'm not getting enough air.

Is it normal and ok that I'm feeling air going into my belly and my ears? Will that improve with time? I also felt as though I was breathing way too fast at times. I noticed these things as I was laying waiting to go to fall asleep. It was distressing at first, but then I forced myself to pay attention to the TV and I fell asleep pretty quickly.

I was hoping to be able to access info about my AHI and the type of apneas I was having as well as info on how many breaths per minute I was taking. Is it possible to get any of this info through the cpap itself without pulling the SD card?

I did pull the SD card and put it into sleepyhead but I have no idea what I'm looking at. When I look at the statistics screen, my hours per night is listed as "1922978:-14" and my AHI is 0.0. When I click the daily tab, it only shows data for 11/14, but I didn't even get the cpap until the 15th.

When I look at the data for 11/14, under details, it says my AHI is 0.0 but on the adjacent Flow Rate chart, it says "Selection AHI = 81.41." The events tab says I had 61 clear airway events and 3 obstructive apnea events.

I wore the cpap all night and took it off this morning then fell asleep for another hour. I don't feel better or worse than usual, just different. My head and brain feels a bit funny and my ears (the ear drums, it feels like) ache a bit.

I'm soooo glad to have finally gotten my cpap but I really, really wish they hadn't sent it home with me on a Friday.

Thanks for reading!


Is there some kind of guide that someone could point me towards?

Post Reply Post Reply
#2
RE: S9 Autoset Questions - First night - SH data?
Yes, the feeling of the air into the stomach and ears is common and it will go away the more you get used to it.

Speaking of getting used to, sit up with it on during the day. Wear it while watching tv or reading. Get used to the sensation of the air, the mask, etc.

Also, stop messing with the buttons! Laugh-a-lot Seriously, the less you mess with stuff, the less variables you introduce, the more you understand what is what.

The "mask fit" puts the pressure at 10. So if your pressure is higher than that, it is handy, but almost useless. Which is why it dropped then would blow harder if your pressure was 14.

Check to see what your ramp settings are. 5 minutes isn't much time. You have the autoset but is it set to "straight" CPAP? That would be why it is going from mild to full. I *think* you can set the ramp start pressure at higher than 4 which will help.

If it is showing info for the 14th, check the time and date on your machine. The machine only knows the time according to what it is set. It believes a day starts and ends at noon.

Setting the clock:
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php..._the_clock

SleepyHead users guide
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/sl...sers_Guide
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




Post Reply Post Reply
#3
RE: S9 Autoset Questions - First night - SH data?
Welcome to the forum.

(11-16-2013, 02:51 PM)sir_sleeps_alot Wrote: It seems like the pressure coming through the mask varied at times throughout the night. At different points, I could barely feel any air and other times, so much was coming through that my stomach was inflating and air way being forced into my ears (or so it felt). Each time I looked at the machine, it said that it was at 14cm. I pushed the "mask fit" button several times during the night when this was happening and for the most part got a green smiley face so I assume the mask was not leaking excessively. Is this normal?
Yes, I think what you are describing is normal.

I'm three years into PAPing. When I put my mask on each night, I can still feel the air pressure build up in my upper airway at the beginning of the night. But if I wake up in the middle of the night? There are times I have to either put my hand in front of the exhaust vent or pull the pillows slightly away from my nose just to make sure the machine is still on and blowing air simply because I've gotten so used to the way the air feels that I no longer feel the air flowing through the mask even though it is still flowing through the mask.

Another thing that can create a sensation of differing airflow through the mask at different times is the Resmed EPR system. Do you know if the tech who set up your machine turned EPR on? And if so, what's the EPR setting? If EPR is turned on, then the pressure goes down by a fixed amount at the beginning of each exhalation and then it goes back up near the end of the exhalation or at the beginning of the next inhalation. You may be sensitive enough where you are detecting that subtle difference in airflow.

Finally, it's also possible that you may be sensing the FOT algorithm kicking in to test whether or not your airway is obstructed or clear when the S9 is trying to determine how to classify a particular apnea event. One thing to keep in mind about wake breathing: Wake breathing is much more irregular than sleep breathing and when you are using the machine for long periods of time while you are awake, sometimes your natural, normal wake breathing patterns are mistaken by the machine for abnormal sleep breathing patterns---the machine cannot tell you are awake after all.


Quote:Is it normal and ok that I'm feeling air going into my belly and my ears? Will that improve with time?
Air in the stomach is called aerophagia. For most people, it gets better with time. But for a few of us (including me), aerophagia is a serious problem that does not go away on its own. If you wind up having painful aerophagia you should call the sleep doc's office. At the start, they'll tell you to just continue to keep trying to use the machine and they'll give you a bunch of self-help tips that are essentially the same as the self help tips for people with GERD problems. (Sleep on your left side; raise the head of the bed; don't eat for several hours before bedtime; etc.). If the problem persists OR if the aerophagia becomes painful OR if you cannot sleep because of the aerophagia keep nagging the doctor about it. In my case, a switch from straight CPAP to APAP was first tried, but that didn't really help. Then the doc switched me to BiPAP and then to BiPAP Auto. The switch to BiPAP Auto finally brought my aerophagia problems under control and I no longer wake up in serious pain several times a week.

Quote:I also felt as though I was breathing way too fast at times. I noticed these things as I was laying waiting to go to fall asleep. It was distressing at first, but then I forced myself to pay attention to the TV and I fell asleep pretty quickly.
These are common sensations for new CPAPers. Focusing on your breathing patterns changes your breathing quite a bit. And EPR can sometimes make it feel like the machine is rushing you to inhale before you are done exhaling. Or at least that's how it felt to me back when I was a newbie. Time and experience using the machine usually resolves these feelings.

Quote:I was hoping to be able to access info about my AHI and the type of apneas I was having as well as info on how many breaths per minute I was taking. Is it possible to get any of this info through the cpap itself without pulling the SD card?
If you really are using an S9 AutoSet and the tech who set the machine up set the Sleep Quality Setting to ON instead of USAGE, then you can get the AHI information from the LCD (along with a breakdown into AI and CAI, which allows you to compute the HI and OAI).

You will only be able to get information on your respiratory rate (breaths per minute) by downloading the data into SleepyHead. And that will only work if the Sleep Quality setting is set to On as I recall.

Quote:I did pull the SD card and put it into sleepyhead but I have no idea what I'm looking at. When I look at the statistics screen, my hours per night is listed as "1922978:-14" and my AHI is 0.0. When I click the daily tab, it only shows data for 11/14, but I didn't even get the cpap until the 15th.

When I look at the data for 11/14, under details, it says my AHI is 0.0 but on the adjacent Flow Rate chart, it says "Selection AHI = 81.41." The events tab says I had 61 clear airway events and 3 obstructive apnea events.
Not sure what the problem might be. But it's worth checking the time on the machine. The "day" runs from noon to noon. So the data labeled 11/14 runs from noon 11/14 to 11:59 AM 11/15. In other words, the 11/14 data includes the data from the night that starts on 11/14 and ends on the morning of 11/15.


Post Reply Post Reply
#4
RE: S9 Autoset Questions - First night - SH data?
I think it's normal to think about and worry about too many things. I also had a hard time even going to sleep being conscious of the machine, my breathing, the noises....everything. All i can say is relax (i know that's easy to say) as much as you can. It's good advice to wear it a while before trying to sleep to let your body and brain get used to the idea.

I'm about three months into this ordeal and it's finally feeling good enough to sleep a full night without stressing about anything. With a little time you will settle into the routine. This forum is excellent to help you learn about what to look for in the data. My first machine was a Resmed Escape which gives NO DATA except hours of usage for insurance purposes. I was able to upgrade to the Autoset which gives me a mountain of information. I am still learning how to interpret all that. Good luck.
Darrell G.
Post Reply Post Reply
#5
RE: S9 Autoset Questions - First night - SH data?
Telling me not to mess with the buttons is about the same as telling me not to breathe. I can hold my breath, but only so long. Grin

I have poked all the buttons and will continue to poke at them until I figure everything out. It's just who I am! However, my button poking is just button poking. There have been no setting changes, aside from ramp and humidifcation, which I do have permission to change. Also, just to be on the safe side, I wrote down all my settings before doing any major button pressing so that I could set it back to normal in case I somewhow messed it up. I'm definitely not going to make any changes to anything significant until after I've passed the 30 day compliance trial.

I would, however, like to see my data. I'm not a good judge of how I'm sleeping as I really did not expect to be diagnosed with sleep apnea in the first place. I want to make sure the machine is doing for me what it is supposed to be doing.

I already checked the time and date and it was appropriately set. It will be interesting to see what happens with the date/daily view after I sleep tonight. I'm off to look at the sleepyhead guide next.

I definitely have an S9 Autoset. The EPR is turned on and set to medium. I'm not having any problems tolerating things / getting used to things, but I want to make sure that what I'm experiencing is normal. My set up, for some reason, did not include me actually wearing the mask while the machine was on so aside from the sleep study, which I can barely remember, I have no way to know if I'm doing it right.


(11-16-2013, 03:17 PM)PaulaO2 Wrote: Yes, the feeling of the air into the stomach and ears is common and it will go away the more you get used to it.

Speaking of getting used to, sit up with it on during the day. Wear it while watching tv or reading. Get used to the sensation of the air, the mask, etc.

Also, stop messing with the buttons! Laugh-a-lot Seriously, the less you mess with stuff, the less variables you introduce, the more you understand what is what.

The "mask fit" puts the pressure at 10. So if your pressure is higher than that, it is handy, but almost useless. Which is why it dropped then would blow harder if your pressure was 14.

Check to see what your ramp settings are. 5 minutes isn't much time. You have the autoset but is it set to "straight" CPAP? That would be why it is going from mild to full. I *think* you can set the ramp start pressure at higher than 4 which will help.

If it is showing info for the 14th, check the time and date on your machine. The machine only knows the time according to what it is set. It believes a day starts and ends at noon.

Setting the clock:
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php..._the_clock

SleepyHead users guide
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/sl...sers_Guide

Post Reply Post Reply
#6
RE: S9 Autoset Questions - First night - SH data?
Maybe you could download ResScan and download your data and see what it says.


[download information removed]

ResMed allows us access to the software because of our educational status. As part of that status, we restrict access to the software to members only. Since anyone can see messages in the "Main Apnea Board Forum" section, we do not post the information here. In addition, an email address should not be posted in a public forum where anyone can see it, member or not.

To obtain the information on how to get ResScan, follow the instructions here:
http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...hines-only

Thank you for understanding. - Moderator
Post Reply Post Reply
#7
RE: S9 Autoset Questions - First night - SH data?
Thanks for the info and link. I will check it out.

(11-16-2013, 08:44 PM)me50 Wrote: Maybe you could download ResScan and download your data and see what it says.


[download information removed]

ResMed allows us access to the software because of our educational status. As part of that status, we restrict access to the software to members only. Since anyone can see messages in the "Main Apnea Board Forum" section, we do not post the information here. In addition, an email address should not be posted in a public forum where anyone can see it, member or not.

To obtain the information on how to get ResScan, follow the instructions here:
http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...hines-only

Thank you for understanding. - Moderator

Post Reply Post Reply
#8
RE: S9 Autoset Questions - First night - SH data?
(11-16-2013, 02:51 PM)sir_sleeps_alot Wrote: I do have a ramp on, but it's only on for 5 minutes. It's sort of funny... I get this tiny wisp of air for 4.8 minutes then all the sudden, it's blowing the mask off my face. I can't do a slower ramp because it makes me feel as though I'm not getting enough air.

Hi sir_sleeps_alot,

Is your machine set in fixed CPAP mode? Or is 14 your Max pressure?

I think you need to have the Start Pressure (at start of the ramp time) and/or the minimum pressure (after the ramp time) increased to be more comfortable, and I think you need to have the length of the ramp period increased to allow you more time to fall asleep. If your machine is raising pressure to 14 then I would think the minimum pressure setting could be raised to 8 or higher. I suggest asking the DME to do this.

A ramp start of 6 or higher (and a minimum pressure above that) would likely make inhalation more comfortable, allowing you to increase the ramp period to perhaps 15.

If you have an AutoSet I think you won't want too long of a ramp time because the machine will not start treatment (will not start auto adjusting pressure to prevent obstructive events) until after the ramp is finished. This may be why the pressure seemed to increase rapidly right after the ramp ended: the machine recognized that more pressure was needed to counteract Flow Limitation.

Our pressure needs are usually position related. I sleep in a snug teeshirt with a tennis ball in a pocket sewn right between the shoulderblades, to keep me off my back and thereby lower how much pressure I need.

I also suggest trying ResScan as a verification of what SH is reporting.

Take care,
--- Vaughn
The Advisory Member group provides advice and suggestions to Apnea Board administrators and staff on matters concerning Apnea Board operation and administrative policies.  Membership in the Advisory Member group should not be understood as in any way implying medical expertise or qualification for advising Sleep Apnea patients concerning their treatment.
Post Reply Post Reply
#9
RE: S9 Autoset Questions - First night - SH data?
It was my first night on S9 Auto and it sounds a but like yours. I was having eruptions from both ends. LOL!
My pressure was 4-16.
It did bring my aHI down to 0.8 from 6.7. So at .least I m getting more oxygenated.
I have a Quattro Air mask. It earned its title last night.
Post Reply Post Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  First night CPAP + OSCAR data Ostrich 1 40 2 hours ago
Last Post: Ostrich
  1 Month In - Some Questions rarmstrong26 4 162 03-27-2024, 06:45 PM
Last Post: jcp519
  Need help with Airsense 10 AutoSet JonUK 2 125 03-25-2024, 06:11 PM
Last Post: JonUK
  Juniper's questions juniper 12 272 03-21-2024, 07:40 AM
Last Post: juniper
  First night done, now what? (OSCAR data attached) Stephaniea0213 5 150 03-20-2024, 02:35 PM
Last Post: Sleeprider
  New - so many questions Matsu1 4 267 02-25-2024, 10:53 PM
Last Post: Crimson Nape
  A few questions!! Iceracer 2 309 01-19-2024, 07:53 PM
Last Post: Iceracer


New Posts   Today's Posts


About Apnea Board

Apnea Board is an educational web site designed to empower Sleep Apnea patients.