Starting [CPAP] Tonight
I just wanted to say Hi to everyone. I've lurked here for a couple of days after my sleep study, just reading a little bit and learning what I can.
I don't really have any questions at this point, as I don't even really know what to ask. My DME supplier provided me with my equipment today and I will try wearing it tonight. It's seems pretty straightforward. I have watched my father go through this process and while he resisted at first (decade or so ago) he now swears by it and says it has helped him a lot.
I like technology, and I like to understand how things work. I've read the manuals for my machine. Found the guides here on this site as well.
My provider seems pleasant and I will work with her to find the best mask. She sent me home with the one I listed and gave me a cushion and a pillow to try. She said if I didn't like it to not wait until my followup, but rather to call and come in to try other masks. I chose the Dreamwear because of things I'd read here, my Dad likes it, and it seemed to be fairly comfortable when they tried it on me. But it was a very odd sensation to have air blowing in my nose.
I have a open mind and am wrapping my head around all the changes that are going on with my health and trying to make the best of it.
Sorry for rambling. I just wanted to start a dialog and have a place to ask questions.
RE: Starting Tonight
Thanks for the welcome.
Yes, I do have a SD card installed. My provider indicated that she wanted me to bring the entire machine in for my first-followup but that after that point, I would likely only need to bring in the SD card. She seemed to place a significant emphasis on the fact that my insurance provider (Regence) required me to "Rent" the machine for a period of 10 months and that it was compliance driven as she demonstrated how to insert and remove the SD card.
I have the software you suggested downloaded. None of it makes much sense to me right now... I am sure I will learn as I go. I have a fairly strong technology background so getting the data onto the computer shouldn't be too big of an issue..
Understanding what it all means may be a different story.
RE: Starting Tonight
Please upload your daily charts, they will tell us a lot.
See my signature for how.
For basic (and not so basic) info read the links in my signature. A lot of info there, and by all means, ask questions, lots of them.
oh, and welcome to the forum.
RE: Starting Tonight
Welcome to the board, RustySocket. Congratulations on getting a great machine.
RE: Starting Tonight
Well the first night was interesting. I'm sure that is the case for many people. It was difficult to fall asleep. I prefer to sleep on my side, but I attempted to sleep on my back. I felt like the mask was leaking, but then realized that it has some vent holes and that they were blowing air. This sensation was more noticible when I layed on my side. I only woke up twice to use the restroom, which is less than normal for me. Once around 2am and again at around 5am. Normally I am out of bed between 5 and 6 am anyway, but I did go back to sleep for another hour because I felt like it. Both times after getting out of bed, I had no difficulty falling back asleep. I did struggle with getting the mask back on for a moment but got it figured out.
My machine seems to have Auto On enabled because I realized that it started on its own once I began breathing through the mask. ( I have now verified this is the case by looking at the setup menus)
It does not have Auto Off enabled. I am curious why it is setup this way...
When I do get up in the middle of the night I guess I will have to remember to push the off bar. Which is no big deal.
I removed the SD card and locked it. I imported the data into Sleapyhead. At this point it really doesn't mean much to me because I don't really know what I am looking at and what is/is not significant. I do enjoy pondering through data though and I have taught myself how to tune cars by reviewing datalogs, same concept I just have to wrap my head around what the parameters that are being monitored mean.
I will review the links provided by @bonjour and eventually post my data.
RE: Starting [CPAP] Tonight
Welcome RustySocket, you found the right place to learn, share and get the most out of your therapy. Looking forward to hearing more about your journey.
Stan
RE: Starting [CPAP] Tonight
Hi RustySocket,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I wish you good luck on your CPAP journey.
Hang in there for more responses to your post.
trish6hundred
RE: Starting [CPAP] Tonight
I followed one of the guides to setup Sleepyhead. I was unable to find the graph for flow limit. I posted a question about how to resolve this in the software section.
This is what I have so far:
09-09-2017, 02:43 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-09-2017, 02:52 PM by RustySocket.)
RE: Starting [CPAP] Tonight
Reconfigured Display.