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Taylorgtr Therapy Thread
#11
RE: Taylorgtr Therapy Thread
I know this was mentioned before but min of 4 is to low. Set at 4 your EPR does nothing.

The min of any psp machine is 4 the absolute lowest it can go. EPR is subtracted from the min to give the exhale pressure. So the lowest your machine can be set is 7.

Min 7 minus EPR 3 gives the exhale pressure of 4.

I would suggest you set the min to 7. EPR 3
Apnea (80-100%) 10 seconds, Hypopnea (50-80%) 10 seconds, Flow Limits (0-50%) not timed  Cervical Collar - Dealing w DME - Chart Organizing
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#12
RE: Taylorgtr Therapy Thread
Follow-up after 6 weeks:

I've turned in my rental machine, and now have my prescribed / insurance-covered AirSense 11. Exact same machine, so no learning curve there. 

First couple days, had issues getting the SD card to read and pulling data into MyAir, but that seems to be fixed now.

The biggest change has been getting used to the new mask. My first was a ResMed P10 Nasal pillow mask. It fit snugly, but the 'in the nose' thing irritated my nose, and lanolin only helped a mild bit. First few nights showed a drop in AHI, but some nights were better than others. 

Switched over to a ResMed N30 mask. The nasal mask was much better, and a welcome relief. Had issues with leakage from time to time, but the comfort level was dramatically better, so I stuck with it. AHI continued to come down. 

With the new unit, I got a Philips Dreamwear Nasal mask. Similar to the N30 in comfort, but the headgear is much more secure, and once I got used to the 'hose on top', is even better than the N30. I look forward to getting in bed with this thing on, because I know I'm going to have a good night's sleep. 

Here's the story so far:

Sleep apnea diagnosed in October 2022. Probably had it since 2019 or so. 
Initial AHI on sleep study - 41.7
First week of CPAP therapy (ResMed P10 Nasal Pillow) - 6.98, 12.71, 2.01....7.01 _ 
Weeks 2-6 (ResMed N30 Nasal Mask) - 2.01-5.7, Average 2.0-3.5
Week 7 - Philips DreamWear - < 2.5, with some nights < 1.0

I feel mentally more alert, and am no longer falling asleep in the middle of the afternoon. Still need to work more on eating better and cutting back on caffeine and sugar, but now, at least feel like I've got the mental ability to deal with that.
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#13
RE: Taylorgtr Therapy Thread
Follow up after 4 months of therapy -

Overall, I'm doing very well. I've used it every night since 10/18/22, and am no longer falling asleep at my desk....I'm going to run SnoreLab to see if there's any noise at all since the last test (where there was zero).

When I got my supplies after the rental expired (Week 7) I switched from a ResMed N30 Nasal Mask, to a Philips DreamWear nasal mask. Other than the hose on the top of the head, and noise when I push on the face mask by cheek placement on the pillow, I prefer it.

Numbers improved greatly with the new mask, but at the start of month 4, AHI started to go back up. I had a rough average of < 2.5 most nights, with some less than 1.0...but in the past two weeks, it's gone up. I swapped out the first of the replacement nasal insert, and the #'s came down a little bit, but not sure why AHI has gone up...it's still (mostly) under 5, but I'm a little worried that this is a trend. Any ideas? 

       
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#14
RE: Taylorgtr Therapy Thread
In order to understand why your numbers are trending upward, we would need to see a couple daily charts. Thanks.
OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

_______________________
OSCAR Chart Organization
How to Attach Images and Files.
OSCAR - The Guide
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing therapy
OSCAR supported machines
Mask Primer



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.
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#15
RE: Taylorgtr Therapy Thread
(01-24-2023, 05:30 PM)OpalRose Wrote: In order to understand why your numbers are trending upward, we would need to see a couple daily charts.  Thanks.

Got it. Here are 3 from early this month (AHI lower than 1.0). Next post will have the latest 3. 

           
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#16
RE: Taylorgtr Therapy Thread
Next 3 from earlier this week.

           
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#17
RE: Taylorgtr Therapy Thread
And the latest. Do you see anything that might be a factor?
           
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#18
RE: Taylorgtr Therapy Thread
Looking at the chart from the 18th, as the other two are earlier in the month.  It looks like most of your apneas are Hypopnea, same as in your earlier charts.

You've heard this advice before.... you may benefit if you used EPR.  Besides comfort, EPR usually helps tame Flow limitation and Hypopnea.  

In order to benefit from EPR, your minimum pressure should be raised to 7cm.  
I suggest setting EPR to 2 (full time) to start.  This will give you an exhalation pressure of 5.

Currently, you have EPR set at 2 (ramp only) which is the same as EPR off.
A ramp setting of 4 cannot drop below 4... result: no benefit from EPR.

Summary: Set Minimum pressure to 7cm with EPR 2 (full time).
OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

_______________________
OSCAR Chart Organization
How to Attach Images and Files.
OSCAR - The Guide
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing therapy
OSCAR supported machines
Mask Primer



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.
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#19
RE: Taylorgtr Therapy Thread
Thanks, will try those settings tonight.
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#20
RE: Taylorgtr Therapy Thread
A follow-up as I reach the 8 month mark.

Last July 4th, my girlfriend gave me the unvarnished rundown of how bad my snoring was - I didn't realize that I had an issue at all.....and found out via a sleep test that I had an AHI of 41.7. I got SnoreLab, and my snoring was off the charts into "Epic".

Once I got a diagnosis and rented a CPAP (I wanted to get started right away instead of waiting for insurance), I worked through getting used to it, and over several weeks, adjusted to the new way of sleeping. There have been ups and downs, but I ended up adding a second machine at my girlfriend's house to make it easier to go back and forth, and have brought mine along on multiple business / personal trips.

It's been great - while it's a thing to don the mask every night, change out the water, switch tanks every week or so, I've gotten used to it, and now, I look forward to putting it on, and it's almost automatic that once the machine kicks in, I drift off within a few minutes. I actually enjoy going to sleep with it on, because I KNOW I'm going to sleep well.

Numbers have improved dramatically. AHI last year was 1.9, and it's running consistently below 1 (0.82 for the last 30 days). I started lifting in the gym, and my strength has gone up - bench/lat/row have gone from about 70lbs to 130+. Biceps / triceps have gone from 50/70 to 100/140. Now, I'm focusing on improving the balance between my left and right legs - (left leg got weaker due to sciatica), and strength is coming back. 

I still need to lose more weight - I'm down 20 lbs since last year - I need to get another 40 off, but having sleep and strength both help to give me enough energy to start tackling that.



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