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Two weeks with Autoset
#1
Two weeks with Autoset
So last night was night 14 and so now I can officially look at the data and make assumptions.

Overall, I'd doin' gooooood. The highest my AHI has been was last night at 2.9.

I'm regularly bumping up against the upper pressure but I'm not going to change that just yet.

I'm still working on the leak issue. For most of the night, it holds fine but it seems as though in the morning, I start moving around more and the mask comes loose.

I not sure what all the pretty graphs mean, which ones matter and which one's don't. Right now I pay attention to the Flow Rate, the Tidal Volume, and the Leaks. If there's an area I want to check out further, then I look at the Pressure and Mask Pressure, too.

Any thoughts or advice?

[attachment=291]

[attachment=292]

PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




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#2
RE: Two weeks with Autoset
To add, I am going to raise the minimum to 12. I think the time it takes me to fall asleep and it at 10 is messing up the averages. Some nights it takes me a while to fall asleep.
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




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#3
RE: Two weeks with Autoset
Hi Paula, You are one day up on me with the AutoSet. My average AHI has been 1.60, last night 1.11. Average leaks 2.36, last night 2.03.
[Image: 2012-11-27_2202_SH5.png]
Would a overhead hose holder help you with leaks? I believe mine does as it keeps me from yanking on the hose when moving. I am also trying to understand the Graphs, we'll get it with time and reading more Posts! I am still having issues with being tired but feel better when I wake up which means a lot!
Tim
Finger Lakes Region, NY
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#4
RE: Two weeks with Autoset
I have been reading lately both the ApneaBoard Wiki and the SleepyHead Wiki. Slowly, it is making sense what the graphs are but still not sure what they mean. The ApneaBoard wiki is still young and lacking in a lot of details. The SH one assumes you know what everything means.

http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...efinitions
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ical_terms
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/sl...=Main_Page

As for the leaks, the problem is the Breeze headgear is hard plastic so when I lay on my back, it pushes it up. Laying on my back is not a good thing for me (legs go numb, shoulders ache, etc) but I haven't been able to come up with a way to stop me from doing it. When I wake up at night, it's because I am on my back and in a lot of pain. I am considering using one of those huge body pillows that are both front and back of the body. problem is, there's not much room.
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




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#5
RE: Two weeks with Autoset
Thanks for the links! So a different mask wouldn't help as that won't keep you off your back, sounds like the pillow thing would work, but with lack of room, what about coming up with a wedge under the mattress on the side where you sleep and only one body pillow to keep you on your side and your side of the bed? Remember about telling me to be creative!Too-funny
Tim
Finger Lakes Region, NY
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#6
RE: Two weeks with Autoset
Paula,

Have you seen Rematee to help prevent sleeping on your back? Just Google it and they should be the first listing, they're kinda pricey but you could make something like it yourself if you're handy with a sewing machine or possibly a MIG Welder ;o) .

On the data readings, I think one of the most important is the leak rate, if you'll look at the daily tab in SleepyHead and scroll-down to Leak and then you'll see how much a leak influences almost every other reading from AHI to Pressure and you can pretty much ignore all those high numbers during a high leak period for AHI, Pressure, Snore etc... The're all skewed (high) during the leakage period(s), notice how there's always a lot of event flags exactly where the major leaks occur and then look at the rest of the time when the leak rate was low and you'll see a more accurate depiction of what actually happened during the sleep period where no leaks occurred.

I think the AHI is the most telling statistic regarding CPAP efficacy but only when it isn't artificially high from a major leak, I also like the Flow Rate graph because I can actually see the different breathing cycles that occurred during sleep, I wish there was some way to determine the different stages of sleep but without an EEG it's not easy, the shallowest periods of breathing on the Flow Rate "should" be indicative of REM sleep and I have noticed a correlation between having say 4 or 5 of these shallow breathing periods that last from 20 to 40 minutes each before my breathing becomes deeper for another cycle and how I feel the next day, when I've had only 1 or 2 of the shallow breathing cycles I don't have as much energy or mental acuity that day.

It took me about 3 weeks of looking at my Flow Rate patterns before I finally realized what they were showing me and why it would be clustered at one rate and then get shallow for a period of time and then suddenly go back to a higher rate from one breath to the next and then stay at that rate for another period of time, but, I feel confident that the shallow breathing periods are REM state, of course these results do get screwed-up if there's a big leak but I usually don't see any big leaks during REM since you're also paralyzed during the same time period and you can't move around to cause the mask to leak.

During allergy season, my horrible allergies and sinus medications also seem to cause me to have fewer shallow breathing periods as well since I'm usually so congested and breathing through my mouth even when I'm awake (so much fun!) that I can't seem to get into a good breathing rhythm with any consistency and then I feel like crap that day, fortunately there's only a couple of allergy season's a year and they only last for 3 to 8 weeks each.

If you weren't aware of it, you can move all the graphs around in SleepyHead to suit you, just click-n-drag on the "name" area of the graph and drag it up or down and arrange them to your liking on both the Daily or Overview pages, you'll see the cursor (arrow) change to a hand when you click it.

Hope this helps you some!

Ren
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#7
RE: Two weeks with Autoset
The Rematee is interesting. I noticed how they used small chested women as models. Don't think it would work for me!

We did briefly try a backwards t-shirt with a tennis ball in the pocket. But I slept on my back anyway then woke up to ribs dislocated.

Wow. 3am? Time for me to go to sleep! Sheesh.
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




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