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+--- Thread: New to CPAP - Need advice! (/Thread-New-to-CPAP-Need-advice)
RE: New to CPAP - Need advice! - Rtype - 09-15-2018
(09-15-2018, 04:40 PM)avaholic Wrote: Rtype - Regarding positioning, I sleep on my back; always. I never move. I wake up on my back. This was also noted in my sleep study. I've tried to sleep on my side but my arms and legs both end up 'falling asleep' and really bothering me. I know of nothing else that was different last night other than upping the minimum pressure to 13. That's why I was perplexed. I guess I'll just chalk it up to 'sh*t happens.'
After I turned off FLEX Thursday night, I had the best nights sleep I've gotten in at least 2 weeks. The pressure was set to 12-18 then but it never even hit 17 that night.
How about setting the pressure to 12.5 -17? I think I'm afraid I wont sleep well again with the min set to 13.
I'm just as perplexed as to why it maxed out like that on you. Pressure needs can change from night to night (how tired you are; alcohol consumption; sleep medication, physical exhaustion, etc), but I wouldn't expect that much of a change, especially if your position was unchanged.
Absolutely, retest the previous settings and see what happens. Every night gives you a little more information to work with. Maybe 13 didn't set right with you for some reason, just like some people benefit from FLEX and others (like us) don't. Its difficult to explain, it just is.
Absolutely, set the minimum back to 12; and sure, lowering the max to 17 is a good strategy to prevent aerophagia and a repeat of last night.
RE: New to CPAP - Need advice! - avaholic - 09-16-2018
Woohoo! 2nd night under AHI 4 in 3 weeks!
I feel much more rested this morning and am not yawning like I have been the past few weeks or so. I think 12.5 is the best starting pressure for me using this Philips device. I didn't even go near the max pressure and it topped out at just under 15. Also, no aerophagia last night. Thank goodness!
The disabled 40 minute period at the beginning of the session (9:44 pm-10:24 pm) was another attempt at using the cervical collar. No dice. It feels like my neck is pushed up at an angle in the back where the collar hits my pillow. When I took off the collar after only those 45 minutes, my neck was killing me. I'd hate to see what my neck felt like in the morning if I kept it on all night.
I woke up about 4:45 am this morning but just laid in bed trying to go back to sleep for another hour since it was still dark outside. I see on my chart that I actually had only 5 total obstructive apneas listed while I was truly asleep. The 3 OAs at the beginning of the session and the 3 OAs at the end of the session are all SWJ. I think as soon as I wake up in the future, I'm going to immediately turn off the unit and take the mask off so it wont record crap at the end of the session.
There is a number in parentheses next to each event in the Event Flags chart when you hover over it. What do those numbers mean/represent?
I know AHI 3.20 is not AHI 0.xx but hey at least its much, much lower than most others I've been posting. A little bit of progress is still progress!
Saturday
[attachment=8291]
RE: New to CPAP - Need advice! - Sleeprider - 09-16-2018
Numbers in parenthesis are duration in seconds. Glad this is getting closer for you.
I would not worry about quitting therapy in the mornings to improve "numbers". You know if you slept well or not, and are the only one judging this. If your sleep was good, but had SWJ, it doesn't matter. Do what is comfortable and best for you.
RE: New to CPAP - Need advice! - avaholic - 09-19-2018
I'm picking up the ResMed AutoSet this afternoon! Hopefully, it's brand new and I don't have any issues with the new DME.
Reading through my thread again, I found this from Sleeprider:
"Moving pressure back to 12-16, and adding EPR 3 once you get the Autoset will provide a lot of relief."
Is that still your suggestion?
Here are the last few evening's charts. Last night was awesome. Much lower AHI than I've been getting and I feel great today.
Sunday
[attachment=8334]
Monday
[attachment=8335]
Tuesday
[attachment=8336]
RE: New to CPAP - Need advice! - Sleeprider - 09-19-2018
I'm not 'Sleepy' rider.
Just for fun, let's see where 12-20 with EPR 3 takes you. The clusters look positional and pressure might not knock them out without working on that chin-tuck. We'll see. Good luck with the new machine. I look forward to your first impressions.
RE: New to CPAP - Need advice! - avaholic - 09-19-2018
Sorry about that. Edited. LOL.
Re. chin tuck, last night was my first time using the Dr. Dakota pillow. I also used a RemZZZ liner for the first time as well. Those might have contributed to my lower number. ??
RE: New to CPAP - Need advice! - Sleeprider - 09-19-2018
Results are definitely improved. Given the severity of the positional issues, I think the 12-20 pressure is advised. Most people experience steady improvement with positional therapy, so hopefully this is the beginning of a longer trend. Do keep us posted.
I can see how you might be confused...
![[Image: caa593-1-1.jpg]](https://www.standingstills.com/pub/media/catalog/product/cache/75eed2686e01eb22cb4050b2f40ddf97/c/a/caa593-1-1.jpg)
RE: New to CPAP - Need advice! - avaholic - 09-19-2018
Well, h*ll!
New DME was 30 minutes late for our appointment. After finally arriving and escorting me into the office, he proceeds to pull out a disgusting looking ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet.
Me - "Is this a NEW unit?"
DME - "No, its a loaner but It's been fully cleaned and sanitized. That's how we do it for new users."
Me - "Well, I'm not accepting a used unit especially when my insurance company is paying for the dang thing."
DME - "I'll have to ask our manager because this is normally how we do it."
Seriously? It was absolutely gross on the front of the unit. That's what you call clean? Who in the world would accept that?
Ugh.
So no ResMed yet. Oh well.
RE: New to CPAP - Need advice! - Sleeprider - 09-19-2018
Zero hours, new, unused, not reconditioned, refurbished, cleaned or sanitized. Ridiculous. Another DME to fire.
RE: New to CPAP - Need advice! - avaholic - 09-20-2018
Oh my! Great news. The new DME called me and said that they had 'procured a brand new unit for me.' LOL. I visited a short time ago and the unit had no usage! Yeah! I snagged it so I'll start using the ResMed tonight.
Last night was awesome sleep and my numbers continue to improve. I changed the max pressure setting to 19 but it didn't even come close to maxing out. Its odd to me that some nights my pressure spikes way up and then other nights its pretty smooth. I think my body is finally getting the hang of this stuff and I feel great today!
One question re. the difference between the Philips and the ResMed settings, remember that I turned FLEX OFF on the Philips machine. Sleeprider mentioned that EPR on the ResMed unit was a much better algorithm and I should have more success using this feature. Since I'm doing so well using NO FLEX, do I even need to attempt to introduce this feature back at this point? Note that I'm leaving for an intensive week-long business trip on Saturday and definitely want continued success with this new ResMed machine while I'm away.
Wednesday
[attachment=8340]