Apnea Board Forum - CPAP | Sleep Apnea
New to all of this and would appreciate input - Printable Version

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New to all of this and would appreciate input - WantToSleepXD - 08-02-2020

Hi all,

I've had pretty bad sleep all of my life. I've had other health issues where doctors have also said "you might have sleep apnea, you should probably get a sleep study done." To get a better sense of what was going on (understanding it is not a replacement for a full sleep study), I purchased a pulse oximeter and have used it for several nights. I attached two of the reports to this post.

Well, I figure it was cheaper to get an apap and try it myself than to get a sleep study done + possibly needing to get a machine. I recently picked up a Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset for $200. Runtime says 0 hours but my guess it's been reset.

It came with the humidifier reservoir and a new cushion for the Resmed Airfit N10 mask (mask itself is used). I disinfected the tubing and mask by filling a sink with warm water and adding 1/4~ cup of bleach, making sure to fill the tubing with the solution and running solution through it from end to end before leaving it to soak for 10-15 minutes.

Looking at others' OSCAR reports, it looks like using this machine and viewing the data in OSCAR will tell me relatively quickly if I need to be using this machine or not.

My plan is to start at a low pressure, one that may be considered insufficient for treatment, so that the data would show a suboptimal AHI, indicating that I do have sleep apnea and should continue to use the machine at a higher pressure.

What I would very much appreciate comments on are:
1. How do my pulse oximeter reports look?
2. Is what I laid out a reasonable plan of attack?
3. Comments on anything I might be missing/overlooking

Thank you in advance.


RE: New to all of this and would appreciate input - Sleeprider - 08-03-2020

First welcome to Apnea Board. You got an outstanding deal on the Airsense 10 Autoset with zero run hours. Run hours can not be reset, only user hours and therapy data, so you got a new one. OSCAR data is going to be much more helpful than the oximeter data alone. The desaturation events on your SpO2 data are fairly typical for sleep apnea and they roughly correlate with increased pulse. It appears the events cluster, so it will be interesting to see if a positional apnea issue is indicated in Oscar. The positional apnea wiki shows the pattern positional apnea when using CPAP, and how we deal with it http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php/Optimizing_therapy#Positional_Apnea

If you are looking for a starting place for your Autoset, then start with Auto CPAP mode with minimum pressure at 7.0, maximum pressure 14.0 and EPR on full-time at 3. EPR is "exhale pressure relief" and works like a bilevel machine with pressure support corresponding to the setting of 1, 2 or 3. It increases comfort and actually has a therapeutic benefit for flow limitation and hypopnea. Post a chart and let's get to it.


RE: New to all of this and would appreciate input - ardenum - 08-03-2020

(08-03-2020, 07:43 AM)Sleeprider Wrote: Run hours can not be reset, only user hours and therapy data, so you got a new one. 

Run hours are only indicative of the motherboard, there's no real way to check how old the motor is. If one were to disassemble the device, if the motor chassis is white, then it might be new. It's made of nylon so after a few months it turns yellow. The filter inside the motor also discolors after some time so that could also indicate age. In the motor assembly, inside the blue sleeve, the motor is encased in translucent plastic. If the motor is new the transparent cover will be clean and there will be no black powdery residue visible.


RE: New to all of this and would appreciate input - Crimson Nape - 08-03-2020

Thank you for that detailed reply but you are getting into the weeds.  I don't believe the OP wants to field strip his CPAP . . . Just wanted general knowledge.


RE: New to all of this and would appreciate input - WantToSleepXD - 08-04-2020

Here is a chart from last night's use of the machine. I set it according to the suggestions by Sleeprider (APAP mode, 7-14 pressure, EPR: full-time, 3).

I'm not sure to what extent my mask isn't fitting me properly, and it feels quite uncomfortable. As previously mentioned I have the resmed Airfit N10 mask. I typically breath through my mouth so having to use a nasal mask, I feel like I have to force myself to breath through my nose.

The first night, which was two nights ago, I actually had terrible sleep with the machine (heard this is par for the course when getting used to the mask).

Tonight was better but I still felt like it was very uncomfortable forcing myself to breath through my nose. I felt like it took me a long time to fall asleep because a part of my brain had to make sure I was breathing through my nose. While I was trying to fall asleep I felt like I wasn't getting enough air while breathing through my nose and had to forcefully inhale and exhale more.

I only managed to get 5.5 hours of sleep. I felt pretty groggy when I got up but I feel alright now. Might even feel a bit better than normal but could be placebo.

How do I know if my mask is fit properly? I can feel air escaping both while inhaling and exhaling. Might try a full face mask.


RE: New to all of this and would appreciate input - staceyburke - 08-04-2020

I will let the experts here give you their take on the charts. All masks have an export vent and all will “leak” at that point. Leaks from around the part the touches the face is considered a leak. The mask that leaks the least are nasal pillows. Most full face masks tend to leak more because they touch a much larger amount


RE: New to all of this and would appreciate input - WantToSleepXD - 08-04-2020

I'm looking into the Respironics Dreamwear right now. The current mask feels awful.


RE: New to all of this and would appreciate input - staceyburke - 08-04-2020

You can go to the home page and on the left column there are product reviews for masks.  That would be a good place to start.  You will see that everyone has some problems with their masks.


RE: New to all of this and would appreciate input - WantToSleepXD - 08-04-2020

I actually like to tinker with stuff so I did open my unit, though I stopped short of disassembling the motor assembly. It looked to be in very good condition though I did see dust/dirt in some places like around the home button and on the motherboard.

Also, the bag that it came in with all the accessories had a used nasal cushion plus medical papers for 2015 or so, so I think the unit was definitely used. Strange that it showed 0 run hours.


RE: New to all of this and would appreciate input - Sleeprider - 08-04-2020

That is a relatively old unit from the first year the Airsense 10 was manufactured. I suspect it was re-flashed. Without a link, where did you get it? There was a lot of recent experimentation with these machines to open up therapy modes like Vauto, ST, and ASV that they are capable of with a hack.

As far as your results. Looks good, but reduce EPR to 2.