Want to Try Again--Data From Second Night Seems Better

[gpurcell]

I went through a sleep study (AHI Severe at 95) and titration test in late 2011 but was never able to sleep effectively. I own the System One Series 50 (650 BiPap Pro) that I was prescribed and an Opus 360 nasal pillow assembly. Both are essentially unused. I'm about 20 pounds lighter than I was back then and my sleeping seems to be a little bit better now than it was back then.

What's the best way of trying to address my Sleep Apnea again? Is it OK to just try my existing machine and settings and adjust using Sleepyhead? Do I need to go back to the doc and/or do another sleep study? Are there any particularly good masks since 2011 that might be better than what I have?

I've spent the last three weeks dealing with a father with congestive heart failure and I'd like to try and do what I can to avoid that.

[Wulfman...]

I went through a sleep study (AHI Severe at 95) and titration test in late 2011 but was never able to sleep effectively. I own the System One Series 50 (650 BiPap Pro) that I was prescribed and an Opus 360 nasal pillow assembly. Both are essentially unused. I'm about 20 pounds lighter than I was back then and my sleeping seems to be a little bit better now than it was back then.

What's the best way of trying to address my Sleep Apnea again? Is it OK to just try my existing machine and settings and adjust using Sleepyhead? Do I need to go back to the doc and/or do another sleep study? Are there any particularly good masks since 2011 that might be better than what I have?

I've spent the last three weeks dealing with a father with congestive heart failure and I'd like to try and do what I can to avoid that.

Sure. I'd say give it a week at those settings and study the reports. They'll give you lots of information. If you run into questions, feel free to ask them here.

Good luck with your "restart".


Den

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[gpurcell]

Thanks! Ok, downloaded my OLD data into Sleepyhead (May 2011)

EPAP 9
IPAP 16

[Goofproof]

Your machine retains the settings it was last set for, you also need to download the Manuel for your XPAP. Jim

[Wulfman...]

Thanks! How do I find out my existing pressure settings?

The instructions I posted in this thread will get you in there. They're for the 560 Auto, but the principles are basically the same.

viewtopic/t111651/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1 ... ng#p951212

Be sure to go through all of the settings and write them down before you change anything.


Den

.

[gpurcell]

Thanks! Ok, downloaded my OLD data into Sleepyhead (May 2011)

EPAP 9
IPAP 16

[gpurcell]

Slept for 1:23 minutes last night with it. Just like when I first tried, I can fall asleep with it just fine. I wake up and have an overwhelming desire to take it off.

AHI: 22.35. It gradually increased from 0 to a plateau of 26 over the course of the hour and then dropped down to 19 before I removed the mask.

Average leak rate 4.41 (90% leak rate 22) % of time above leak threshold 4.81%. The graph shows the leak rate as consistent at 30.0 with one spike to 70 for most of the period. About 10 minutes before the end of the recording period it jumped up above 60.0 before spiking at 70.0 at the end when I removed the mask.

[Diamondminek]

You can certainly wake up and take the mask off - just make sure it goes on again!
If you can post the images,I suspect that will be of more use - although people who know more may well be able to make the connections from what you are saying. But stuff like maybe a large leak made your ahi jump or something,I think you will only see from the data.

[robysue]

Slept for 1:23 minutes last night with it. Just like when I first tried, I can fall asleep with it just fine. I wake up and have an overwhelming desire to take it off.

As long as you are sleeping only an hour and a half with the machine, the AHI data is largely meaningless. You need to focus your attention on getting comfortable enough to sleep with the mask all night right now.

As another poster said: It's ok to take the mask off and regroup. But you need to force yourself to mask back up before you go back to sleep.

AHI: 22.35.

Yes, the AHI is too high. But without seeing the data, that's all we can say. And until you are sleeping more like 4-8 hours with the mask, fixing the AHI numbers is a lower priority than fixing the usage pattern.

It gradually increased from 0 to a plateau of 26 over the course of the hour and then dropped down to 19 before I removed the mask.

The AHI graph just tells you how many apneas and hypopneas you've had in the last 60 minutes. So for the first 60 minutes you had the mask on, the AHI went up by 1 every time an apnea or hypopnea occurred. As time passed the first of the events "aged out" of the "last 60 minute window." The AHI graph is not all that useful to tell the truth. The flow rate graph gives you much the same information and a lot more as well.

Average leak rate 4.41 (90% leak rate 22) % of time above leak threshold 4.81%. The graph shows the leak rate as consistent at 30.0 with one spike to 70 for most of the period. About 10 minutes before the end of the recording period it jumped up above 60.0 before spiking at 70.0 at the end when I removed the mask.

You are using a PR system one. SH should have two "leak graphs" one called "Leak Rate" and one called "Total Leak Rate". The total leak rate contains the intentional leak built into the mask to prevent rebreathing of CO2, the leak rate is just the excess leakage. When you say "the leak rate as consistent at 30.0 with one spike to 70 for most of the period" are you talking about the top (Total Leak Rate) graph or the bottom (Leak Rate) graph? It makes a difference in learning how to interpret the numbers.

[lilly747]

Slept for 1:23 minutes last night with it. Just like when I first tried, I can fall asleep with it just fine. I wake up and have an overwhelming desire to take it off.

AHI: 22.35. It gradually increased from 0 to a plateau of 26 over the course of the hour and then dropped down to 19 before I removed the mask.

Humm....could it be that your "overwhelming desire to take it off," is due to possible anxiety of being suffocated with an AHI of 22??? I don't know, but thought I would ask..

If not, why do you think might be the cause of the feeling??

[gpurcell]

OK, here's a screenshot of last night:

Cut bad picture

[palerider]

your screenshot is pretty much no good. it's too small, trying to blow it up makes it unreadably fuzzy, and it's missing important information.

do it like this: https://sleep.tnet.com/resources/sleepyhead/shorganize

[gpurcell]

Ok, trying again:

[Sleeprider]

Your revised screenshot is good-nuf to say that your AHI is predominately clear apnea events. This is normally a result of your pressure and/or pressure support being too high. At 16/9 you have a pressure support of 7.0 (IPAP-EPAP=PS). That is an incredible pressure support and is the reason you are ripping off the mask. The high pressure support can cause you to over-ventilate, reducing CO2 to the extent of causing central apnea (CA). If we assume you were prescribed equipment to treat obstructive sleep apnea (OA), you need to reduce pressures and do some experimentation to find out your pressure needs to extinguish OA, without causing CA.

Just for starters, I'd leave EPAP pressure at 9.0, but change IPAP to 12, and see if you find you are more comfortable, and have better results. Your events may or may not be real, but your first priority needs to be to get comfortable with the therapy. Your settings are the reason you are not able to tolerate the therapy.

Do you know how to access clinical settings?

[gpurcell]

THANK YOU! Yes, I've read how to do that. I'll give it a go tonight.