Started on Craigslist - Now need a real machine

[Pugsy]

Since you have all the data now on the events, have you done any Oxygen monitoring with some some of the units that will integrate with Sleepyhead? Is everything good now, all the time?

I had an overnight pulse ox done by my DME about 3 months into therapy....no significant desats.

I bought a CMS 50 D Plus and did my own for 2 nights...this was before SleepyHead was compatible with the pulse ox so I used the unit's software...no significant desats at all.

I got bored with it and sold it.

One of my main OSA symptoms was morning killer headaches which goes along with the low oxygen thing...those went away immediately once I got my therapy optimized. Now if they were to return I might go looking for another pulse ox but as for now I am quite satisfied that my oxygen levels are just fine.

On a very rare occasion I will wake up with a headache but since I have a bad neck and the headache usually comes with neck pain it's a fair assumption that I slept in a weird position causing neck pain which causes some muscle tension which causes the headache. Doesn't happen very often.

[Michandola]

I have a Phillips Respironics Dream Station Auto CPAP. It’s my fourth machine since 1999; the others were all “bricks.”


Advantages:
• Automatic means that it will raise the pressure as needed when it senses distress. I think I fell more refreshed than before.
• Good statistics are generated, so you can see how you slept, and make adjustments as needed. In addition, stats are good for your doctor to see how you are doing.
• Machine is very quiet.
• Heated hose is very good, never had rainout despite full setting on humidity.
• Automatic altitude adjustment (good for travel).
• Leak compensation.
• Auto/on and auto/off can be activated and deactivated separately.
• Puts out the prescribed pressure more precisely than my old machine (yes, I verified this).


Disadvantages:
• Machine is a bit larger than the major competing machine.
• Sometimes, there is a burning smell, especially after a potty break. I’m pretty sure it’s harmless.
• Frequently, the water does not last the whole night. I generally wake up at least once overnight, so I refill it at that time. This might not work for everybody.
• Some have complained about the brightness of the display when you turn it off and back on, such as for a potty break. I don’t find this a problem. In fact, I use the light to reattach my mask to the hose.
• The power cord has a proprietary signal, so you cannot use a different cord, even if the voltage, wattage, amperage, and fitting are all identical. This means that if you need a replacement cord (or a spare cord), you have to get the cord specific to Dream Stations. If you want to use a battery (such as for camping and electrical outages), you have to buy an $80 proprietary device to generate this signal.

I have the same one. I am wondering what normal AHI one should achieve. I used it for just one night as I got it yesterday. It shows - AHI of 4.1 and 100% Mask fit. How often you wash your mask and tubing?

[Julie]

You've posted in two different threads - unnecessary - but 4 is a very good number for a first night, though don't make anything special out of it... the numbers should not be considered as precisely as you would take them in some other context. The idea is to have them below 5, but that said most people feel best when they're at or under 3. However, one night won't tell you much at all... you need to get a few nights, or even weeks before coming to any conclusions and not chase 'zero' as some think they should, plus your system needs to adjust to Cpap a bit which it obviously hasn't done yet. It's how well you feel over time that matters and only if your numbers were to go higher would there be a possible problem. It's not about e.g. 2.4 vs 3.1, etc., but more about feeling better and generally staying at the lower end of numbers below 5.