Sleepyhead Data- opinions/thoughts

CPAP Talk Help Support Team and Mentors-

I am at the end of my third week with my CPAP machine and it is my new best friend. I can't envision sleeping without it- when I try to explain it to someone the first thing that pops into my head is that it makes sleeping "easy and enjoyable". I have had a brother and a friend say they are going to get checked out after showing them my AirSense 10 machine and Airfit P10 mask- they see how minimal a setup can be. You can talk about how great it makes you feel, but if they see a machine the size of a AC wall unit and an astronaut mask setup they are just not likely to pursue it.

I wanted to share my SH daily data with you guys to see if you had any comments or thoughts on it. My average AHI has been about 3.5 and I actually feel better. I wake up some mornings unaware that I even have anything on. I am not aware of any major leak issues and started to use lanolin last night just to help with the seal and skin lubrication. My wife is due in August with our first child so she might be stealing my tube if I don't watch her . As you can see my pressure is set to 5 fixed, Ramp is off, EPR is off, and I have my machine set to AUTO concerning humidity and temperature. I have not had any discomfort, but there has been some waking up involving fumbling with the hose and occasional awareness of small leaks. Being the first month I'm sure that is to be expected. Also my wife said now I sleep silently (snoring was big issue before) but on occasion she hears me breath and snore slightly.

If there is another screenshot or data page that you would like to see I can post that. Since this is my first attempt at this I'm not sure if I am doing it right.


Thanks to All for your information and data, postings, findings, and overall friendship.

more pressure, less OA and HA.

Yes, the snoring thing also generally indicates that more pressure is needed.

Thanks for the replies- I obviously need to check with my doctor first before I change anything, but what pressure increments would you guys suggest going up by?

Just thought of this- or should I utilize a minimum and max pressure on my machine?

ZZzseekerREM wrote:Thanks for the replies- I obviously need to check with my doctor first before I change anything, but what pressure increments would you guys suggest going up by?

Just thought of this- or should I utilize a minimum and max pressure on my machine?

you've got an auto machine, let it tell you.

min5, max20, see where it takes you.

Thanks for the tip Palerider- I made the change you suggested and felt like I had a good night. AHI was 2.5, did have a large leak during the night which is my first. See screenshot- what do you all think?

ZZzseekerREM wrote:Thanks for the tip Palerider- I made the change you suggested and felt like I had a good night. AHI was 2.5, did have a large leak during the night which is my first. See screenshot- what do you all think?

first question, do you feel any better?

you cut a minute off your apnea time from the night before. and lowered your overall AHI. of course, you shouldn't base anything much on a single night, since we all have good and bad nights, but, it looks promising.

the leak was very brief, maybe just a mask re-adjustment, nothing to worry about. the majority of the night your leak rate was perfectly acceptable.

if it were me, I'd bump the minimum pressure up to 7 and see how things go for a couple nights, that should cut down on a lot of the 'hunting' that the machine is doing, where something happens, (snore, flow limit) and it raises the pressure, then things quiet down, and it starts dropping the pressure, then it's a bit too low, and you have another snore or FL, and pressure bumps up again.

ZZzseekerREM,

First, the large leak is negligible so you can ignore it since it doesn't even look like you woke up from it.

Second, I would encourage you to stick with these settings for several days, probably even a week. I am reluctant to suggest changes based on one day of data, particularly when that one day is pretty decent data as well.

Here's why I would encourage making changes rather slowly: We are creatures of habit and our bodies take a while to fully acclimate to any changes in our sleeping environment. You've gone from straight CPAP at 5cm to APAP running wide open. It can take several days for things to settle down and sort themselves out. It could be that after a week of APAP at 5-20 that it becomes clear that a bump in minimum pressure might be useful. Or it could be that after a few days of APAP at 5-20 it may become clear that leaving the min pressure at 5cm is just fine. But you need to allow your body the time to adjust to APAP and also gather data about where the machine really does want to go. And since you've been sleeping at very low pressure, you also don't want to trigger problems with aerophagia or irritating leaks that are the result of a not necessarily warrented increase in your min pressure setting.

Please note: I happen to be someone who gets very painful aerophagia at rather low pressures: I'm fine when my pressures are in the 4-8cm range. But once they get up to 9cm, I have serious problems. And in my opinion going from straight CPAP at 5cm to APAP running at 7-20 (as palerider suggests) is changing too many things far too quickly.

robysue wrote:And in my opinion going from straight CPAP at 5cm to APAP running at 7-20 (as palerider suggests) is changing too many things far too quickly.

normally, I'd agree with you, but the difference in 5-20 auto (last night) and 7-20 auto, is pretty small, especially given that half the night was spent above 6.8...AND the initial indication was that the night was better, though ZZzseekerREM hasn't reported on whether they feel better or not.

if they don't feel better, I'd lean more towards your caution.

Sorry for the delay folks- my folks are in town. I feel wonderful today! We have done a lot today and I still have some left in the tank. And I am going to need it- we are about to watch interstellar (2.5 hour movie).

ZZzseekerREM wrote:Sorry for the delay folks- my folks are in town. I feel wonderful today! We have done a lot today and I still have some left in the tank. And I am going to need it- we are about to watch interstellar (2.5 hour movie).

awesome, both that you feel better, and aren't flooded out!

Robysue offers very good, and cautious advice, and I disagree with her at my own peril. if it were me, I'd try the higher minimum, and see how things work out, but then I'm one of those instant gratification people and want to get things "in the ballpark' quickly, and then settle down to fine tweaking, if it's even needed.

all either of us want is for you to feel the best you can

palerider wrote:but then I'm one of those instant gratification people and want to get things "in the ballpark' quickly, and then settle down to fine tweaking, if it's even needed.

Palerider, I bet you never woke up with a rock-hard stomach that felt like you'd swallowed a basketball over night.

My caution comes from dealing with really bad aerophagia.

I know that many (maybe most) people don't have any real problems if they bump the pressure up by 2 or 3 cm in one night. But some people do (and I'm one of them), and that's why I'm always telling people to be cautious. You really don't want to find out the hard way that a suggested pressure is high enough to cause more problems than it fixes.

robysue wrote:

palerider wrote:but then I'm one of those instant gratification people and want to get things "in the ballpark' quickly, and then settle down to fine tweaking, if it's even needed.

Palerider, I bet you never woke up with a rock-hard stomach that felt like you'd swallowed a basketball over night.

My caution comes from dealing with really bad aerophagia.

I know that many (maybe most) people don't have any real problems if they bump the pressure up by 2 or 3 cm in one night. But some people do (and I'm one of them), and that's why I'm always telling people to be cautious. You really don't want to find out the hard way that a suggested pressure is high enough to cause more problems than it fixes.

no, I haven't, and if ZZzseekerREM hadn't already been over 9 in pressure, I'd be more cautious.

however, it's up to him, and your advice and caution is good. if he chooses to take the cautious route, i'm perfectly fine with that.

Below are the last three nights after changing to APAP mode 5 min max 20 (from CPAP fixed 5). I feel that my numbers based on the data and how I feel has improved. I feel that it can be better.

If anyone else doesn't have any suggestions or objections I am going to take palerider's advice and set my min to 7.The max is what it is and I don't see any value in adjusting it.

Thank you for your support- it's a wonderful blessing for me.

ZZzseekerREM wrote:Below are the last three nights after changing to APAP mode 5 min max 20 (from CPAP fixed 5). I feel that my numbers based on the data and how I feel has improved. I feel that it can be better.

If anyone else doesn't have any suggestions or objections I am going to take palerider's advice and set my min to 7.The max is what it is and I don't see any value in adjusting it.

yes the max number isn't going to matter since you're never going anywhere near it.

there's not a lot of room for more improvement (which is good), but the higher min pressure should smooth things out, since for a lot of the time, it bounces up to around 7, then drops off a bit, then bounces up again,... might as well smooth that out.

it's good to hear you're doing better.