Newbie / Sore Throat

Hello everyone! My name is Jen. I'm 39 and I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea 2 weeks ago.(49 events per hour.) I picked up my machine last Monday, so I've only used it for 8 days. I woke up with an awful sore throat last Wed and it stayed all day Thursday and some of Friday. It went away and then cam back in the middle of the day yesterday, which was Monday. I have a ResMed Air Sense 10 Automatic. Which was brand new. It goes from 4 to 17 in pressure terms. I have a ResMed nasal only mask which was just released in Oct. but I'm not sure of the exact model. I don't think I'm a mouth breather, but not positive. When I open my mouth when the machine is on and take a breath, I'm gulping air. I think if I did that in the middle of the night, I'd wake up? My "scores" have been great every night except the night I only wore the mask for 5 hours. No leaks at all.
And there is a humidifier which I have set to 4. I think it can go up to 8 but I haven't tinkered with it at all.
Please help!

Is it this mask?
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/pr-dre ... -pack.html
It's the only newly released mask that I can think of that just came out officially in October.

Where are you getting your leak information? Is it off the machine with Mr Smiley face for leak management?
Or are you using the software and actually seeing the leak numbers?

Mr Smiley doesn't mean no big leaks...just means they haven't reached to big leak territory (24 L/min for ResMed machines) for 30 % or more of the night.

You probably are doing some mouth breathing but it may not be very much. The mouth breathing can dry out the mouth and throat and that might be the cause of the sore throat.
It takes very little mouth breathing to dry out the mouth and throat in some people.

Sore throat can also mean a lot of snoring still going on which would/could mean sub optimal therapy.
You really need to use the software to see exactly what is going on in terms of leak (mouth breathing will show up as a leak) and therapy effectiveness.
It's possible that your therapy is not optimal.

For information on software start here
https://sleep.tnet.com/equipment

So you might be mouth breathing and/or you might simply still have some snoring issues going on...and you really need to see exactly what is going on to determine a plan of action.
You may or may not need a full face mask.

Thank you so much for your reply. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the help.

The link you posted to the new mask is the exact one I have.

The only way I knew of getting leak I info is from the "mask seal" info on my MyAir website.
It says the threshold is 24L/minute
And then it says "Good" with "20/20" next to it.

I had no idea there was any kind of software. Will I need to transfer my data first? In order to analyze it?
Will I need some kind of card that I need to take out of the machine? Do you know where the card will be located?
How would I go about getting the card info into my computer? There must be some type of equipment I need?
Eeks. So sorry for all the questions.

I have sever anxiety, so I am going to do everything possible to not have to do the full face mask. I'm very claustrophobic and could not handle the full mask. Sigh.

Again, thank you so much for your help.

Here's the manual for your machine. I think it shows where the SD card should be if you have one...if you don't have one you can use any SD card.
https://sleep.tnet.com/home/files/resme ... -guide.pdf

If your computer has a slot for SD cards you need nothing but the SD card...if your computer doesn't have a slot for the SD card then you will need a little adapter/reader so you can use one of your USB ports.

What type of computer do you have? Windows or Mac?

Alternately there is some limited data available on the machine's LCD screen...you have to change a setting in the clinical menu to get the extra data if it isn't showing up...the manual above will explain how to get to that setting.....Essentials has to be set to Essentials Plus.

Your AirSense machine needs to have a SD card in the slot for you to be able to get the detailed data that is available on the software.

Take things slow...there is no rush...start with the on screen data first as it will give us a starting point.

I don't blame you for not wanting a full face mask and you may or may not even need one...let's evaluate what is going on first before crossing that bridge. If the online report isn't flagging big leaks then it's doubtful that you need one just for leak management.

Here is a link to your clinical manual. https://sleep.tnet.com/home/files/resme ... -guide.pdf
On page 28 it shows you where the SD card is located. Once you have the software downloaded you put the card in your SD card reader. Most computers have them but if not you can buy ony cheap.
Pugsy beat me but I got the page number.

Ok, I downloaded the software and got this message ... I'm so upset. What do I do about the "significant periods of major mask leakage?"

The last time you used your ResMed AutoSet...
was last night (on Monday, November 30, 2015)
You had an AHI of 2.11, which is considered reasonably good
You machine was on for 7 hours, 6 minutes and 1 seconds.
You had significant periods of major mask leakage.
Your pressure was under 10.86cmH2O for 95% of the time.

CPAP Statistics
8 days of CPAP Data, between Mon Nov 23 2015 and Mon Nov 30 2015

Details Most Recent Last Week Last 30 Days Last 6 Months Last Year

CPAP Usage
Average Hours per Night 07:06 06:36 06:47 06:47 06:47
Compliance 100% 86% 88% 88% 88%

Therapy Efficiacy
AHI 2.11 1.12 1.07 1.07 1.07
Obstructive Index 0.70 0.48 0.42 0.42 0.42
Hypopnea Index 1.27 0.43 0.42 0.42 0.42
Clear Airway Index 0.14 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17
RERA Index 0.28 0.24 0.20 0.20 0.20

Leak Statistics
Average Leak Rate 2.97 1.89 1.87 1.87 1.87
90% Leak Rate 8.40 4.80 4.80 4.80 4.80
% of time above Leak Rate threshold 4.51% 1.35% 1.21% 1.21% 1.21%

Pressure Statistics
Average Pressure 8.23 7.89 7.83 7.83 7.83
Min Pressure 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00
Max Pressure 13.28 13.28 13.28 13.28 13.28
90% Pressure 10.34 9.90 9.90 9.90 9.90

SleepyHead is making the leaks sound worse than they are. It has done that to me too.
4% of the time you had leaks over 24 L/min...that's 16 minutes out of 7 hours...not horrible at all and the 90% number is no where near 24 L/min so the bulk of the night leaks were well below 24 L/min.
Probably need to see what the detailed graphs are showing but maybe it was a loose mask or maybe a small amount of mouth breathing but for the bulk of the night leaks weren't an issue.

How to post images of what you are seeing on those graphs...explained here...so we can see what you are seeing.
https://sleep.tnet.com/reference/tips/imgur
and some examples shown here
viewtopic/t103468/Need-help-with-screen-shots.html

I see no need to go down the full face mask road with these numbers unless you just wanted to.

What humidifier setting are you using?

So, sorry, just learning how to post images instead of copying and pasting data which is confusing.

What does the daily detailed report look like for last night?
Don't need all the graphs...only the stuff on the left (in that thread with examples) and these graphs on the right
Events
Flow rate
Pressure
Leak
and maybe the snores or Flow limitation graph if they look very active.
Don't need those other graphs at this time.

Try this little trick with the leak graph...take your mouse cursor and put it on the vertical line right above the 0.0 hash mark...double click the mouse and the leak will go from the static 120 to whatever the actual maximum was and it will make leak evaluation easier.
It's hard to see right now due to the scale but double clicking on that vertical line will make the leak maximum float with wherever the max might have gone to.
Makes evaluating the 24 L/min mark much easier.

See this one of mine...the scale is shows I think 17 L/min max...which probably was a quick mask reseating spike.
click on the image to see it at imgur and then you can click on that image to really enlarge it to make for easy viewing.

Ok! I will try to do this after I get my kids to bed tonight. (I'm at work all day today.)