SH Charts Comparison,......

I was just curious what the experts think of this small sample of two charts. The first is the last session with my old machine at a constant 8cm with EPR at 3, and is very typical of an average result for the brief period of time I tried cpap.

The second chart was from last night with my new 'cash' machine. I started with a short run, and I even backed the pressure down to 6cm to see what happened. My prescription pressure was the 8cm, but I'm experimenting now that I'm on my own. Figure I can adjust it upwards little by little.

I'm kind of shocked at how low my AHI is, and even more so by the fact there is not a single hypop, or obstructive event. Nothing but three very short centrals, one of which I know isn't real. Makes me wonder if the pressure made a difference, if it was just a really good period, or the machine is not reading correctly. This is the first chart ever that has shown zero events in either of those two categories, but it is also the first one at 6cm of pressure.

I am also confused as to why it doesn't show two pressure lines in the second chart. I have EPR on at 3, but I also know the lowest the machine will go is 4cm. Still you would think there would be a line at 6 and 4. Also I noticed there is no entry for EPAP under the statistics area on the second chart.

Just looking for thoughts while I drink a cup of coffee.

Mark55 wrote: I am also confused as to why it doesn't show two pressure lines in the second chart. I have EPR on at 3, but I also know the lowest the machine will go is 4cm. Still you would think there would be a line at 6 and 4. Also I noticed there is no entry for EPAP under the statistics area on the second chart.

It's because when you decreased to 6 and left the EPR at 3 it was not able to decrease to 3. If you had decreased the EPR to 2 or less the lines and EPAP values would show up.

In other words you weren't getting the benefit of EPR.

OkyDoky wrote:

Mark55 wrote: I am also confused as to why it doesn't show two pressure lines in the second chart. I have EPR on at 3, but I also know the lowest the machine will go is 4cm. Still you would think there would be a line at 6 and 4. Also I noticed there is no entry for EPAP under the statistics area on the second chart.

It's because when you decreased to 6 and left the EPR at 3 it was not able to decrease to 3. If you had decreased the EPR to 2 or less the lines and EPAP values would show up.

I figured that had something to do with it, but thanks for confirming!

I think the EPR still is working but it has a lower limit of 4 so it is drawing a line at 4 but that is not visible with the x-axis at 4.

TASmart wrote:I think the EPR still is working but it has a lower limit of 4 so it is drawing a line at 4 but that is not visible with the x-axis at 4.

I thought about that as well TAS, but I'm thinking now that the other poster might be right, and my settings totally disabled the EPR? That would explain why it is not listed under the statistics area,...right under pressure, as in the first chart.

OkyDoky wrote:

Mark55 wrote: I am also confused as to why it doesn't show two pressure lines in the second chart. I have EPR on at 3, but I also know the lowest the machine will go is 4cm. Still you would think there would be a line at 6 and 4. Also I noticed there is no entry for EPAP under the statistics area on the second chart.

It's because when you decreased to 6 and left the EPR at 3 it was not able to decrease to 3. If you had decreased the EPR to 2 or less the lines and EPAP values would show up.

In other words you weren't getting the benefit of EPR.

You nailed it. I went to a constant 7cm, and EPR of 2cm. This short chart from last night now shows the EPR listed as well as the graph lines. The machine recorded a couple of OA events as well. Not that I'm happy to have them, I'm just glad to see the machine is capable of picking them up.

Now back to trying to figure out how to get my numbers as low as possible. Anyone,....feel free to chime in with suggestions. I can use all the help I can get!

Were you awake when the ramp period ended last night?
If you were awake then it is very possible that the first and maybe second OA flag was SWJ (Sleep/Wake/Junk) and not real and if not real we ignore them and they are removed from the evaluation process.

How come only 2 1/2 hours last night?

Pugsy wrote:Were you awake when the ramp period ended last night?
If you were awake then it is very possible that the first and maybe second OA flag was SWJ (Sleep/Wake/Junk) and not real and if not real we ignore them and they are removed from the evaluation process.

How come only 2 1/2 hours last night?

Those first two were centrals, but yes,...I am almost certain I was awake because I felt the machine shift to full pressure while I was still awake.

The 2.5 hours is because I woke up to go to the rest room and decided I had enough. I wasn't planning on starting back on the machine at all until Monday because I took off work all this week. I decided to do a couple of short runs though, just to start getting used to the thing again, and to make sure the new machine works right. I intend to get back on it seriously next week.

Long story short,......I didn't want to ruin my 'vacation week' by starting to get reacquainted with the alien.

Sorry...I didn't look close at those first 2 event flags.
They aren't real and of course would be removed from the AHI mentally for evaluation purposes. If you take them out the AHI is really quite low and even as it is if they were real not in any urgent need to be improved upon.

My recommendation for the present...don't dwell on "getting the numbers as low as possible" for the time being. They aren't bad right now anyway.
Instead dwell on getting used to having that alien being stuck on your face and getting good decent (and enough hours) sleep.
Without the sleep it doesn't really matter what the numbers are anyway.
So do whatever it takes to become up close and personal friends with the alien.

Once you are actually sleeping better so less chance of SWJ event flags...the numbers will come down on their own anyway.

FWIW...it took me several months for my brain to be totally cool with the alien on my face. For several months my brain would nudge me awake just to point out that there was something alien on my face. It never was a comfort thing...just a "hey dude there's an alien on your face blowing air up your nose". So I would have a lot of wake ups initially for no special reason that I could think of. Then once that lessened some of the wake ups were "is the machine and mask even on" type of wake ups.

The "getting enough hours" statement is a tough one for me. I have always been a night owl to a degree, and even though I get up at 5:15am, I just can't get myself to go to bed at 9 to 10pm. I typically get somewhere between 5 and 6 hours a night. My other 'issue' is one we both deal with it seems. My back and neck start to give me fits if I am in bed longer than about 6 hours.

You can see clearly between those two latest charts that I am dealing with periodic mouth breathing still. Last night I didn't bother to use my chin strap since I went to bed so late, and didn't even have a problem. The night before,......bad mouth leaks, and I know by the sore throat I woke up with.

I am going to have to face the fact I really need a FFM I guess. I have tried the chin strap, and I have added the hair 'thingey' that Jay recommended. The combo reduced it a lot, but I don't think I can get used to wearing the Brevida and its headgear,... a chinstrap over and behind my head, and a 'thingey' over my mouth and around my neck,...it's just too much. So far my only experience with the FFM was in my titration study. First they tried a nasal mask,....no go, couldn't breathe. Second they used some off brand FFM that leaked like crazy,....no go. Finally the guy tried the one he uses, which he said was old school (Mirage Quattro) and I managed to sleep for 4 hours. The problem with that mask was that when I woke up I had a blood red patch on my forehead, as well as my nose bridge, and the top of my nose felt like somebody had punched me for a couple of days. I'm considering trying an AirFit F10, or F20 at this point, but I have kept trying to find a way to make the Brevida work since it is very comfortable on me, and it virtually is leak proof unless I try and bury my head in the pillow, which is rare.

So far, leaving out leakage problems,....mask problems etc., the hardest part of this therapy for me to get used to is actually the pressure itself. I breathe very shallow, and slow by nature when I am fully relaxed. The machine makes me feel like it's trying to force me to take in more air than I need/want, and I find myself in this artificial breathing rhythm that kind of feels robotic and unnatural. It hits me worst of all when I go back to bed in the wee hours after a rest room break. I find it very distracting,....much more so than being bothered by having something on my face.

It is something that I guess I will just have to get used to. I just need to get myself in the right frame of mind,.... that this is something I must do for my long term health.

Play with EPR settings to see if one of them or none of them lets you feel more natural breathing.

And yes...back issues and pain issues really complicate things and sometimes we have to compromise.
More on that later. I gotta run....turkey dinner is calling.