Is SleepyHead Essential?

Amishboy51 wrote:I'm not newly diagnosed, but I'm pretty new to this forum. I've been reading a lot of posts and trying to get educated, and I see a lot about SH. I'm curious how many use it, and the reason.

I see my sleep doctor annually; he reads the SD card and either tells me everything looks good or, if not, has the settings tweaked a little. Should/do I need to know more than that? Do those of you who use SH or some other software adjust your settings or bring the results in to the doctor?

Just curious. Thanks.

If you're having trouble, it can be a reasonable starting point to help figure out what could make your therapy better. If you're sleeping well, you may not feel the need to use the software. If you're satisfied with your therapy and your doctor visits, maybe you don't need to. That said, if you're just curious and you have a data-capable machine, you could dive in and start learning about it.

A lot of us haven't seen a doctor since being diagnosed - years ago, and that's because together with software, the understanding of what the features mean (it's easy) and this forum, we are in charge of our own therapy and more knowledgable about it than our doctors who seem more concerned about 'compliance' than anything. And as said above, if something feels off, or we see some feature that's different, we learn how to fix it, play with the relation of one feature to another, and usually solve whatever is wrong. So SH is great, as are a couple of other programs (older ones) and you always know just how you're doing technically, apart from how you feel.

what she said *points at Julie's post*

I don't have a sleep doctor. The only sleep doctor that has ever even had an inkling of my existence is the doctor that dictated and approved the results of my sleep study. I use Sleepyhead mainly out of my curiosity. When I was diagnosed I wanted to learn everything that I could about my condition. However, I also use SH to monitor my therapy's efficacy. While my initial prescription for 10 cm H2O was able to reduce my average AHI to 2.4, I thought I could do better with a moderate increase in pressure. The data indicates that I was right.

If you are comfortable relying on your doctor, and that has been working for you for all this time, then I see no reason to change that. Some of us don't have that relationship with a doctor though.

Sleepyhead is a fantastic tool, but like any tool you have to use it properly

Im currently doing a little side study on the two pillow masks I use. P10 and Nuance gel. Im alternating between the 2 and recording which one I use on sleepyhead and also the leaks or lack of during the night.

Once I get enough data I'll report back, all in the interest of getting the best and most comfortable sleep regime.

Are you really Amish, amishboy51?

It brings up the question of whether Amish people with apnea are allowed to have CPAP machines? And computers to read the data.

As to needing SleepyHead, yes and no.

If your sleep study found "THE" right pressure, your CPAP machine can probably blow it without any further checking needed.

Your needs may change over time. You have a good CPAP machine that records a lot of data. Your doctor can tell a lot and make adjustments with the data from the SD card. BTW, most doctors don't bother to do that, or they only check "compliance," i.e. how many hours you use it per night so they can ring the cash register on the insurance.

If you have a doctor who doesn't really check the data well, examining your own data is a good idea.
If your needs change during the year, you'll catch it quicker reading your own data.
You know how you're feeling, how you're sleeping, etc. Checking your own data can help you figure things out about your therapy sooner and better.

CPAP is literally a lifesaver for a lot of people. SleepyHead is a good tool to make it better, especially if you're having problems.

Amish,

Just to reiterate what Julie, Diver, Archangle, and Merlin have already stated: I, personally, don't have a sleep doctor. I isn't a matter of money as I could easily afford to see one but with all of the fantastic help available on this particular board, I felt like I could manage this part myself with primary MD available as back-up if needed.

My Rheumatologist is 5-6 hours away from my residence so my primary physician helps me with a lot of my immediate medical needs anyway. Really, my primary doc hasn't done a single thing with my sleep apnea except write for the machine after my initial sleep study. She has approved every single change in my sleep apnea care that I've taken.

After initially getting really superb help from board members here, I do not have very many problems crop up. But, when they do, SleepyHead is one of the tools in my toolbox (thanks Mark) to help work through the issue. I actually just ran a check two days ago with SH and all was as expected!

Good Luck,
TheWino

Your doctor might look at your numbers occasionally, but if you have issues breathing, do you REALLY want to depend on his/her schedule? I dont. Of course...I never met the guy (?)who prescribed my equipment...If you want to know how things are going and aren't intimidated by a bit of self taught or forum guidance reading of graphs and such...SH is a very useful tool.
Essential? Not to some minds...maybe not at all...but to be self reliant? Close to it.

Tatooed Lady wrote:Essential? Not to some minds...maybe not at all...but to be self reliant? Close to it.

sadly, far too many minds these days consider knowledge itself to be of little use.