Need Some Advice Please

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
User avatar
AcedDublB
Posts: 173
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2015 12:19 pm
Location: North Bay, Ontario, Canada

Need Some Advice Please

Post by AcedDublB » Sun Nov 08, 2015 12:45 pm

I am a 68 year old male recently diagnosed with 'severe' sleep apnea after my first sleepover at the Sleep Clinic. I was given press option for a CPAP loaner and mask and prescribed pressure of 14. I forgot about being told of the Ramp button and told the mask provider that the pressure was too high and they got Doctor to scale it back to 12.

I first utilized the Quattro mask which was okay but started to cause a rash at the top of the bridge of my nose.
I then had my second sleepover at the Clinic and the technician was very knowledgeable and said she recommended the Amara View mask and the only size available was Medium she measured using the gauge and said I was right on the line between Medium and Large.

I have been using Amara View mask for about a month now and find it quite comfortable with minimal leakage. It is rubbing on the phylum area below my nose but no bleeding.

I always have been a very poor sleeper who has great difficulty getting to sleep.

Here are my numbers from the Philips System One CPAP for Daily, 7 Days and 30 Days

Therapy Hours. 9.2 - 7.3 - 7.5

Days>4 1 - 6 - 26

Large Leak. 3% - 1% - 2%

AHI. 27 - 27 - 16

Periodic Breathing. 4% - 7% - 5%

The night before last I couldn't get to sleep for 2.5 hours and I removed the mask and when I checked my AHI it was 27, how can that be if one is awake?

Last night I took my first prescription sleeping pill and had the best sleep in the last 6 weeks but the numbers are the same.

I am committed to staying with this as I find the mask and chinstrap not to be troublesome, certainly less than I expected.

My issues are that:
1. I am not sleeping well.
2. I am not feeling better rested, etc.
3. The numbers are not improving and this concerns me.
4. My mask may be too small, see below.

I am away from home on 6 week vacation and don't see the Sleep Doctor until mid- January so I need some advice in the meantime.

I have downloaded the Sleepyhead software and got it working if you need more info to advise me.

I looked closely at the Amara View mask on my face last night with my wife and both nostrils are 3/4 covered by the silicone dam. To me that restricts the air flow but I am only guessing. I will call the 800 number for advice from supplier tomorrow.

I plan on sitting and watching TV for an hour or two with CPAP on to see what numbers are generated when I am guaranteed wide awake. Should the AHI be very low in these circumstances?

I really would appreciate some advice from experienced users or those in the field. These forums are amazingly helpful.

_________________
MachineMaskHumidifier
Additional Comments: Encore Pro 2 Software

User avatar
Pugsy
Posts: 63941
Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 9:31 am
Location: Missouri, USA

Re: Need Some Advice Please

Post by Pugsy » Sun Nov 08, 2015 1:02 pm

These machines don't know if we are awake or asleep when it comes to measuring airflow and our awake/semi awake breathing is very irregular when compared to asleep breathing and the machines can & will flag awake breathing irregularities as some sort of apnea event.
Awake events don't count in the evaluation process. You have to mentally remove any awake events from the AHI calculations.

Could you post a typical night with the most real sleep and not a lot of awake time on the machine?
Some examples of what we like to see and how...in this thread.
viewtopic/t103468/Need-help-with-screen-shots.html
and this link for how to post images.
https://sleep.tnet.com/reference/tips/imgur

When evaluating the AHI we need to look at each category and not just the whole number.
Options for dealing with your higher than wanted AHI will depend on what category the events are falling in and also we have to remove any that are flagged when awake if at all possible.

_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: Mask Bleep Eclipse https://bleepsleep.com/the-eclipse/
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.

User avatar
AcedDublB
Posts: 173
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2015 12:19 pm
Location: North Bay, Ontario, Canada

Re: Need Some Advice Please

Post by AcedDublB » Sun Nov 08, 2015 2:09 pm

I have the two Sleepyhead screenshot images in Imagur but there are no links to message board as shown.

Where do I find that?

Thank you.

Brian

_________________
MachineMaskHumidifier
Additional Comments: Encore Pro 2 Software

User avatar
OkyDoky
Posts: 2870
Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2014 5:18 pm

Re: Need Some Advice Please

Post by OkyDoky » Sun Nov 08, 2015 2:21 pm

I believe Imgur has updated because there are some options that used to be there that I no longer see. But if you look on the right side of the screen where your image is there are options. You may have to click on more at the bottom right to see all of them. Try copying the BBCode and pasting it in your post.
ResMed Aircurve 10 VAUTO EPAP 11 IPAP 15 / P10 pillows mask / Sleepyhead Software / Back up & travel machine Respironics 760

PoolQ
Posts: 498
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2015 10:41 am
Location: Silicon Valley

Re: Need Some Advice Please

Post by PoolQ » Sun Nov 08, 2015 2:25 pm

click on the image you want so it get big, on the right side of the screen are the links to copy and paste here
Sleeping MUCH better now

User avatar
AcedDublB
Posts: 173
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2015 12:19 pm
Location: North Bay, Ontario, Canada

Re: Need Some Advice Please

Post by AcedDublB » Sun Nov 08, 2015 2:57 pm

<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="a/AgZed"><a href="//imgur.com/a/AgZed">View post on imgur.com</a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

_________________
MachineMaskHumidifier
Additional Comments: Encore Pro 2 Software

User avatar
AcedDublB
Posts: 173
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2015 12:19 pm
Location: North Bay, Ontario, Canada

Re: Need Some Advice Please

Post by AcedDublB » Sun Nov 08, 2015 3:11 pm


_________________
MachineMaskHumidifier
Additional Comments: Encore Pro 2 Software

User avatar
AcedDublB
Posts: 173
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2015 12:19 pm
Location: North Bay, Ontario, Canada

Re: Need Some Advice Please

Post by AcedDublB » Sun Nov 08, 2015 3:14 pm

Obviously I am missing something. I have easily downloaded images on many other forums but can't do it successfully here.

_________________
MachineMaskHumidifier
Additional Comments: Encore Pro 2 Software

User avatar
Pugsy
Posts: 63941
Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 9:31 am
Location: Missouri, USA

Re: Need Some Advice Please

Post by Pugsy » Sun Nov 08, 2015 3:28 pm

http://i.imgur.com/e3K0ABg.png

http://i.imgur.com/Wu89b95.png

Put your address in between the 2 url brackets and not at the end of the 2 brackets

_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: Mask Bleep Eclipse https://bleepsleep.com/the-eclipse/
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.

User avatar
Pugsy
Posts: 63941
Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 9:31 am
Location: Missouri, USA

Re: Need Some Advice Please

Post by Pugsy » Sun Nov 08, 2015 3:32 pm

Who gave you the suggestion for current pressure setting?

_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: Mask Bleep Eclipse https://bleepsleep.com/the-eclipse/
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.

User avatar
Jay Aitchsee
Posts: 2936
Joined: Sun May 22, 2011 12:47 pm
Location: Southwest Florida

Re: Need Some Advice Please

Post by Jay Aitchsee » Sun Nov 08, 2015 3:35 pm

You were close, put

Code: Select all

[img]URL[/img] 
before and after the URL, Like in the code above. Highlight the URL of the image and select the "IMG" button in the composition window to do it automatically.
(If you select "quote" of a post, you can see the code that was used.)
AcedDublB wrote:Image
Image

_________________
Mask: AirFit™ P10 Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: S9 Auto, P10 mask, P=7.0, EPR3, ResScan 5.3, SleepyHead V1.B2, Windows 10, ZEO, CMS50F, Infrared Video
Last edited by Jay Aitchsee on Sun Nov 08, 2015 3:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
AcedDublB
Posts: 173
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2015 12:19 pm
Location: North Bay, Ontario, Canada

Re: Need Some Advice Please

Post by AcedDublB » Sun Nov 08, 2015 3:35 pm


_________________
MachineMaskHumidifier
Additional Comments: Encore Pro 2 Software

User avatar
Pugsy
Posts: 63941
Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 9:31 am
Location: Missouri, USA

Re: Need Some Advice Please

Post by Pugsy » Sun Nov 08, 2015 3:44 pm

If you use the img brackets instead of url brackets you get the image below so we don't have to click on a link but it is a huge image.

Better yet would be to find the box of addresses and first click on Large Thumbnail...then copy the last line in the address box and paste it into the body of your text here and it has all the necessary brackets for you.
Plus we can click on it only if we need to enlarge it.

Image


Image

Image

_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: Mask Bleep Eclipse https://bleepsleep.com/the-eclipse/
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.

User avatar
AcedDublB
Posts: 173
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2015 12:19 pm
Location: North Bay, Ontario, Canada

Re: Need Some Advice Please

Post by AcedDublB » Sun Nov 08, 2015 3:57 pm

The Sleep Doctor recommended pressure of 14 after my first sleepover. Due to an error misunderstanding the recommended use of the Ramp button I complained about too high of pressure and they reduced it to 12 where it has been over over a month and I don't find 12 too high. After changing masks to Amara View after my second sleepover at clinic they did not increase pressure.

The tech said that there was big improvements after second sleepover but she said only Doctor could give me the numbers but I don't see him again until mid-January.

As noted previously, should I be concerned that the silicone dam on my nose blocks about 3/4 of my nostrils which doesn't help IMHO. I could order a Large mask on Amazon and try that out, half the cost of buying one in Canada but no point if it is supposed to fit that way.

_________________
MachineMaskHumidifier
Additional Comments: Encore Pro 2 Software

User avatar
Pugsy
Posts: 63941
Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 9:31 am
Location: Missouri, USA

Re: Need Some Advice Please

Post by Pugsy » Sun Nov 08, 2015 4:02 pm

Apparently there is data on that SD card from Dec of last year (3 days) and from a different machine.
That isn't your data is it?

Do you end up sleeping on your back often?

How much of the report for Nov 7 would you say you were asleep?

_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: Mask Bleep Eclipse https://bleepsleep.com/the-eclipse/
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.