ASV: need to look at data will Encore work?

So I've been having an ongoing struggle with my therapy (tried auto CPAP- dismal failure, switched sleep docs, tried BiPAP during a sleep study, also a fail but it showed that I have complex sleep apnea, so I am now using ASV since 8/23). My average AHI has been hovering around 7 since the initial pressure settings were modified due to extreme aerophagia. Current settings Max 15 EPAP 8, EPAP Max 15, PS min 0, PS max 6. I had been feeling better (hey, AHI of 7 is better than 21!) when this weekend, my AHI climbed on successive nights to 8 then to 12 then Sunday night 18! I went in to the sleep center and the tech modified the settings. From what I can tell the only thing he changed was PS max from 6 to 7. Last night my AHI was back to around 7. (Also my PB went up to 6% where it previously averaged at 0.5%)
Well, now I'm just mystified and I would like to get some idea of what is going on. Is Encore the right program to interpret the data? My hubby is nervous about the warnings we got from Norton about SleepyHead (is that program even usable for ASV either?)

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rosevader wrote:My hubby is nervous about the warnings we got from Norton about SleepyHead (is that program even usable for ASV either?)

fact: norton is one of the worst antivirus programs out there.
encore pro is only far dedicated hard core masochists, its hugely difficult to set up and offers a poor display of the data.
encore light/basic/viewer can probably work, but still offers the crap display of data.

tell hubby to get a clue.

Norton sucks. The old reputation analysis garbage. Took Norton off my computer that runs sleephead.

Encore (either Pro or Basic) will both work with the Respironics PR System One model 960 ASV machine.
I would suggest trying Basic first as it isn't nearly as problematic with the install as Pro is...plus it's easier to use.
If hubby wants to listen to Norton and not use SleepyHead...the only other choice is Encore.
Encore is Windows only software but I assume since you are using Norton that you have a Windows PC.
The reports generated by Pro and Basic are identical so you aren't giving up anything to use Basic.

I use both SleepyHead and Encore Pro all the time without problems.
I have used Encore Basic as a test for Pugsy and it installs easily and runs well.
The only issue with Encore Basic is it is dog slow to execute and I have a reasonably fast machine (Intel I7 with lots of memory.) Otherwise it works fine.

Sleepyhead has some advantages over Encore in that it will import all of the data on the SD card even if you only download once per week or even longer intervals. It also displays more of the available data in graphic form.

OTOH, Encore will only download the most recent data into the "WaveForm" records in case you want to look at how you are breathing. It will download all of the "Detail" information on the SD card.

While SleepyHead does allow you to drill down to the level of individual breaths, if you want to scan the whole night looking for patterns (as I sometimes do,) then SleepyHead is awkward. Encore displays it all, breath-by-breath for the whole night in the WaveForm report and that makes it easy.

Because of the difference in data handling and display, I have both on my machine and do switch back and forth on occasion. My doctors prefer the Encore reports to the SleepyHead ones but that is a personal preference and others have mentioned that their sleep doctors are fine with the SH reports.

My current OS is Windows 7 but I have installed Encore on a Windows 8.1 machine without issues.

As was once said, "You pays your money and you takes your choice." Mileage will vary.

Thanks for the help. I'll get hubby on to installing it as he's the tech savvy one in the family.

I really need to get a look at what's going on, as last night my AHI swung back up to 12 from 7. I don't feel as awful as I did when it was at 18, but still not exactly what you want to see after using a machine for 6 hours a night every night!

ASV users: is this type of swing in AHI something that anyone else has seen, or am I an even more "special snowflake"???

rosevader wrote:Thanks for the help. I'll get hubby on to installing it as he's the tech savvy one in the family.
I really need to get a look at what's going on, as last night my AHI swung back up to 12 from 7. I don't feel as awful as I did when it was at 18, but still not exactly what you want to see after using a machine for 6 hours a night every night!
ASV users: is this type of swing in AHI something that anyone else has seen, or am I an even more "special snowflake"???

I see that often. Mostly my swings are from about 5 to 14 or so. Mine are associated with arousals and actual awakenings that occur frequently for me. When you get Encore installed (if that is what software you choose), you can look at the wave form data and see if the increased numbers are associated with changes with breathing patterns. What I see is a significant change in the breathing data often followed by hypopneas before I get back to fully asleep again.

I'm assuming (often a risky thing to do) that your number changes are mostly related to variation in the number of hypopneas rather than in either centrals or obstructives. If your pressures are set correctly ( not always the case for relatively new ASV users ) then the machine should really hammer the obstructive apneas and only allow a few centrals.

Keep on mentioning ASV in the Subject line so the ASV users will notice more easily.

Cheers

Where do you obtain Encore, either basic or pro?
Thanks for the help!

Follow the directions here for how to get Basic
http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread ... nly-thread