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nicholasjh1 wrote:but I'll let Pugsy deal with that because the machine stats are much better for determining if that well help, and so is Pugsy.

My concern is that I am not 100% certain that the OA flags are real OAs. I have seen the Respironics machine get it wrong and flag OAs when it is really CAs.

I also can't find how altitude can affect OAs..I can find out it can affect CAs/Centrals. Now I am not saying altitude can't affect obstructive apnea pressure needs and require higher pressures...just saying I haven't found documentation.

So I don't know if more pressure will fix anything here or make things worse. I suppose a person could try more and see...that's all that I know to offer.
Logically and in theory if these are indeed obstructive in nature then more minimum pressure should reduce the numbers.
But knowing what I know about the machine itself sometimes flagging Centrals as OAs...I am wishy washy about holding out much hope for more pressure helping things and there's always the chance it can make things worse.
Is it worth trying? I suppose it is as long as more pressure doesn't cause any problems.

nicholasjh1 wrote:I live a mile high as well. I have had a lot of issues with air escaping my mouth because of it, and it also makes my apnea worse since the regular pressure is lower... so things to try would be limit mouth air escape by useing a full mask or a nasal interface and taping (usually with a couple pin holes), or a wide cloth headband over the mouth combined with a chin strap. Another option would be higher pressure, but I'll let Pugsy deal with that because the machine stats are much better for determining if that well help, and so is Pugsy.

The pressure delivered should be the same as it is at sea level. Your CPAP (the one in your profile) has automatic altitude adjustment. Most current model CPAPs do this at least up to a mile (1.6 km) elevation. Of course, your needs at that altitude might be different than at sea level. Note that if your sleep lab is near where you live and not at a radically different elevation, you were titrated at that altitude.

I am in CHina, and to my knowledge there is no such thing as a sleep study unit anywhere. I am pretty much on my own. I will try to play around with the minimum pressure and see what happens.
My house here is setup the same as my place in the states. Nights are colder here, but my heated tube is comfortable more so than my resmed. Still my resmed averaged around AHI 5. In the states my Dreamstation was at 1 or 2.

I wish I could get the same results here, but maybe I'm just not going to do it. All I can do is play with pressure. OR, could this be related to humidity settings? In China the air is bone dry whereas in CA it is on the humid side to begin with. Should I play with humidity?

I doubt it is related to humidity but it's an easy experiment to see if it is or isn't.

bucko wrote:Still my resmed averaged around AHI 5.

When you give us total AHI numbers they really don't mean much...can you also include the event category breakdown of that AHI. The type of events is important.

What ResMed machine? I thought we were talking about Respironics DreamStation results???

The 2 brands have different algorithms in auto mode and even different algorithms between the ResMed S8 and the newer ResMed models.

This lady - whose name (王立曼) is presented only in Chinese characters - say that she worked in "one of the largest sleep labs in China." It's in the Capital District.

Link ===> https://www.linkedin.com/in/%E7%AB%8B%E ... 97b31b103/

I just wanted to report that I think I have my problem solved now. Thank you all for your suggestions and help.

I am between 3~4 AHI now over the past several days.

I ended up with a min set 11.5, and max set 18. Then I tightened up my mask (a lot). This is working now.

bucko wrote:I just wanted to report that I think I have my problem solved now. Thank you all for your suggestions and help.

Excellent news!

Maybe your dream station was not set up right.