Sleep study costs and expectations

have you tried a different mask?

palerider wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 9:22 pm

Sluggish wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 9:14 pm

I was under the impression the machine would auto-adjust because it’s an APAP.

They do auto adjust, *after* you have a breathing event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gie2dhqP2c Then... after they get pressure high enough to stop the events... thy start dropping the pressure back to whatever the minimum is, because they foolishly trust whoever set up the machine...

So, what that means is that, if your min pressure is too low, you'll have a recurring cycle of events>pressure raise > pressure drop> events> pressure raise, ... on and on all night long.

So, you need to get the pressure high enough to prevent most events in the first place, and rely on the auto abilities to handle exceptions, like rolling onto your back, or REM cycles... etc.

This might seem like a silly concept but why not just blast the minimum pressure? The idea is to blow the darn airway open why be all gentle about it? How do I know when I’ve gone too far?

Sluggish wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 9:33 pm

palerider wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 9:22 pm

Sluggish wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 9:14 pm

I was under the impression the machine would auto-adjust because it’s an APAP.

They do auto adjust, *after* you have a breathing event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gie2dhqP2c Then... after they get pressure high enough to stop the events... thy start dropping the pressure back to whatever the minimum is, because they foolishly trust whoever set up the machine...

So, what that means is that, if your min pressure is too low, you'll have a recurring cycle of events>pressure raise > pressure drop> events> pressure raise, ... on and on all night long.

So, you need to get the pressure high enough to prevent most events in the first place, and rely on the auto abilities to handle exceptions, like rolling onto your back, or REM cycles... etc.

This might seem like a silly concept but why not just blast the minimum pressure? The idea is to blow the darn airway open why be all gentle about it? How do I know when I’ve gone too far?

depends on what you mean by "blast". my current minimum pressure is 15 and my maximum pressure is 20. last night, the machine only had to react to two events, so my pressure actually only went as high as 15.4.

but this is what works FOR ME. it's not what will work for you. you want to give your machine a good minimum setting so that it can raise quickly enough after your events to take care of them.

you don't want to blast the airway open. you want it to be open gently, so that your breathing can be more natural.

so far, i haven't gone too far.

zonker wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 10:04 pm

Sluggish wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 9:33 pm

palerider wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 9:22 pm

Sluggish wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 9:14 pm

I was under the impression the machine would auto-adjust because it’s an APAP.

They do auto adjust, *after* you have a breathing event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gie2dhqP2c Then... after they get pressure high enough to stop the events... thy start dropping the pressure back to whatever the minimum is, because they foolishly trust whoever set up the machine...

So, what that means is that, if your min pressure is too low, you'll have a recurring cycle of events>pressure raise > pressure drop> events> pressure raise, ... on and on all night long.

So, you need to get the pressure high enough to prevent most events in the first place, and rely on the auto abilities to handle exceptions, like rolling onto your back, or REM cycles... etc.

This might seem like a silly concept but why not just blast the minimum pressure? The idea is to blow the darn airway open why be all gentle about it? How do I know when I’ve gone too far?

depends on what you mean by "blast". my current minimum pressure is 15 and my maximum pressure is 20. last night, the machine only had to react to two events, so my pressure actually only went as high as 15.4.

but this is what works FOR ME. it's not what will work for you. you want to give your machine a good minimum setting so that it can raise quickly enough after your events to take care of them.

you don't want to blast the airway open. you want it to be open gently, so that your breathing can be more natural.

so far, i haven't gone too far.

Perfect! Thanks.

Sluggish wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 10:09 pm

zonker wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 10:04 pm

Sluggish wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 9:33 pm

palerider wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 9:22 pm

Sluggish wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 9:14 pm

I was under the impression the machine would auto-adjust because it’s an APAP.

They do auto adjust, *after* you have a breathing event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gie2dhqP2c Then... after they get pressure high enough to stop the events... thy start dropping the pressure back to whatever the minimum is, because they foolishly trust whoever set up the machine...

So, what that means is that, if your min pressure is too low, you'll have a recurring cycle of events>pressure raise > pressure drop> events> pressure raise, ... on and on all night long.

So, you need to get the pressure high enough to prevent most events in the first place, and rely on the auto abilities to handle exceptions, like rolling onto your back, or REM cycles... etc.

This might seem like a silly concept but why not just blast the minimum pressure? The idea is to blow the darn airway open why be all gentle about it? How do I know when I’ve gone too far?

depends on what you mean by "blast". my current minimum pressure is 15 and my maximum pressure is 20. last night, the machine only had to react to two events, so my pressure actually only went as high as 15.4.

but this is what works FOR ME. it's not what will work for you. you want to give your machine a good minimum setting so that it can raise quickly enough after your events to take care of them.

you don't want to blast the airway open. you want it to be open gently, so that your breathing can be more natural.

so far, i haven't gone too far.

Perfect! Thanks.

you are entirely welcome!

djams wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 11:27 am

palerider wrote: ↑

Fri May 03, 2019 2:50 pm

I'd raise your min pressure by one or two cm

And I'd recommend the Bleep Dreamport.

I also mouth tape. With a full beard. Short. Never could get the leaks under control until I got the Bleep. Knowing with certainty that the mask isn't leaking allowed me to focus on the mouth tape. Went through 3 types of tape, and a bunch of application methods. I've got it down now, and boy do I sleep great.

Yours may not be mouth leak. Even more reason to give the Bleep a try

The adhesive cost drove me away at over $1 per day but I’ll consider it.
I’m also curious about your taping. I’m currently using cloth medical tape from the .99¢ store. It sticks pretty good and doesn’t take a layer of skin off with it. Although I don’t imaging you have that issue with facial hair.

Hard to describe my taping without a pic. 3M micropore tape. This will remove skin if I'm not careful taking it off.

Using 4 pieces in this arrangement is what made it work for me.

Sluggish wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 9:33 pm

This might seem like a silly concept but why not just blast the minimum pressure? The idea is to blow the darn airway open why be all gentle about it? How do I know when I’ve gone too far?

Part of it is comfort. If 15 works well for you, why have it run at 20 all night?

My settings are 11-17. It has never reached 17, though I have seen a few rare times where it got to 16.9. It spends most of the night in the 11-12 range. Maybe 3 or 4 short spikes to 15. Rarely above that. So this pressure range works very well for me.

BUT! Part of why it works is that as the pressure goes up (because I am on my back), I get a little uncomfortable and roll back onto my side. So, the spike is short. Without that pressure increase, I would not roll back onto my side. So, if I were to use a straight pressure, I would probably have to keep it at 15 to be successful. And while I could get used to that, it isn't as comfortable as 11-12.

Sluggish wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 9:33 pm

This might seem like a silly concept but why not just blast the minimum pressure? The idea is to blow the darn airway open why be all gentle about it? How do I know when I’ve gone too far?

That's not the idea, at all. CPAP just provides a gentle pressure tto hold the airway open... Which is why they don't raise pressure until after an obstructive event has ended.

djams wrote: ↑

Mon May 06, 2019 4:35 am

Hard to describe my taping without a pic. 3M micropore tape. This will remove skin if I'm not careful taking it off.

Using 4 pieces in this arrangement is what made it work for me.20190331_172702.jpg

oh, dear. hasn't anyone paid the ransom yet?

palerider wrote: ↑

Mon May 06, 2019 1:13 pm

Sluggish wrote: ↑

Sun May 05, 2019 9:33 pm

This might seem like a silly concept but why not just blast the minimum pressure? The idea is to blow the darn airway open why be all gentle about it? How do I know when I’ve gone too far?

That's not the idea, at all. CPAP just provides a gentle pressure tto hold the airway open... Which is why they don't raise pressure until after an obstructive event has ended.

Unless you need 20 cms to hold the airway open - like me. I'll just let my machine blast away in the corner! (I need a gif of one of those people having their face blown off by an air current)

Actually, too much pressure can cause other side effects. If your AHI goes up, you have too much pressure.

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Mon May 06, 2019 5:09 pm

That's the one!!!!!

zonker wrote: ↑

Mon May 06, 2019 1:55 pm

djams wrote: ↑

Mon May 06, 2019 4:35 am

Hard to describe my taping without a pic. 3M micropore tape. This will remove skin if I'm not careful taking it off.

Using 4 pieces in this arrangement is what made it work for me.20190331_172702.jpg

oh, dear. hasn't anyone paid the ransom yet?

Still waiting! Obviously no one loves me.

Probably ought to just state the truth - my wife taped me up like that one night (can't imagine why). When I went to bed I found it worked great!

djams wrote: ↑

Mon May 06, 2019 6:20 pm

zonker wrote: ↑

Mon May 06, 2019 1:55 pm

djams wrote: ↑

Mon May 06, 2019 4:35 am

Hard to describe my taping without a pic. 3M micropore tape. This will remove skin if I'm not careful taking it off.

Using 4 pieces in this arrangement is what made it work for me.20190331_172702.jpg

oh, dear. hasn't anyone paid the ransom yet?

Still waiting! Obviously no one loves me.

Probably ought to just state the truth - my wife taped me up like that one night (can't imagine why). When I went to bed I found it worked great!

At least she didn't wrap it around your head too