New and need help....

Hello all, I have been reading this forum for a while now searching and lurking. I have been on my cpap for almost a year. I am to the point I think I need to take a more aggressive look into the use of my machine. I really had no problem getting used to it, now I put it on and live with it. However I don't feel it is helping like it did in the beginning. At first I noticed the difference right away. I would wake up sore from not moving. My wife was sleeping better she said I slept so sound she had her first good night sleep in years. Now I am back to tossing and turning waking up now and them. Wife says she does not notice any snoring or apnea but she has noticed the tossing and turning. I have a Resmed Vantage S8 Autoset II. I am using a Resmed nasal mask with a chin strap. (I hate the chin strap) I will break my questions down in sections to help. I hope it helps anyway.

I know how to get my numbers off the machine, but what do the numbers mean. What do I need to look at? What should the numbers be?

What is this software I keep reading about and where do I get it? and will it be usefull to me?

I hate my mask... It works I guess, but it leaves marks on my face and I need to have it really tight to keep it from leaking. Hence forth the marks a assume. I have an appointment to get a new mask and I am thinking of going with the full face to get ride of the chin strap. I have tried to not use the chin strap but I am a mouth breather and I think even with the chin strap I wake up now and then with my lips fluttering. Tried taping them once. Sorry but I will never do that again I just could not handle it. Any thoughts on the Full face.

Well thank you in advance, I hope I did not break any rules asking to many questions in one post or not. Thanks again.

Aren't the Vantage and S8 Elite II two separate machines?

In any case, you're looking for your leak rate, AHI, HI and AI. Your AHI is actually a combination of your HI and AI. You're looking for that AHI score to be low -- less than 5 is good, though some people aren't happy until it's even lower than that. Since you're on a RESMED, I hear they tend to report higher HIs than other machines -- they don't cause more of them, just reports more of them.

If you haven't changed your mask in a year, you are probably having leaks due to the seal breaking down. It's time to change your mask. Either buy new seals, a new mask, or try a completely different mask.

I can't help you with the software questions - I'm a Respironics user. But I'm sure some Resmed users will chime in.

There are several Free Test Drives being run for various masks, so you can try before you buy. You might look into those as options to trial some other masks. You can read more about it in the links in my signature block.

Good luck!
Barbara

I hate the full face more than the chin strap. So many leaks so noisy. What chin strap are you using? I wish you could try before you buy. I have been on CPAP for 3 months and have tried 4 masks. I currently use Mirage Swift LT and I love it. I think I occasionally get some leakage from my mouth. But my AHI went from 1.9 to 1.4 using this mask. My pressure is 14. My DME is great so far 4 masks have not paid for 1. He was able to get sample masks from the rep. Also it jus occurred to me 1 year have you ever change the seal or pillows on your mask? As for your question I have seen the software and readers on Ebay and CPAPauction.com. Being new to this also the only term I understand completely is AHI. The apnea-hypopnic index (AHI)-the number of obstructive events per hour-is the most commonly used measurement to quantify OSA: mild OSA = 5-15 events/wy; moderate=15 to 30 events/hour. I do not have the software but I can get it from my CPAP machine.

There are hybrid mask out there but I have no experience with them they look kind of pricy.

Good luck

Sorry about that, typo, it is an AUTOSET II, thinking before typing or vise versa

Arrgh... Monster ate my post.

Mebake, check out the links in my signature block for links to many free mask test drives, including the Liberty and the Hybrid.

As for chinstraps - Look into the cpap.com model Deluxe. That's my current favorite. Close second is the PAP CAP from http://www.pur-sleep.com.

CPAP.com has a new product that is a take-off on the Tiara Topaz chinstrap. It's the Ruby Adjustable Chinstrap. There are TWO Rubys - pick the ADJUSTABLE one on https://www.cpap.com.

Good luck!
Babs

The software is Res Scan - 3.7 is the latest version - you need either 3.4 or 3.5 (don't recall - again I am a Remstar person ) as a minimum for the II series - I think (and please don't quote me but research it) 3.5 for Vista and 3.4 for XP.

However, 3.7 is out there and being sold at cpap.com.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... tware.html

You might need a card reader too. ACR38 is a generic reader some have found to work. There have been several threads on the board in the last week about the drivers, the card reader, this software install issues.

There is LED data available by finding the right key combo to unlock the clinical menu. The directions are posted frequently.

Good luck on your search.

Wow should have guessed it was going to be that expensive. I guess I will just try to get my info off the machine tonight and see if I can figure it out that way.

I am in process of acquiring all of the things to read machine data from card so I have been accessing data from LCD screen and entering it into spreadsheet every day. To get to data you press both the right button and the down button for about three seconds. This takes you to a results menu. From Results enter "EfficacyData" This is where you get leak rate, pressure, AHI, AI and HI results. Exit out to Usage Data and you can get how many hours you used the machine that night.
Daily data disappears at noon, so look at it before noon.
Hope this made sense.