CPAP compliance / sleep hours logged

Question: How many hours of sleep per night do you have to average to be deemed compliant w/CPAP therapy? I have my 30 day compliance check-up scheduled for 10 days from today, and I'm concerned about not being compliant. Not bc I don't use my CPAP machine (I use it every night), but bc I don't sleep all that much.

I have been making a concerted effort to get more sleep. I usually get anywhere from 5.5-6 hours per night. On Friday nights, I get more (approx. 9 hrs), but that's my only day to sleep in.

I work 65-70 hrs per week, and commute for an additional 18 hrs. That's the average. There are certain weeks I work more than 70 hrs (my current record is 98 hrs), but those weeks are rare. So therein lies the issue of my low sleep hours.

I depends on the insurance but most often it is 4 + hours of use (therapy use as with a live person hooked up to the machine) for 70% of the nights in a 30 day period.

Using it for 9 hours one night doesn't give a free ride to not use it the next night and use an average between the 2 nights.
Just turning it on an letting it blow all by itself won't count because the machine will recognize that it isn't sensing any live breathing on the other end..

Now awake time using the machine (before you go to sleep or while watching TV or reading) will count in those needed hours.
The machine doesn't know if you are awake or not...it just knows if you are attached or not.

If it has been almost 30 days...you may have met compliance already or are very close.
Just count the night with 4 or more hours of use and if 21 or more (or close to it since you are 10 days away) you should be fine.

OK good! I couldn't remember if it was 4 hrs or 6 hrs. For some reason, I thought it was 6 hrs per night, and so I had a mild freak out moment, bc I didn't want them to find me UNcompliant and make pay for the machine or something. OK I'm def compliant then. ::sigh of relief:: Thanks Pugsy!

Hey Windy,

Just thought I'd drop in to tell you how great it is to see you still here and gaining the upper hand in battling your CPAP into submission. Yeah, the regulars who have already tamed their machines can swap tips and mask reviews and such, but what really makes participating in this forum rewarding is when we see new members like you come here for help, find useful information and advice, and go on to success in controlling their therapy.

Congratulations on your success... I smile just a little every time I see one of your posts and think, "Right on... Windy is still in the game... and winning!"

djhall wrote: I smile just a little every time I see one of your posts and think, "Right on... Windy is still in the game... and winning!"

Oh my goodness, do people like you really exist? You are so fantastically kind. Thank you for your encouraging words! As I've said before, I don't have any friends or family members with OSA, so no one seems to really understand where I'm coming from. They try to be sympathetic, but they don't really get the full extent of what it has done to my life. In that regard, this forum has been a Godsend for me. Instant community.

So here is my very first victory I thought I would share with you: On Tuesday, I had court in downstate Illinois (I'm an atty). After it was over, I had a 6 hour drive back home, and (drumroll.....) I didn't have daytime driving drowsiness ONCE. That was a huge victory for me!!!

Before I started CPAP... it was bad. I was constantly having to pull over at random dinky interstate truck stops and take a 30 min snooze inside my locked car, bc seconds before, I had noticed myself nodding off at the wheel. There were even a some instances where I fell asleep at the wheel while stopped at a traffic light during the 1-2 min I waited for it to turn from red to green. That's how bad things once were. So the fact that I was able to drive 6 hours in one go-- WOW! I haven't been able to do that since... ever.

I don't feel that "whole new person" feeling I keep hearing about, but I have hope that it will come. In the meantime, I'm channeling Barney from HIMYM and giving myself a "Self-Five!" for my first small victory

Trust me that there are a lot of us that read your (and almost everyone that's struggling) posts and cheer a little every time you win a little battle.

We're all struggling one way or another and it's good to see someone winning a little.

WindyCityEsq wrote:Oh my goodness, do people like you really exist? You are so fantastically kind. Thank you for your encouraging words!

Aw, shucks, there's lots of folks like that on here... I just happened to remember how afraid I was that I was bothering people when I first started asking questions here and I never realized anyone might actually enjoy seeing me succeed with their help until I was on the other side.

WindyCityEsq wrote:Before I started CPAP... it was bad. I was constantly having to pull over at random dinky interstate truck stops and take a 30 min snooze inside my locked car, bc seconds before, I had noticed myself nodding off at the wheel. There were even a some instances where I fell asleep at the wheel while stopped at a traffic light during the 1-2 min I waited for it to turn from red to green. That's how bad things once were. So the fact that I was able to drive 6 hours in one go-- WOW! I haven't been able to do that since... ever.

Oh, yeah... It may seem like a small thing to someone who hasn't lived it, but dear god have we all been there! I could live with the rest stop naps when I was driving alone, but being invited by family to have dinner at their house and falling asleep while sitting on the couch afterward... Taking a roadtrip to Vegas and the Grand Canyon with my girlfriend and being unable to stay awake in the car for even one entire day...

WindyCityEsq wrote:I don't feel that "whole new person" feeling I keep hearing about, but I have hope that it will come.

From what you've said I'm pretty sure it will, but unfortunately it appears you will be one of the many for whom the transition happens with healing over time rather than an immediate change after a few good night's sleep. For those people the changes happen slowly enough that they usually only notice it when one day they realize, "Say... I haven't taken a roadside nap in months." Though occasionally they have that "wow" moment in reverse if they spend a night without the machine and can't believe they ever lived like that the next morning!

How is it that i am sleeping 6 hours but the machine only logs 3.6? Also, I slept for 9 hours and only got credited for 6.3? I have to get in compliance in 30 days, but it won't happen if i keep getting screwed by the machine!

Tired of the BS! wrote:How is it that i am sleeping 6 hours but the machine only logs 3.6? Also, I slept for 9 hours and only got credited for 6.3? I have to get in compliance in 30 days, but it won't happen if i keep getting screwed by the machine!

Well, first of all, you need to understand how and when these machines clock and record the hours.

By the way, you didn't mention anything about which machine (make and model) you're using and whether you're using software to monitor your therapy. If you were, you'd be able to get a complete picture of what's going on and why it's doing what it's doing.

But, generally, virtually ALL manufacturers use Noon to Noon as the usage "day". Also, if you're checking your usage (like in the LCD) too soon, it won't show all of it and if you're checking it after Noon (if you're using a ResMed machine), it resets the previous days' usage (but collects it for the long-term history). If you're sleeping past noon, the hours past Noon will be added to the next day's accumulation.

So, if you've got a data-capable machine, get the software (like Sleepyhead) and get familiar with your data, read your manuals (or get a .pdf copy of your machine's clinical manual)......and stop complaining.......if you don't understand how they record data.


Den

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Wulfman... wrote:

Tired of the BS! wrote:How is it that i am sleeping 6 hours but the machine only logs 3.6? Also, I slept for 9 hours and only got credited for 6.3? I have to get in compliance in 30 days, but it won't happen if i keep getting screwed by the machine!

Well, first of all, you need to understand how and when these machines clock and record the hours.

By the way, you didn't mention anything about which machine (make and model) you're using and whether you're using software to monitor your therapy. If you were, you'd be able to get a complete picture of what's going on and why it's doing what it's doing.

But, generally, virtually ALL manufacturers use Noon to Noon as the usage "day". Also, if you're checking your usage (like in the LCD) too soon, it won't show all of it and if you're checking it after Noon (if you're using a ResMed machine), it resets the previous days' usage (but collects it for the long-term history). If you're sleeping past noon, the hours past Noon will be added to the next day's accumulation.

So, if you've got a data-capable machine, get the software (like Sleepyhead) and get familiar with your data, read your manuals (or get a .pdf copy of your machine's clinical manual)......and stop complaining.......if you don't understand how they record data.


Den

.

EDIT TO Fix POST

+1 I hear your flustration and anger, but You have got to take control of your treatment before it's too late...

This happend to me and I came VERY close to losing my machine. I kept telling the DME that I was using my machine and the usage on the machine showed I was using it too. But the stupid, unhelpful DME kept saying that Usage did not mean" therapy" and I could not figure out how I could make the machine give me "Therapy." The DME sure as hell was not telling me.

THEN I found this board at the last minute and discovered I had a "BRICK'" (machine with no REAL DATA). When the the DME ran my SD Card, they saw usage with NO "Back Pressure" (indicating the machine was running but NO ONE was breathing into the mask). My leaks were so bad the machine could not tell I had my Mask On: and I was sleeping through this. This may or may not be your problem, but I suggest you do as Den suggested while you still have a machine...good luck and hope to see you here..

WindyCityEsq wrote:Question: How many hours of sleep per night do you have to average to be deemed compliant w/CPAP therapy? I have my 30 day compliance check-up scheduled for 10 days from today, and I'm concerned about not being compliant. Not bc I don't use my CPAP machine (I use it every night), but bc I don't sleep all that much.

I have been making a concerted effort to get more sleep. I usually get anywhere from 5.5-6 hours per night. On Friday nights, I get more (approx. 9 hrs), but that's my only day to sleep in.

I work 65-70 hrs per week, and commute for an additional 18 hrs. That's the average. There are certain weeks I work more than 70 hrs (my current record is 98 hrs), but those weeks are rare. So therein lies the issue of my low sleep hours.

Only your insurance co. can tell you what they require for compliance.

Hello WindyCity,

My question is pretty basic:

I drive Commercial Trucks for a living. My Drive schedule may vary but typically work hours may be 7a--5p or 5p to 3am...

How do I Set Different Skeds to complt with 4hrs per day?

MH wrote:I drive Commercial Trucks for a living. My Drive schedule may vary but typically work hours may be 7a--5p or 5p to 3am...

How do I Set Different Skeds to complt with 4hrs per day?

What is "Skeds"?

You don't have to set anything or do anything.
Hours of use are per a 24 hour period even if the hours of use is broken at noon (Resmed it is noon machine time 12 PM...Respironics it is noon GMT time other brands I don't know when noon is) they will end up being counted on the next reporting period and things even out.

My husband is an OTR truck driver. I know the schedules are brutal when it comes to sleep times but with the noon to noon thing it should be fairly easy to get at least 4 hours within a 24 hour reporting period.
It doesn't have to be 4 hours consecutive ...it can be more than one sleep session added together within that 24 hour period.