What are the benefits of sleep software?

I'm a little embarrassed to admit: after so many years on CPAP and seeing so many of you make comments related to sleep software, I never once gave it a try. Can some of you relate the benefits of monitoring yourself in this way? How necessary do you think it is to do so? Can sleep software actually tell you if your apnea is getting better/worse? Is it complicated? Thanks!

I was on a CPAP brick for 13 years. I never knew whether my apnea was under control or whether I snored or had leaks as I live alone and my dog does tell me. I was at a pressure of 10 all those years. When my EDS returned with a vengeance, I had another sleep study. My AHI was much worse. It went from AHI of 25 to AHI of 62.

I got my first S9 Elite in January 2012 with pressure of 16. I was amazed at what my sleep data told me. I could see bad leaks (mask or mouth breathing) and snores. I could also see periods of AHI above 10 (probably during REM) which averaged out to AHI of 4.0 for the night. I tried upping my pressure to 17 to get AHI under better control. After 9 months of monitoring my data, I got an appointment with my sleep doc and took in some representative graphs of data for a typical night. I was struggling to breathe out against pressure of 17 and my apnea and hypopneas were still not where they should be. She agreed with me that I need Bilevel treatment. (She also commented that I really knew my stuff with interpreting my sleep data. She normally refused to prescribed a data capable machine with the comment that "patients don't understand that data.) Now I'm at 20/16 and have found the "sweet spot" for controlling my OSA.

With having sleep data and monitoring it myself, I'd probably faithfully using a CPAP brick and not even know whether it was doing anything for me.

I had similar questions - as a newbie (about 2 weeks now) - doesn't everyones sleep doc and home medical service tech regulary check on the machine data ? The home service will be collecting my data soon - sharing it my sleep doc, I have a followup with the doc to review the data.

Then would guess I am going to be sharing more data of my S9 machine in the future, every few months or once a year to check on current readings and see how I am doing.

Are there things that the doctors are missing or not tracking for CPAP users that I would benefit from gettting into all the software and data that others do here?

crazyd wrote:I had similar questions - as a newbie (about 2 weeks now) - doesn't everyones sleep doc and home medical service tech regulary check on the machine data ? The home service will be collecting my data soon - sharing it my sleep doc, I have a followup with the doc to review the data.

Then would guess I am going to be sharing more data of my S9 machine in the future, every few months or once a year to check on current readings and see how I am doing.

Are there things that the doctors are missing or not tracking for CPAP users that I would benefit from gettting into all the software and data that others do here?

The home service is only collecting your usage data--nothing else. You have to show compliance the first 30-60 days or insurance won't pay for machine. My experience has been that the doctor doesn't look at the data at all. Unless I bring print-outs to show and discuss, there's deep black hole where all the important data goes. They only care about hours spent each night on machine.

All my doctor is interested in is whether or not I am Medicare compliant and my AHI. He won't look at anything else and will not discuss my poor quality of sleep. The only guidance I have received has been from Sleepyhead and CpapTalk.com.

If you are having restful and restorative sleep every night and wake up refreshed and ready to go, you may not find much use for the software.

On the other hand if you have some "issues" you may find that some of them may be caused by "less than restful" sleep. In this case the software may help areas where you can improve.

Depends on the doctor ... My doctor actually WANTS to see the machine data for the past month when I go see him. I highlight any issues that I see and actions I've taken. I showed how a AHI had risen, but by changing pressure I got it down to a good level (<= 5.0). He likes that I make such decisions based on FACTS that can be measured as well as the objective "How I Feel". I tend to highlight my really bad nights to he can see they do occur (apparently randomly, though too much activity does make them worse).

I've personally used the data to tweak my settings. I also use it to identify when leaks become a problem and it's time to change my mask.

So, for me, instead of just having this "how are you doing" conversation with my doctor, I have a "Here is how I am doing" and a "What should we do about that" type of conversation. It definitely moves the whole conversation forward many steps. I feel as if our time together is much more effective.

locust78 wrote:I'm a little embarrassed to admit: after so many years on CPAP and seeing so many of you make comments related to sleep software, I never once gave it a try. Can some of you relate the benefits of monitoring yourself in this way? How necessary do you think it is to do so? Can sleep software actually tell you if your apnea is getting better/worse? Is it complicated? Thanks!

How necessary do you think it is to do so? Absolutely essential! (Particularly if the user has a data-capable machine, there is no valid reason NOT to.)

Can sleep software actually tell you if your apnea is getting better/worse? Yes.

Is it complicated? Not really.


Den

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From the sound of it, it looks like there are many who adjust the settings of their machine based on their sleep software results. I used to think that such changes of settings should be done by the sleep professionals, but I guess that isn't so. Especially considering that in all the years I've been on CPAP, no one has ever asked for or checked my data card.

So what are the basic data points revealed by sleep software?

locust78 wrote: So what are the basic data points revealed by sleep software?

Have you seen the SleepyHead tutorial? Top listing on the Announcement section of the forum main page.
understanding your data viewtopic/t88983/Pugsys-PointersSleepyH ... nding.html
Lots of examples of the data points...primarily from SleepyHead standpoint but other examples are shown and AHI is AHI no matter which software is used...as well as leak, pressure, etc.

locust78 wrote:I'm a little embarrassed to admit: after so many years on CPAP and seeing so many of you make comments related to sleep software, I never once gave it a try.

I see no reason for you to be embarrassed about that. The medical community would likely discourage you from doing so and not everyone has the time and/or expertise to do so.

locust78 wrote: Can some of you relate the benefits of monitoring yourself in this way?

I has enabled me to see problems crop up in my therapy and to track the results of changes I make to overcome those problems.

I can see when obstructions happen. I have studied the issues and have, over the years, learned things I can do to make obstructions less likely. So my AHI is almost always under two.

I can see when my breathing becomes unstable. And I am learning what I can do about that. My breathing is much more stable this winter (season is an issue for me in many ways) than I have seen in the years I have used data.

So I can loose weight, get strong, and be much more healthy and happy!!!

locust78 wrote: How necessary do you think it is to do so?

I think that xPAP therapy without the feedback from the nightly data is like driving a car with the windshield completely covered in ice (such that you cannot see).

locust78 wrote: Can sleep software actually tell you if your apnea is getting better/worse?

yes

locust78 wrote: Is it complicated?

yes

locust78 wrote: Thanks!

What I really wish is that they would automate this whole process.

There are machines which right now can “phone home” over the cell system and move the data to a central location.

There is at least one company right now which can gather, automatically analyze, and flag problems with feedback to the person and their medical support team so problems can be found and solved before damage is done.

If you added to that a personal xPAP data web page for the person to obtain and use the feedback of how his therapy is doing and track that with lifestyle I believe that xPAP usability would go from many if not most giving up on it to most being able to use it and have great benefit from it.

In addition to what others have said here, I've found sleep software can provide a lot of useful, actionable information about sleep hygiene.

If you consistently put on your mask as soon as you get into bed, you've got a record over time of when you get into bed. If you consistently put on your mask as soon as soon as you feel sleepy, you've got a record over time of when you feel sleepy. Sleep hygienists recommend both of those should happen at the same time every night (maybe give or take an hour).

• I found this data to be really valuable. I discovered I went to bed far later than I should have. Once I knew this, I was able to structure my nights (for example, no TV after a certain time) so I went to bed at a more consistent time every night.

If you consistently get out of bed for the day as soon as you take your mask off for the night, you've got a record over time of when you get out of bed for the day. Sleep hygienists recommend that should happen at the same time every morning (again, maybe give or take an hour).

All those times you're off the mask for a few minutes? That's probably when you went to the bathroom, so that gives you a record of how often you do that each night. Correlate that with what and how much you drink (water, hot milk, herbal tea, whatever) before bedtime.

All those times you're off the mask for more than a few minutes? That's sleep maintenance insomnia (which may be even worse if you stay in bed trying unsuccessfully to fall back asleep). Does that consistently happen at about the same time each night? Are you up for about the same amount of time each night?

Caveat: I got this data from my Zeo (back in the days when it was sold and supported). You should be able to eyeball your SleepyHead graphs and collect this same kind of data from that.

You all make a very good argument for the use of sleep software, so I think I'm going to bite the bullet, take the plunge, etc., etc. and give it a try.
One final (I think) question: is there one brand of software that is more beginner-friendly than the others?

locust78 wrote:One final (I think) question: is there one brand of software that is more beginner-friendly than the others?

You have 2 choices...SleepyHead and Encore (but a couple of choices with Encore)...try SleepyHead first. It's more user friendly plus you can do more with it.

I will install the sleephead Mac version ....after my first 30 day evaluation and DME followup in a few weeks and then begin to monitor myself.

Thanks all.