I wanted to report back.
Over the last week, I have followed Pugsy's advice and increased the EPAP to 9.0, from 8.5 cm. All other settings mentioned in the first part of this post were not changed. Over a 5 day period, I had an AHI low of 0.35, and a AHI high of 1.00, and a 5 day average of 0.7. that is quite an improvement from the recent average AHI of 1.8.
For two nights I experimented and also raised my IPAP to 11.5, from 11.0 cm. I felt this was not successful...that extra IPAP 0.5 cm caused some lacrimal duct issues, my FL increased to 18 events, my CA's increased, and AHI went back into the 1.5 range. It is amazing to me how slight tweaks can make a fairly significant difference.
I realize that one week of statistics doesn't prove very much, but I am encouraged by the results. Thank you Pugsy for your knowledge and help.
Attached is two screen shot from last night, with the EPAP setting change. I have several questions about this data, and would appreciate any comments:
1. why is the pressure chart EPAP flat-lined at 9.0 for the entire night? When the EPAP was set at 8.5, this pressure chart would show the increases/decreases similar to IPAP. Should I adjust the PS settings?
2. why are the FL's as numerous as before? Is 14 per night any reason for concern continued setting changes?
3. The CA's are still there, but wave form still looks like the SWJ or pre-arousal type...and I do experience several sleep arousal per night. Are these CA's simply part of the new normal for me?
I guess that compared to other members, my concerns are fairly insignificant. I just wanted to follow-up and show that very small pressure changes can have some important results.
Thanks
Zack
