How often to check SH data?

[jds2001]

I've been stable on CPAP for about a year now, and used to check data daily, but since it's really not that interesting unless you're having a problem, I pretty much stopped - I'll throw the SD card in my computer every month or 2 and check it out. Occasionally, I'll check out AHI with DreamMapper since that's easier than yanking my card out of the machine (and potentially forgetting to put it back)!

This brings me to my question. One day I was just using DreamMapper to check AHI, and noticed mask fit was at like 95% (translation for non-Respironics folks: the machine was flagging large leaks). Immediately got the card out and put it into SleepyHead, and found that there were plenty of leaks, most of them not large enough to flag. I had no idea this was happening - most of the time with leaks, I can tell.

How often should I be looking at this data? I have a feeling that had I seen this sooner, I could have taken corrective action sooner (I adjusted the straps on my headgear, and the problem is gone). However, it's fairly annoying to yank the SD card often to look at it. Where's the balance?

[Wulfman...]

I've been downloading my data DAILY since I started my therapy in May of 2005. Partially for monitoring my therapy, but the other part is for the legality of having proof that I am and have been 100% compliant and that I have excellent therapy......in case I would ever be involved in an automobile accident and Sleep Apnea and the therapy would possibly come into question.

On a side note......some years back, one of the forum members posted that he had been following my routine. In his case, he had been accused of "something" and when it came to his court appearance, he had proof that he had been at home that night and had the therapy reports to prove it and the charges against him were dropped.

For me, it became part of my morning routine right off the bat and has continued to be so. I just don't want to risk the possibility that my therapy or its effectiveness could ever be questioned.


Den

.

[Okie bipap]

Like Den, I review the data from my machine and my wife's machine every day. I don't check it in the morning, but I check it daily. I'm just making sure our therapies are both working for us.

[Wulfman...]

I found the thread I was referencing previously.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=97297&p=901552&hilit=+court#p901485


Den

.

[SewTired]

I started off checking it every day in Sleepyhead. Nowadays, I run it into Sleepyhead about once a month or so. I do check for the leak data every morning. If I have 3 days in a row with increased leaks, it's time to change my pillows. Since my primary problem is a slow heart and not apnea, the AHI isn't worth following. It's virtually always under 1. However, Sleepyhead can show me how long increased pressure was needed during REM. Sometimes I have to increase the top pressure (fires, pollen) and then drop it down in the winter again. The data tells me when.

If you want to do it daily, perhaps you should invest in that SD card that sends it to your computer? That way you don't have to remove your SD card and forget to put it back into your machine. I now use the Echo reminder feature to remind me to put my card back into the machine.

[LSAT]

I look at the data on my LCD screen every morning...I download the data from SD card to Sleepyhead every 7-10 days. Since my AHI is almost always in the 1.0-2.5 range I don't spend much time reviewing the SH data. IMO,,,the only data I am interested in is "current". I don't really care about what happened last year or last month..

[Muse-Inc]

I read the data on my S9 daily and log it. With yearly averages AHI=0.1 since getting a data-enabled APAP in 2009, I no longer check the detailed data. I do periodically use my recording oximeter to check overnight saturated oxygen levels, although I must admit I haven't done that in the past 2 years.

[Sigridonocturna]

Daily as I'm just shy of two months into this journey. Most interested in seeing things which before this I never new existed! But I find it helps me to understand me just a tad more.

[Mogy]

I check MyAir daily during my coffee break at work.
It gives some leak data, AHI, time used, stuff you can see on the machine but I am usually rushed to get to work in the morning.
I check SH on the weekend.
My pulmonologist/sleep doctor feels I am overdoing the monitoring. Hyper vigilant is what she calls it.

[Wulfman...]

I check MyAir daily during my coffee break at work.
It gives some leak data, AHI, time used, stuff you can see on the machine but I am usually rushed to get to work in the morning.
I check SH on the weekend.
My pulmonologist/sleep doctor feels I am overdoing the monitoring. Hyper vigilant is what she calls it.

Tell her it's NOT her therapy......it's YOURS!
People do much better when they take control of and are in charge of their own therapy.


Den

.

[Mogy]

Hi Den,
I probably didn't explain her position very well.
She is well respected and I believe her to be an excellent doctor.
She appreciated the information (charts and data) that I was able to provide.
Her position was that I shouldn't worry, my sleep apnea was well controlled and I didn't need to spend so much time monitoring how I was doing.
She felt that I would do well if I was more like the OP.
I understand her position and am somewhat ambivalent about it.