Newbie needs advice

[ack_241]

Hi,

Recently I have found that I have sleep apnea and then discovered this helpful forum.
Did sleepstudy at hospital around 1 month ago and was found I have apnea.
doctor said that first seemed I don't have apnea but after 2 am showed heaps of AHI's and had cpap machine rest of the night which showed immediate help and rest night was ok according study.
Did not got study stats as whole but one printout will also send it here if it helps after I manage to scan it.
I got then CPAP , F&P Sleepstyle and nasal mask. Settings : pressure 8 and humidity 5.

Have used it every night , first felt it helps but quite quick felt again daytime tiredness and in not feeling rested in the morning.
Had few days back first followup.
Level was increased to 9 and humidity to 3. Also waiting for full mask as I think I breathe through mouth during night. Mouth is dry on frequent mornings.

Same time also got chance to test ResMed AirSense 10 APAP machine from colleague.
Have now 3 nights with that during weekend ,attached 2 reports from SleepyHead (forgot to insert SD on one night).

ThursdayNight.png (111.42 KiB) Viewed 855 times

FridayNight.png (103.34 KiB) Viewed 855 times

I have feeling that this apap helps more.
Would be really great if I could get feedback from forum how those values appear. Unfortunately F&P does not seem to support SleepyHead.
I have attached screenshot from mobile app showing F&P stats, seen from attachments.

Main concern is how to get best benefit from cpap machine ie which values to use. Also awaiting that full mask will improve situation.

[Pugsy]

Welcome to the forum.

Which model SleepStyle F & P machine? SleepyHead works with some F & P machines (not the SleepStyle but I think you probably have a model that doesn't record any data at all to work with any software.
If you have a full data machine I can point you to software that might work with that model machine.

Where are you located?

How many times are you waking up each night? I see evidence of fragmented sleep...wake ups...so how many?
The wake ups might account for some of the centrals/CAs you see flagged and thus not real.

Your apap maximum of 12 is limiting the machine...it wants to go higher...let it...maybe change the max to 15 and see what happens.

[ack_241]

Thanks Pugsy for very quick response.

I'm in NZ and device I'm using is this F&P sleepstyle machine, hopefully links to forums are ok:
https://www.apneaboard.com/fisher-payke ... structions

I wake up usually around 2AM when using F&P sleepstyle. Other quick wake ups might happen but not too many , maybe 1-2.

Forgot to add in initial message that I used chin strap on Friday night stat with AirSense. It seemed help quite a bit with Leak Rate when compared to Thursday stat without chin strap.

Tried last night AirSense with high limit 13.2. Changed also temp from 30C to 25C which seemed not right for me as woke up just before 4AM with gurgling sound from APAP and then just shut down it to get back to sleep quickly. Following stat:

SundayNight.png (159.97 KiB) Viewed 813 times

Overall I have feeling that APAP helps me more than CPAP. I haven't though tried yet CPAP with chin strap which might make difference using F&P CPAP.

[Pugsy]

I will send you a PM in a few minutes with a link where you can get the InfoSmart software that works with the SleepStyle machine you have. You will have some data...won't look like SleepyHead but you will have some.

You need to do something about the large leaks.
First..is it mouth opening/breathing large leaks or is it mask movement leaks?
I will let a little bit of large leak slide as long as it doesn't wake me up but yours is a lot more than a little.
If mouth breathing you will just have to try different things and see what works well for you.
If mask movement...re-evaluate whatever you are doing for the fitting at the beginning of the night.

To know for sure if it is mouth breathing or mask movement...tape your mouth shut one night.
I had leaks as bad as you did one night and I taped my mouth and come to find out it was mask movement leak. No amount of chin straps or whatever would have helped.
To fix a problem you have to identify the problem first.
There's no real way to distinguish mouth breathing and mask movement leak by just looking at the graphs...both leaks look the same on the graph

[ack_241]

What did you use in taping mouth?
Can that be risky if your nose get blocked for any reason and your mouth is taped? You would be lacking air ...
I want really try that , just want to do it safely.

[palerider]

What did you use in taping mouth?
Can that be risky if your nose get blocked for any reason and your mouth is taped? You would be lacking air ...

If you really want to open your lips while taped, you'll do it.

People use everything from painters tape to medical tape.

[Pugsy]

I used blue painters tape...I had it handy and left over from a painting job.
It doesn't stick like cement...it's easily dislodged if for some reason a person can't breather through their nose or even if the power fails.

Try it while awake...you can force it open and break the seal fairly easily.

The first night I tried it...we had a thunderstorm and lost power.

If you frequently have so much congestion you can't breathe through your nose...you need to be using a full face mask anyway.

The taping idea...for right now just one night and just to make sure the leak you are seeing is either mouth leak or mask movement leak.

[kel987]

Hi Pugsy. I am also having a similar issue in that cannot view the results of the new SleepStyle machine. Would it be possible for you to PM me the software you had mentioned below so that I can view the data?
I am thinking whether to buy this machine after the trial finishes and without being able to see the detailed data, it will be difficult to make the decision. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your help.

I will send you a PM in a few minutes with a link where you can get the InfoSmart software that works with the SleepStyle machine you have. You will have some data...won't look like SleepyHead but you will have some.

You need to do something about the large leaks.
First..is it mouth opening/breathing large leaks or is it mask movement leaks?
I will let a little bit of large leak slide as long as it doesn't wake me up but yours is a lot more than a little.
If mouth breathing you will just have to try different things and see what works well for you.
If mask movement...re-evaluate whatever you are doing for the fitting at the beginning of the night.

To know for sure if it is mouth breathing or mask movement...tape your mouth shut one night.
I had leaks as bad as you did one night and I taped my mouth and come to find out it was mask movement leak. No amount of chin straps or whatever would have helped.
To fix a problem you have to identify the problem first.
There's no real way to distinguish mouth breathing and mask movement leak by just looking at the graphs...both leaks look the same on the graph

[zonker]

Hi Pugsy. I am also having a similar issue in that cannot view the results of the new SleepStyle machine. Would it be possible for you to PM me the software you had mentioned below so that I can view the data?

i'm not pugsy, but i can answer for her! (if she hasn't sent you a PM)

see this post and it will have links-

viewtopic/t172378/Sticky--Newbies-PLEAS ... STING.html

good luck!