seeking feedback and hope

[zonker]

How do I get new posts to the front or top of the thread? Maybe this will come out at the top.

reply to the thread with the word "bump". that shoves it up to the "top" until someone else gets to the top. i put that top in quotes because the actually top of the list and the second one are "stickies". they stay in place until they are pulled by pugsy.

hope this helps.

[Pugsy]

How do I get new posts to the front or top of the thread? Maybe this will come out at the top.

You can edit your board display preferences for posts.

Go to the user control panel....Board Preferences tab...the left side tab "edit display options"
down at the bottom you can change "display post order direction"

[zonker]

How do I get new posts to the front or top of the thread? Maybe this will come out at the top.

You can edit your board display preferences for posts.

Go to the user control panel....Board Preferences tab...the left side tab "edit display options"
down at the bottom you can change "display post order direction"

shockedkoala.jpg

omg!

i did not know this.

[Sunterior]

Getting used to CPAP is an incredibly complex and frustrating process. My doc says it may take 11-12 weeks to start to see results. She said I'm probably mouth breathing and gave me a full-face-mask, YUCK!. And FFM doesn't really solve the problem. I requested a chin strap and have an interim appointment just after the new year.

Chin strap is comfortable all night with the addition of a soft fabric liner. I've also been taping my mouth for 3 nights, and I can sleep with it. My mouth develops an odd taste that prompts me to get a drink of water [with a straw in the corner of my mouth] to wash out the taste when I get up to use the bathroom twice each night. My AHI has been lower the last 2 nights. No other observable improvements. How long does this take to see improvements?

I'm going to get an SD card reader so I can see what my machine actually records.
Do you see any useful information in my spreadsheet sleep record, attached?

[Pugsy]

Your AHI is way too AHI.
What to do about it depends on what kind of events are happening and when they are happening.
Really need the information from that SD card and available software to have a better understanding of what is going on.
The information available on the LCD screen simply doesn't tell us enough.

How long does it take... we don't know and won't know until you get your AHI way down....like well below 5.0 consistently.
Even when the AHI is extremely low it can take some time to feel the low numbers but until you can at least get the AHI way down there isn't much hope of starting to feel better.

[Sunterior]

Hello wonderful cpap support team. I look forward to reduction of stress symptoms, night-time bathroom visits, and general improvement in health.
I now have a card reader showing the files in this attached screen shot. The directories on the card are not informative, and the files not shown are no more informative. P0 looks the same as P1. Other files are empty, or have very little information that I can't open. Can you tell me anything about this information?

SD screenshot 12-18-19.jpg (204.76 KiB) Viewed 792 times

I've also attached the report from my 11-26-19 appt with Sleep center Physician's Assistant. From this report the PA told me to give the cpap time to train my brain to reduce apneas.

11-26-19 SD card report.jpg (950.13 KiB) Viewed 792 times

I continue use of DreamWear nasal cushion, chin strap, mouth taping. I may try the cpap pillow and see if I can sleep on my side without shifting the mask out of place.
Thank you for this forum of information.

[Pugsy]

You can't see anything that is on the SD card without available software to decode it.
https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... stallation
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... rpretation

[Pugsy]

The one thing I really wanted to see was the event category breakdown for that AHI and I don't see it on that report.
Minimum pressure is 6 and max is 12....those are the settings
and it's not hitting the max of 12
but the AHI is 18 which is awfully high for the machine not to be wanting to go higher which makes me wonder if you are having a lot of central apneas or clear airway apneas.
AHI is compose of 3 apnea event categories
Obstructive Apnea and Hyponeas both of which are related to obstructions in the airway causing an air flow reduction or blockage
Clear Airway Apneas or central apneas.....the airway is open but there's no effort to breathe.

It's really important to know what kind of apnea events you are having. That's where OSCAR comes in.

[Sunterior]

Yes, most of my sleep apnea is central.
I downloaded Oscar and it translates my sleep data very well. I've attached a screen shot of the statistics report.
Do you need the daily report, or any other reports, and how can I efficiently send them to you?

I know I need to reduce AHI. It seems like something I have no control over, and little influence.
What I can do:
wear my mask, chin strap until the alarm goes off at 7am. I might sleep some of that last 60-90 min.
continue taping my mouth shut [Dr. thinks I am mouth breathing]
strive to get at least 45 min. of exercise each day
try again sleeping on my side with new cpap pillow. I tried this for a few minutes. The pillow, even with appropriate cut-outs, shifted my mask, causing leaks.
Do any of these sound more useful than others? I prefer to focus on actions with the most likely benefit.

Thanks for any information. It's more than I'm getting from my Dr.

[Pugsy]

How long does your doctor propose to use cpap/apap to treat central apnea before they move on to a type of machine that is designed for central apnea?

Is there a plan here?
You won't ever feel better until the central apnea is treated and cpap isn't the type of machine to be doing it.
You are using a machine designed for obstructive sleep apnea and NOT central sleep apnea. Your machine does absolutely nothing for central apneas.

[KandyX]

del

[Sunterior]

The in-lab sleep study at Mountain Heart sleep clinic had very little data reported showing Central Apnea, because they woke me up at 5am when the central apnea just started.
Dr Henderson's original plan was to use the loaner CPAP for 11 weeks to get more data, then figure out which machine I actually need.
When I went into the clinic demanding an appointment to read data from my machine the physician's assistant saw me, said I must be mouth breathing and gave me a Full Face Mask.
They also gave me an appointment for Jan 8 to review my machine data.

Needless to say I am dissatisfied with this sleep clinic. I stopped in at another clinic who explained that any clinic would require their own sleep study, and my insurance will not pay for another so soon. I do have another sleep study scheduled for February if the 11 weeks on CPAP was inconclusive. I could request that that sleep study let me sleep till 6am.

Considering that I can't go to a new sleep doctor at this point, I need to figure out how to work with Mountain Heart and Dr Henderson.
What basis would I have for requesting or demanding a different machine at this point?
Will they listen to me if I say TOMORROW that my research online, and consultation with cpaptalk.com indicates that I need a different machine. I will stop in this afternoon and see what I can do other than getting an appointment with Dr. Henderson, probably the February apt I already have.

Thank you for your review of my data. Information is valuable!

[Julie]

It could be that your 'central' apnea experienced at 5 when they woke you was what's called 'sleep-wake junk', and is not real central apnea... and if it was only a handful of centrals either just as you go to sleep and/or when waking up, it shouldn't be a problem and shouldn't be classified as central (or 'clear airway') apnea. But you do need to do what the Oscar post say to do rather than wing it as above. Present the graphs, etc. according to the instructions so we can actually see what's what.

[Sunterior]

"But you do need to do what the Oscar post say to do rather than wing it as above. Present the graphs, etc. according to the instructions so we can actually see what's what."
Where do I find the Oscar post?

[Julie]

2nd "Announcement' top of the main pg... plus others below it, plus (I think) somewhere in Pugsy's signature lines.