Doc says leak rate of 36 L/m and belowis okay... but

[DeeCPAP]

I'm seeing a new sleep doc, great reputation. highly reputable hospital.
He believes a leak rate of anything under 36 L/m is acceptable. This sounds wrong.

(Incidentals):
I) I'm going by ResMed AirSense-10 data and MyAir).
2) Amazing anyone would think data can be accurate with the "Mask Off" feature!
3) I don't have the energy to download/install sleep software.

Thanks

[TropicalDiver]

I'm seeing a new sleep doc, great reputation. highly reputable hospital.
He believes a leak rate of anything under 36 L/m is acceptable. This sounds wrong.

(Incidentals):
I) I'm going by ResMed AirSense-10 data and MyAir).
2) Amazing anyone would think data can be accurate with the "Mask Off" feature!
3) I don't have the energy to download/install sleep software.

Thanks

Is the leak disturbing your sleep?

[DeeCPAP]

I'm seeing a new sleep doc, great reputation. highly reputable hospital.
He believes a leak rate of anything under 36 L/m is acceptable. This sounds wrong.

(Incidentals):
I) I'm going by ResMed AirSense-10 data and MyAir).
2) Amazing anyone would think data can be accurate with the "Mask Off" feature!
3) I don't have the energy to download/install sleep software.

Thanks

Is the leak disturbing your sleep?

Yes, but it's not the sound of the leak that wakes me up. It's that that I REQUIRE a nap and feel sleepy a lot. I'm tired.
Why would a reputable doc say a 36 L/m is okay when I have symptoms? Anyhow, I was told to call the sleep department
in 2 weeks, which I did. Now they say call in 3 weeks. It's wearying to have sleep apnea.

[Sheriff Buford]

Your Resmed machine can compensate leak levels up to 24 L/m in the autoset mode. After 24 L/m, the machine will go crazy and give inaccurate results. Your Doc was partially right. You need to get those leak rates down.

Sheriff

[Pugsy]

Well.....actually from my own personal experience the machine doesn't really go too crazy and start getting iffy in terms of accuracy until over 35 L/Min. I started seeing some UAs or unknown apneas being flagged when I went over 35 L/min. The machine still knew something was happening but couldn't figure out what was happening.
I would tend to agree with the doctor assuming that leaks weren't waking me up.

Up to 30 L/min leak....machine is actually fairly accurate and seems to work well.
Over 45 L/min and pretty much all bets are off.

It's not like there is a magic line at 24 L/min and when we hit 25 L/min things go in the toilet. It's a gradual worsening of the machine's ability to compensate and do its job. The higher one gets the worse it is.

And that's just if looking at the leak graph which one isn't looking at if they aren't using the software.
If someone is just looking at the 95% leak number on the LCD screen we get to have a whole different discussion about just how bad leaks are because the 95% leak number doesn't mean the entire night was in the toilet.

Remember the definition of a 95% leak number....AT OR BELOW and the "or below" part is really important.

Here I had a LCD 95% leak number of 48 L/min but if I look at the leak graph I really only had bad leaks for about an hour or so.
The rest of the night I was well below the red line of 24 L/min.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=108724&p=1036669&hi ... t#p1036669

[Miss Emerita]

Could you say more about how the leaks disturb your sleep? Not the sound, but what?

Also, could you let us know what your AHI is? And do you think you wake up a lot during the night? You continue to feel tired and sleepy during the day, and I'm wondering why.

[chunkyfrog]

The main causes of high leak for me is old/dead headgear and nasty pillows.
If possible, replace your cushion and headgear.

[DeeCPAP]

Your Resmed machine can compensate leak levels up to 24 L/m in the autoset mode. After 24 L/m, the machine will go crazy and give inaccurate results. Your Doc was partially right. You need to get those leak rates down.

Sheriff

Thanks, Sheriff for that info.

ResMed has the MyAir webpage that shows "MASK OFF" data. I do not take off my mask. Once
it's on it stays on, but it essentially measures long air leak using a 1-5 scale. For one, a
machine can't measure HIA's accurately with long air leaks --- even if the AHI's show a low score.

Anyhow, I'm going to get this ordeal straightened out, hopefully soon!

[Goofproof]

Could you say more about how the leaks disturb your sleep? Not the sound, but what?

Also, could you let us know what your AHI is? And do you think you wake up a lot during the night? You continue to feel tired and sleepy during the day, and I'm wondering why.

Too high of a leak rate interferes with the machines ability to correctly monitor your XPAP needs, the machine can change the way it treats you based of the false info it's fed. Changes can also cause you to wake some, even so slight you are not aware of them. Jim

[DeeCPAP]

Could you say more about how the leaks disturb your sleep? Not the sound, but what?

Also, could you let us know what your AHI is? And do you think you wake up a lot during the night? You continue to feel tired and sleepy during the day, and I'm wondering why.

My AHI is always below 5. I don't wake up during the night, at least consciously. Yes, I do feel tired, but worse
than that is feeling sleepy/groggy. Sometimes taking a nap is mandatory (and I hate to nap). So, that's why I
think it's an equipment problem.

[Goofproof]

The two major XPAPS measure leaks totally different. One measures total leaks the other measures just the leak minus the mask leak. Jim
You need to know how your machine measures, you can't just compare Apples and Oranges and expect to form a correct idea of a number.

[zonker]

Could you say more about how the leaks disturb your sleep? Not the sound, but what?

Also, could you let us know what your AHI is? And do you think you wake up a lot during the night? You continue to feel tired and sleepy during the day, and I'm wondering why.

My AHI is always below 5. I don't wake up during the night, at least consciously. Yes, I do feel tired, but worse
than that is feeling sleepy/groggy. Sometimes taking a nap is mandatory (and I hate to nap). So, that's why I
think it's an equipment problem.

below 5 is good enough for the medical community, but not for those of us here in the forum. we like to get that ahi down to 1 or 2. it will make you feel better than "sleepy/groggy".

i hate to tell you, but this isn't a machine problem. the problem is in the settings on the machine. if you wish to feel better, may i suggest you download the free software called oscar? you could then post screenshots here. the experts will be happy to give you specific advice as to what settings you would need to change.

the software is available in my sig.

good luck!

[DeeCPAP]

Could you say more about how the leaks disturb your sleep? Not the sound, but what?

Also, could you let us know what your AHI is? And do you think you wake up a lot during the night? You continue to feel tired and sleepy during the day, and I'm wondering why.

My AHI is always below 5. I don't wake up during the night, at least consciously. Yes, I do feel tired, but worse
than that is feeling sleepy/groggy. Sometimes taking a nap is mandatory (and I hate to nap). So, that's why I
think it's an equipment problem.

below 5 is good enough for the medical community, but not for those of us here in the forum. we like to get that ahi down to 1 or 2. it will make you feel better than "sleepy/groggy".

i hate to tell you, but this isn't a machine problem. the problem is in the settings on the machine. if you wish to feel better, may i suggest you download the free software called oscar? you could then post screenshots here. the experts will be happy to give you specific advice as to what settings you would need to change.

the software is available in my sig.

good luck!

Thanks Doc and everyone!

[Sheriff Buford]

Also, your facial muscles will relax later at night, and may cause leaks. This is often why you have the leaks under control when you go to bed, but during night the leak rates go up.

Sheriff

[ChicagoGranny]

DeeCPAP

Tips:

To reduce unintentional mask leak -

- Make sure the mask is fitted properly. (See mask manufacturer's video.)

- Make sure the headgear is adjusted properly (See mask manufacturer's video.)

- If you use a low ramp pressure or a low minimum pressure, you should fit and adjust your mask at the higher pressures it is operating at for most of the night. You would temporarily change the machine pressure settings while you do the fitting and adjusting. It's best to do this well before bedtime before you are tired and ready for sleep. Don't forget to change your settings back to the ones you prefer.

- Make sure to use good hose management - the hose should not pull on the mask. Notice how your hose is positioned between machine and mask. It should be positioned to minimize any pull on the mask. Hose management is an individual practice. How it is done depends on the mask, the position of the machine, your sleeping position and other factors specific to the individual.

- If you still have problems, learn from the forum what mask liners are available.

- Start a thread in cpaptalk asking for help. Subject: Need Help with Mask xxxxxx

- If your mask still has excessive leak, try other masks. Many people report trying several masks before they find one that works well for them.

Note: Links to just some of the mask manufacturers' instructional videos can be found on the forum host's website - https://www.cpap.com/cpap-masks.php and https://www.youtube.com/

- CG