Help! DreamStation performance issues and Oscar data

[allysabbath]

Hello!

Back in November, I did an at home sleep study and the results reported a moderately high AHI. I was prescribed an auto CPAP and have used it religiously for the last two months. After only a few days of use, I felt incredible. However, after about 3 weeks of use the sleep apnea symptoms seemed to return, and today I realized I feel like I'm back where I was before I started treatment. Morning headaches. Brain fog. Tired. A little depressed. Night sweats (yeah, this one is weird, but almost always happens when I wake up to a higher AHI).

Rather than using a DME, I purchased a used DreamStation auto CPAP with 1000 hrs of use from a medical thrift-store. Being a sleep apnea newb, I now regret this decision because I can't stop questioning if it's something I'm doing wrong or if the CPAP isn't working. FWIW, my doctor programmed the settings initially and reviewed my data about a month ago and said it looked like everything looked good. But it doesn't feel that way. My initial settings were 5-15cmH2O, but I changed it to 6-15 a few weeks ago. No surprise that I haven't noticed much of a difference.

There have been a few times I've woken up and the machine hasn't been on at all. I do have to wonder if maybe this is due to my feline roommates stepping on the on/off button. Who knows. There have also been a few nights I've woken up and the flow has practically been non-existent. I've read several members comment that once you become accustomed to the pressure it can feel like it's not working right, but during these particular events I took off my mask and there was barely any flow coming through the mask. After turning it off and then back on, it felt/sounded 'normal' again.

I fall asleep within minutes, sleep through the night, and have never woken up without the mask on. Also, as far as I'm aware, mouth breathing and leaks haven't been a problem. In addition to last night's data (1/24/21), I'm including data from 1/16/21 and 1/17/21 because they show gaps in flow that I'm unable to explain, and I'm certain I didn't get up and turn it off in the middle of the night on either night.

I look forward to your thoughts. Thank you!

[klm49]

Hello!

Back in November, I did an at home sleep study and the results reported a moderately high AHI. I was prescribed an auto CPAP and have used it religiously for the last two months. After only a few days of use, I felt incredible. However, after about 3 weeks of use the sleep apnea symptoms seemed to return, and today I realized I feel like I'm back where I was before I started treatment. Morning headaches. Brain fog. Tired. A little depressed. Night sweats (yeah, this one is weird, but almost always happens when I wake up to a higher AHI).

Rather than using a DME, I purchased a used DreamStation auto CPAP with 1000 hrs of use from a medical thrift-store. Being a sleep apnea newb, I now regret this decision because I can't stop questioning if it's something I'm doing wrong or if the CPAP isn't working. FWIW, my doctor programmed the settings initially and reviewed my data about a month ago and said it looked like everything looked good. But it doesn't feel that way. My initial settings were 5-15cmH2O, but I changed it to 6-15 a few weeks ago. No surprise that I haven't noticed much of a difference.

There have been a few times I've woken up and the machine hasn't been on at all. I do have to wonder if maybe this is due to my feline roommates stepping on the on/off button. Who knows. There have also been a few nights I've woken up and the flow has practically been non-existent. I've read several members comment that once you become accustomed to the pressure it can feel like it's not working right, but during these particular events I took off my mask and there was barely any flow coming through the mask. After turning it off and then back on, it felt/sounded 'normal' again.

I fall asleep within minutes, sleep through the night, and have never woken up without the mask on. Also, as far as I'm aware, mouth breathing and leaks haven't been a problem. In addition to last night's data (1/24/21), I'm including data from 1/16/21 and 1/17/21 because they show gaps in flow that I'm unable to explain, and I'm certain I didn't get up and turn it off in the middle of the night on either night.

I look forward to your thoughts. Thank you!

My old cat and my current cat bpth figured out that when I got up I pushed the button on top of the machine and would try to turn it off to wake me up. I found a plastic container that I could turn upside down over the machine and they couldn't get to it. The container was like a laundry basket with holes in it. I also had to replace a hose once because of a claw puncture. I solved that problem by running the hose where they couldnt get to it. I would lock the cat out for a night or 2 and see if you still have the issues. Others more qualified may comment on other things.

[willy737]

Being relatively new to cpap therapy myself, I too was surprised when I'd wake up in the middle of the night breathing effortlessly thinking my cpap wasn't on. I'd pull my mask off slightly and feel the air flow to realize it was actually working fine. You get used to it over time. Heck at first, 4cm felt like way too much pressure, but now it feels like a vacuum

This may be the case sometimes during your nights, however you can definitely see that your machine is off for whatever reason sometimes during the night. If it were me, I'd set up a camera and check the footage during the times the data shows it being off. You can then determine whether your cat is to blame, the machine is defective, or maybe you're having power outages in the middle of the night. Do you have auto start on?

I use wyze cams for security, they're only $20 ish. Records onto a microsd card, as well as free short motion or sound detection clips stored in the cloud. Recording yourself while you sleep may be useful to determine sleep positions and apnea as well. Later you can just stick in on a window or where ever for security purposes. Hope that helps.

[Julie]

Ally - sent you a PM.

[chunkyfrog]

I would use the auto-on/off feature; so the clever kitties would be foiled.

[allysabbath]

Hello!

Back in November, I did an at home sleep study and the results reported a moderately high AHI. I was prescribed an auto CPAP and have used it religiously for the last two months. After only a few days of use, I felt incredible. However, after about 3 weeks of use the sleep apnea symptoms seemed to return, and today I realized I feel like I'm back where I was before I started treatment. Morning headaches. Brain fog. Tired. A little depressed. Night sweats (yeah, this one is weird, but almost always happens when I wake up to a higher AHI).

Rather than using a DME, I purchased a used DreamStation auto CPAP with 1000 hrs of use from a medical thrift-store. Being a sleep apnea newb, I now regret this decision because I can't stop questioning if it's something I'm doing wrong or if the CPAP isn't working. FWIW, my doctor programmed the settings initially and reviewed my data about a month ago and said it looked like everything looked good. But it doesn't feel that way. My initial settings were 5-15cmH2O, but I changed it to 6-15 a few weeks ago. No surprise that I haven't noticed much of a difference.

There have been a few times I've woken up and the machine hasn't been on at all. I do have to wonder if maybe this is due to my feline roommates stepping on the on/off button. Who knows. There have also been a few nights I've woken up and the flow has practically been non-existent. I've read several members comment that once you become accustomed to the pressure it can feel like it's not working right, but during these particular events I took off my mask and there was barely any flow coming through the mask. After turning it off and then back on, it felt/sounded 'normal' again.

I fall asleep within minutes, sleep through the night, and have never woken up without the mask on. Also, as far as I'm aware, mouth breathing and leaks haven't been a problem. In addition to last night's data (1/24/21), I'm including data from 1/16/21 and 1/17/21 because they show gaps in flow that I'm unable to explain, and I'm certain I didn't get up and turn it off in the middle of the night on either night.

I look forward to your thoughts. Thank you!

My old cat and my current cat bpth figured out that when I got up I pushed the button on top of the machine and would try to turn it off to wake me up. I found a plastic container that I could turn upside down over the machine and they couldn't get to it. The container was like a laundry basket with holes in it. I also had to replace a hose once because of a claw puncture. I solved that problem by running the hose where they couldnt get to it. I would lock the cat out for a night or 2 and see if you still have the issues. Others more qualified may comment on other things.

I like it! I'll have to give this a shot. Thanks for the suggestion.

[allysabbath]

Being relatively new to cpap therapy myself, I too was surprised when I'd wake up in the middle of the night breathing effortlessly thinking my cpap wasn't on. I'd pull my mask off slightly and feel the air flow to realize it was actually working fine. You get used to it over time. Heck at first, 4cm felt like way too much pressure, but now it feels like a vacuum

This may be the case sometimes during your nights, however you can definitely see that your machine is off for whatever reason sometimes during the night. If it were me, I'd set up a camera and check the footage during the times the data shows it being off. You can then determine whether your cat is to blame, the machine is defective, or maybe you're having power outages in the middle of the night. Do you have auto start on?

I use wyze cams for security, they're only $20 ish. Records onto a microsd card, as well as free short motion or sound detection clips stored in the cloud. Recording yourself while you sleep may be useful to determine sleep positions and apnea as well. Later you can just stick in on a window or where ever for security purposes. Hope that helps.

Honestly, I preferred the feeling of the CPAP pressure in the beginning. Maybe I should just crank it up. There's definitely another issue with the machine turning off though. Thanks for the clever suggestion! I would not have thought of doing that and I'm surprised they're so cheap.