Newbie report on Encore software findings

[Pugsy]

Thanks Ozij,
I will do as you suggest and give it a couple of weeks. I can certainly live with the way I feel now.

Brenda

[Wulfman]

You still need a higher minimum pressure.....like "10".
The night before last, you had snores to drive up the pressure, which also (probably) took care of (preempted) many of the events......consequently you had a lower AHI. Last night you didn't have much to drive up the pressure and your AHI was higher.

Den

[Pugsy]

You still need a higher minimum pressure.....like "10".
The night before last, you had snores to drive up the pressure, which also (probably) took care of (preempted) many of the events......consequently you had a lower AHI. Last night you didn't have much to drive up the pressure and your AHI was higher.

Den

Thanks Den, this certainly seems reasonable to me and I will give it a go. If this works out it sure is going to shoot a lot of holes in my original CPAP 8 cm recommendation.
Of course I suppose I have to take into account the titration study quality.
I had lots of trouble getting to sleep. Unknown how much REM I had and we all know that is my worst area. Plus I did my typical wake up often to change positions. Nasal pillows were too large for me but they still were 1000% better than the nasal mask from hell that the tech originally wanted to use.
And then the tech annoyed me.
Get this.
He told me that it was against the law for me to have the software to review my data.
Told me it would take 2 to 3 months for my nose to get use to the pillows. That the pillows were extremely painful.
Told me to judge effectiveness of treatment by how I felt, so I asked him why he tells me that all my data the next morning pointed to a very effective treatment so why did I wake up with my usual headache after completing the titration study? I felt like crap. He had no response to that question.
He did not want me to pursue monitoring my own data at all. Plus he didn't want me using nasal pillows either. He wasn't near as nice a man as the one who did my first sleep study.

B

[Pugsy]

Last nights results. No bathroom break in middle of the night. I did have some awakenings for whatever reason, couple were mouth leaks, but none where I felt I was so awake I needed to get up. I did take 2 Ultram before I went to bed. In the past I either clean house all night or it helps me sleep. Too much Poligrip Sunday night and likely not enough last night. While not the greatest leak line in the world last night, not the worst either. I know my mouth came open at least once and probably more. I need to make the pillows work so will keep after it.

Bottom line, I stayed in bed 6 1/2 hours which for me and my back is very good. I feel much more rested. No headache. This is only day #10 of treatment. I am pleased.

For any other newbies reading my story. I couldn't have got here without the software data. The machine's averages weren't showing all that bad but I felt like did prior to treatment.

[Wulfman]

Bottom line, I stayed in bed 6 1/2 hours which for me and my back is very good. I feel much more rested. No headache. This is only day #10 of treatment. I am pleased.

Den

[ozij]

Bottom line, I stayed in bed 6 1/2 hours which for me and my back is very good. I feel much more rested. No headache. This is only day #10 of treatment. I am pleased.

Den

Yep. I agree with Den.

O.

[Wulfman]

Bottom line, I stayed in bed 6 1/2 hours which for me and my back is very good. I feel much more rested. No headache. This is only day #10 of treatment. I am pleased.

Den

Yep. I agree with Den.

O.

It's about time!!! LOL

Den

[Pugsy]

Night #11, I won't post the graph this time. Lots of leaks but then that was no surprise but I did log 9 hours on the machine with 1 bathroom break and total AHI 3.9 (again mostly AI which seems normal for me). If I look at the first half of the night before I took the blue painter's tape off (coughing fit, allergies kicking in), the numbers were great. So I have to toss out the rest of it because I didn't retape after the coughing fit. I wanted to see just how bad my mouth leak was. It was significant and completely skewers the rest of the numbers. I won't do that again.

I had to cheat to get the 9 hours. I took a Valium 5 mg left over from when my previous doctors called my poor sleep anxiety. I am going to start a thread for ideas on staying asleep deep enough to get past awakenings from whatever reason. I imagine I am not the only one having fragmented sleep and others would benefit from ideas that the pros have sorted through.

Even with the skewered numbers from the leaks (overall average 42 L/min) I can still report that I again feel good this morning and woke without a headache. I still count it as a good night because I learned exactly how bad my mouth leak was. For those people on the fence about buying the software this information is priceless. Averages don't give a clear picture especially if our averages "look decent" but you still feel like crap.

I would prefer not to tape or poligrip my mouth so right now I am going to look at chin straps. It likely is a lost cause and I won't spend a lot of money on searching for the right one but I will look. I would appreciate thoughts on chin strap usage. Bear in mind I have small features and any that don't adjust well down for small faces won't help much.

Thanks,
Brenda

[Pugsy]

And the saga continues for those that like to follow other people's experiments and results. I know I do.

Wedge pillow dismal failure at this point to prevent rollover onto back. It slid out of the way. I will try to find some way to stablize it. Ambien allowed me to sleep soundly last night. Movement and any minor discomfort were not a factor in wakenings. I didn't notice tossing and turning at all.

I added ResMed's chin strap last night (the one that didn't fair so well in the challenge) it was the only one the DME had that would work for me as the other choice would have put pressure on the base of my skull. Had material both in front and behind ears, forget the name. He would have ordered me the Resperonics chin strap but I would have to wait. Didn't want to wait. Actually I think I did have considerable help with my big mouth with this Resmed strap. My data isn't so awful. Have no idea what happened with that one lone spike. I would guess mask pillows came out and I had to reposition but I do not remember it. Doctor as thankfully added Ambien to help me get through the awakenings so that I can get further benefits from the therapy.

I feel much better today. At 10 cm of my mask has a leak rate of about 30.5 L.min and at 12 cm a rate of 33 L/min. Not perfect by any means but not horrible either, especially since we know I have a problem mouth. I can live with this while I continue to try to improve on the leak. Again headache free today and I would have slept longer except the dog had to out outside and poop. I will count this as another success. This was only night #13. I feel we have made significant progress. No morning headaches since we eliminated the OA clusters. That in itself is awesome. Some of my other fatigue issues stem from simply fragmented sleep and not a problem with the treatment.

The use of the software enabled me to quickly spot potential reasons why my body was telling me treatment wasn't helping but the machines averages were telling me there should have been some improvement. I suppose I could have got to this point later with a lot of dial a winging but I prefer sooner.

My message to newbies with no software. If your numbers are good and you feel good, then great, you don't have to mess with the software unless you just want to dig into things. (I would have wanted to anyway) If your numbers are good and you feel like crap, need software to help see why. And if numbers are so so and you still feel like crap, also need the software to see what is going on. Which do you prefer? To feel better by isolating a problem area so you can work on it and get results in a few days or be flying blind for a month with trying this and that. I would bet a lot of compliancy failures could be avoided with just a little bit of detective work and perseverance.

OK down off my soap box. Best money I ever spent, the software purchase.

Oh BTW, the DME guy has done a 360 on me and now talks to me with respect and listens to what I report and only chuckles when I report I have changed things and yesterday even said, "I didn't say this but you might try maxing the pressure on the top end" I had to laugh, told him I was doing that right now.