4th Night S8 Autoset II

[Liddelbrook]

Resmed Graph:

http://www.tsjeep.net/oximed/oxi-resmed ... t-2009.png

No chinstrap this time, so leaks are minimal. Min pressure was at 12.

"Something" happened at around 3:45, a lot of apneas I guess, and I woke up.

Took of the mask, switched off the machine and went to sleep.

Woke again at around 6, put on the mask and tried to sleep again, but did not fall asleep. Strangely enough some apneas were recorded while I was awake.

My SpO2 report didn't match the ResScan report at all, so something was messed up there.

Tonight I will raise the pressure to 13, as rested gal suggested in the first place with Easy-breath at 3.

As always, comments appreciated.

[GaryG]

You are certainly more daring that I am raising the minimum from 12 to 13. I'd probably be more conservative and raise it a bit less at a time. And collect stats for a bit more. But that's what makes this world so great, is we're all different. Best of luck. I'm just a newbie myself. (veteran of less than three months of CPAP).

[Liddelbrook]

Well, If you don't hear from me after tomorrow, they are probably scraping my lungs from the ceiling.

Actually I felt a bit of a coward not listening in the first place

[Pugsy]

Woke again at around 6, put on the mask and tried to sleep again, but did not fall asleep. Strangely enough some apneas were recorded while I was awake.

Possibly you turned over in bed and held your breath for a few seconds and didn't realize it. It is common.
The machine doesn't know if you are holding your breath on purpose or not. It only reports no air flow....whether awake or not.
So not to worry about that part of it.

[GaryG]

Well, If you don't hear from me after tomorrow, they are probably scraping my lungs from the ceiling.

Actually I felt a bit of a coward not listening in the first place

I just got a great laugh out of this comment. Thanks for sharing. And if I see any extra lungs hanging down from the ceiling, I'll know where they came from.

[KengEsq]

Resmed Graph:

http://www.tsjeep.net/oximed/oxi-resmed ... t-2009.png

No chinstrap this time, so leaks are minimal. Min pressure was at 12.

"Something" happened at around 3:45, a lot of apneas I guess, and I woke up.

Took of the mask, switched off the machine and went to sleep.

Woke again at around 6, put on the mask and tried to sleep again, but did not fall asleep. Strangely enough some apneas were recorded while I was awake.

My SpO2 report didn't match the ResScan report at all, so something was messed up there.

Tonight I will raise the pressure to 13, as rested gal suggested in the first place with Easy-breath at 3.

As always, comments appreciated.

Have you tried the EPR off? What is your 95% pressure? What is your minimum pressure?

[Liddelbrook]

No, not tried EPR off.

Min pressure was 12.

95th Percentile Pressure was 14.6. (Median 12.2, Max 17.0)

BTW What is the significance of this 95th pressure thing?

[KengEsq]

No, not tried EPR off.

Min pressure was 12.

95th Percentile Pressure was 14.6. (Median 12.2, Max 17.0)

BTW What is the significance of this 95th pressure thing?

95% pressure is the maximum pressure reached 95% of the time the machine is in use. If you have software and look at the pressure graphs you will see that 5% of the time or so, the actual pressure is higher than the 95% pressure - otherwise, I expect knowing the 95% pressure lets you adjust the maximum pressure setting to the lowest possible pressure as long as it is higher than the 95% pressure. Don't just go adjusting your pressures - you need to stay with a setting for a bit of time to see how you are doing with your important numbers (AI, HI and AHI). If you make adjustments, make small ones and only adjust one thing at a time and stay with that setting for a week or two to see the result. I think being involved in your own theraphy is the best thing to get therapy compliance and results you can feel.

[Liddelbrook]

I see.

Some data:

13 okt Median: 14.0 95th: 16.4 Max: 18.6
12 okt Median: 14.0 95th: 19.4 Max: 19.8
11 okt Median: 14.0 95th: 16.2 Max: 18.4
10 okt Median: 13.2 95th: 17.8 Max: 19.0
09 okt Median: 13.0 95th: 13.2 Max: 13.4 (perfect night?)
08 okt Median: 12.2 95th: 14.6 Max: 17.0
07 okt Median: 12.8 95th: 16.8 Max: 19.6
06 okt Median: 12.8 95th: 17.6 Max: 19.8

My max pressure is now the max, 20.

You suggest, If I understand you correctly, to reduce the max pressure to the "95th" ??

What is the use of reducing the max pressure?

[Pugsy]

What is the use of reducing the max pressure?

Some people suggest having a more narrow "window" between the minimum pressure and maximum because sometimes wide pressure variations can disrupt sleep. If you are resting well and feeling pretty good I would leave the max where it is. The machine won't go there unless it needs to. I have a min of 10 cm and max of 20 cm and for the past couple of weeks I seem to be hitting 13 at the most. I have in the past hit 18 cm. I prefer to leave the max as it is just in case it is needed.

If your aren't feeling well and/or your sleep is disrupted by the pressure changes then that is a whole different story.

[KengEsq]

I see.

Some data:

13 okt Median: 14.0 95th: 16.4 Max: 18.6
12 okt Median: 14.0 95th: 19.4 Max: 19.8
11 okt Median: 14.0 95th: 16.2 Max: 18.4
10 okt Median: 13.2 95th: 17.8 Max: 19.0
09 okt Median: 13.0 95th: 13.2 Max: 13.4 (perfect night?)
08 okt Median: 12.2 95th: 14.6 Max: 17.0
07 okt Median: 12.8 95th: 16.8 Max: 19.6
06 okt Median: 12.8 95th: 17.6 Max: 19.8

My max pressure is now the max, 20.

You suggest, If I understand you correctly, to reduce the max pressure to the "95th" ??

What is the use of reducing the max pressure?

Don't make changes until you see how you feel and how your numbers are for a week or two. I suggest staying where you are for two weeks and then if you decide to make a change, only change one setting and see if you can see or feel an improvement. Your body needs time to adjust to each change in setting. I do not recommend setting the maximum pressure to the 95% pressure - the maximum needs to be higher than the 95% pressure. However, it looks to me that you are changing the minimum pressure on a daily basis. I would suggest setting the minimum on the pressure determined during your sleep study as the pressure setting needed to respond to most events. Remember to give each change some time for your body to adjust and respond to the setting change. Setting changes include pressures, EPR, masks, humidifer settings, settling or ramp time, etc.

[rested gal]

BTW What is the significance of this 95th pressure thing?

95th percent pressure means you spent 95% of the night AT that pressure AND at pressures BELOW that pressure.

The only significance of having a 95% pressure appear on data is to give the doctor an idea of what SINGLE pressure would be sufficient to keep your airway open most of the time, if the autopap were taken away and you were put on a straight CPAP machine at one straight pressure.

That's often what autopaps are prescribed for -- as a "autotitration trial at home" for a couple of weeks, to see what single pressure would work well for you. When used for a trial period, the autopap is replaced later with a CPAP set for a single pressure -- usually set for that 95th percent pressure (90th percent pressure with Respironics machines.)

Lucky (and smart!) you, however, Liddelbrook... you bought the autopap yourself, so it will never be taken away from you. You can continue to tweak your treatment however you wish. You're doing a very good job of that, imho.

Controlling leaks well and setting the minimum pressure up where it can preemptively keep the airway open most of the time are the keys to effective treatment, imho.

[Autopapdude]

AMEN to that which was written above. Agree completely---that is what I do with my APAP. The tweaks are what makes therapy more effective.