A newbies first experenice

[Unclebuck470]

November 20, 2009: Well First night wearing my Cpap and boy was it interesting. First my mask came apart and after fussing with it and finally getting it back together it seemed ok. About an hour later the hose came off the mask, got that back on and everything did ok after that. The readout says I was on it for 6 hours, not bad for a first night.

[TWW]

Better than "not bad" -- I'd say you did great. Congratulations!

[KatieW]

6 hours is great, for a 1st night. Welcome to the forum.

[raggedykat]

6 hours for your first night is GREAT! I think you are headed for success.

[Muse-Inc]

Congrats! Welcome aboard, great folks & info here.

[rested gal]

Welcome to the message board.

I agree with all the others ... six hours is a GREAT start for your first night with CPAP. Well done.

Please check your "Private messages" -- just now sent you one.

[o0rangeo]

Congrats!

[Unclebuck470]

Well, Second night is done, no problems and did 7 hours. Now I have to adjust what time I go to bed, cause I woke up at 4am and was wide awake. I don't have any data except number of hours that I have used the machine, so soon I will get the data cable.

[Unclebuck470]

found some more data from my machine but not sure how to interpt it.

Press: 11.4
Leak: 0.30l
AHI: 13.1
AI: 1.9
HI: 11.2

I guess this is just from my 1st 2 nights

[btesterman]

I go back to the sleep lab tomorrow night for the CPAP so I'm also just starting this journey. Thanks for posting your experience - I know there is much to learn, adjustments to make, tweaking of equipment etc. but I'm tired of being tired (not to mention what OSA is doing to my body) so I'm willing to get started. Keep us posted - it helps to know I'm not alone!!!

[jweeks]

Press: 11.4
Leak: 0.30l
AHI: 13.1
AI: 1.9
HI: 11.2

Hi,

These numbers are probably averages, so you are going to want to reset them from time to time so you see the data from the previous night rather than seeing an average from day one.

The leak number looks to be in the ballpark. Every mask has a certain leak rate, and it varies by your pressure level. You should have received an instruction book with your mask that has a chart with leak rates. You can look it up to double-check that you are OK there.

The AI number looks pretty good. That is 2 events per hour, and most machines score those events as not breathing for 10 seconds or more.

The HI number is high. You want AI + HI (which is AHI) to be less than 5. HI events are typically less damaging, and they can be hard to get rid of. They might come down over time as you get used to using CPAP. If they don't drop under 5, you are probably going to want to have a follow-up visit with your sleep doctor and RT. If you are running in APAP mode, there are often small tweaks that can have big impacts. Also, some people react funny to the pressure changes of an APAP machine, and going to CPAP or BiPAP might be an option. Since you are new to CPAP, I'd suggest working with your sleep doctor and RT, but if you don't get any help taking that path, then post back and see if anyone can suggest things to try.

-john-

[Gerryk]

Congratulations! You did better than me. I had the mask fall apart the hose come off the mask and the machine more than once and knocked the machine off the night stand before I had water in the humidifier chamber. But I did break the maching the third night. I rolled over and had the mask so tight it pulled the machine and water went into it and shut it down.

Keep at it your doing great!

Gerry

[Unclebuck470]

Well, 3rd night was the WORST, didn't sleep well, had nightmares, 3am just took the mask off. Hope this isn't going to be the NORM.

[KatieW]

Even when things are going well with your cpap, once in a while you will have a "rough night". This happens to me every 10 days or so. I always have the temptation to make drastic changes to "correct" this. Then the very next night, things are good again.