Not needing as much caffeine. Yea

[Lisha]

I have had my Cpap for almost 3 wks. This week I notice I don't need my normal intake of coffee or diet coke. I am thrilled. I see this as a first sign that I am getting better. I am enjoying waking up and not feeling like a truck hit me overnight.

I have a quck question. My auto indicated my 90% pressure is around 13. Is that high? In my sleep study my AHI was 14.5. The CPAP show my AHI being between 2-3.

Thanks for any input.

Lisha

[LaurieP]

Hi, I'm new at this also and I was wondering when you first started did you use the machine every night for 8 hours off the bat??? I'm lucky to make it 4 hours before I take it off. Also I missed a couple of nights, the first week. Just starting my second and I'm tired and frustrated.

Do you have any helpful hints for this newbie??

My AHI is saying 2.3 and pressure is around 13 also.

Laurie

[Lisha]

The first few nights were bad but I kept it on. The hose kept getting in my way. The mask needed readjustment during the night ect. I have adjusted the a flex from 3 to 2. 3 was too much air flowing and did not seem normal to me. It has been much easier since. It am using nasal pillows and thought I would have more trouble with the experation pressure. Now I don't notice it anymore.

Think I knew it would be a bit difficult at first but would be more than worth it in the end. So wore it all the the first few days. Now it's now so bad anymore. I just want to feel better and am starting to.

[LaurieP]

I have the same machine...how do you change the air flow?? Some times I feel it's alot of air at one time and that might be what is waking me up.

[BlackSpinner]

Severity and the pressure you are titrated at have nothing to do with each other. My OSA was very severe with oxygen dsats down to 56% however my pressure is only 9cm.

You must use your cpap machine EVERY MINUTE YOU SLEEP! for it to have good results. Using it for 4 hours means you get 4 hours of decent sleep followed by 4 very stressful hours while your body attempts to maintain a survivable oxygen level - 2 steps forward and one back.

[LaurieP]

When I got home last night I read the manuals again. I figured out how the ramp button works and boy did it make a difference. Before if I woke up I couldn't get comfortable because I felt the the pressure was too hard to relax. Last night when I woke up, I pressed the ramp button and was very little air so I could calm myself down and relax to fall back to sleep. I did wake up three times but I slept from 11pm to the alarm went off at 7am with the mask on...YAY!!! I don't feel like I'm going to cry all day....maybe i'm on to something. I know my machine is set to auto 5-20 and the 90% pressure has read around 13 every morning when I check, AHI was 3.4 so still under the max of 5.

Laurie

[brothermike]

It was the title to the thread about caffeine that brought me here...I've been using the same machine as y'all two novices for going on three months...only recently have been dozing in my chair on my two days off in the afternoons...could be the increase in heat from the onset of summer here in FL and my A/C not working...anyway...I'm glad you found out how to use the ramp feature..that will likely go the way of the appendix once you get comfortable with the hose..congratulations upon your self reliance and the successful completion of a night's worth of therapy....

by the way? ....I get up a minimum of twice a night....I used to just leave the machine going on my pillow...but lately I shut it off...when I get back, I strap in and let 'er fly full force and fall right back to sleep....

once or twice I've had nights where I could swear I didn't sleep much...but I had....and I've always, since I began, kept the mask on when I've slept..I average about 6.5 hrs a night...maybe 7...the duration is increasing....incrementally...

I found out that the white filters in the machine are something like $7.00 ea. from the DME with a co-pay...and that you can get some from Amazon for a fraction of that cost...I did...
I've always been concerned about how the insurance business and the medical BUSINESS join forces to extract such a mark up often at direct cost to the taxpayer if not the patient.

sorry...I just got to thinking