Using bathroom during the night....

[thud]

Hi All....

New CPAPer here with an oddball question. When you have to use the bathroom during the night do you simply disconnect the hose from the facemask or nasal pillows at its connection onto the main hose? Then, you just let the hose blow until you come back? What effect, if any, will this have on the data its recording(mask leaks, AHI, etc)??

Thanks for any info

Thud

[jabman]

Hi All....

New CPAPer here with an oddball question. When you have to use the bathroom during the night do you simply disconnect the hose from the facemask or nasal pillows at its connection onto the main hose? Then, you just let the hose blow until you come back? What effect, if any, will this have on the data its recording(mask leaks, AHI, etc)??

Thanks for any info

Thud

Hi Thud and welcome,
I usually disconnect the hose from the mask but shut the machine off, that way when I look at my data I can tell when I got up to use the bathroom.
Hope this helps.

[JointPain]

I usually disconnect the hose from the mask but shut the machine off, that way when I look at my data I can tell when I got up to use the bathroom.

Me too. If it's a quick break and you're using the ramp, you might feel like you're not getting enough air when you first get back on the machine. I weaned myself off the ramp altogether by gradually raising the starting pressure.

[Pugsy]

What effect, if any, will this have on the data its recording(mask leaks, AHI, etc)??

It will show as a large leak and probably mess with overall leak number but no impact on AHI.

[jcurt172]

When I get up in the night to use the restroom I take off the mask and shut off the machine. Because this is a common occurrence, I have also been concerned that ramping up 2-3 times a night may be affecting my AHI numbers and my overall therapy by decreasing the amount of time I spend at full pressure.

[Vader]

Hi All....

New CPAPer here with an oddball question. When you have to use the bathroom during the night do you simply disconnect the hose from the facemask or nasal pillows at its connection onto the main hose? Then, you just let the hose blow until you come back? What effect, if any, will this have on the data its recording(mask leaks, AHI, etc)??
Thanks for any info
Thud

Welcome to the forum, Thud

It's quite a rarity for me to get up and use the bathroom once fallen asleep, but when that does happen, I turn OFF the machine, disconnect the hose from the mask, and leave the mask ON.

[chunkyfrog]

I slip the mask off while turning the machine off.
I don't need to get up very often, any more--thanks to cpap.

[thud]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply to my question. I now know what to do.

As JointPain mentions, I think in time I will want to wean myself off the ramp altogether by gradually raising the starting pressure.

jcurt172 brings up a good point about ramping up several times per night and its affects on the recorded data.

Thanks again and best of luck to y'all

Thud

[gasp]

Welcome!

What is your starting number in your range?

For me, I stopped using ramp for the most part by holding the mask away from my face when the machine starts and gently settle it down while breathing in. It goes smoothly from their. Not that ramp is a bad thing. I do use it if the machine is pumping a lot of air at me during the night and wakes me up - I push ramp and go back to sleep.

[robysue]

I have also been concerned that ramping up 2-3 times a night may be affecting my AHI numbers and my overall therapy by decreasing the amount of time I spend at full pressure.

and

jcurt172 brings up a good point about ramping up several times per night and its affects on the recorded data.

Chiming in an observation.

PR System One machines, such as jcurt's will record apneas and hypopneas that occur during the ramp up period. Hence you can tell whether the ramp period is adversely affecting your therapy by looking at the distribution of events in Encore or SleepyHead and seeing how many of them occur during the ramp up period which is easy to spot in the pressure graph.

But as I recall from when I was using the S9 AutoSet last fall, the Resmed S9 does NOT record any events that occur during the ramp up period. You can go looking for likely events by carefully examining the wave form data that records each and every breath, even during ramp up. Long apneas, of course, are easy to spot. But hypopneas and shorter apneas may be more difficult to spot. And obviously this information is of use to thud, the OP, since he uses an S9.

[jamiswolf]

Thud,
Regarding peeing protocols...

I'm a bachelor and an amputee. Just too much trouble (and it wakes me up too much) to actually visit the head.

My solution is to use a urinal. Not for everyone but it works for me.
Jamis

[thud]

Welcome!

What is your starting number in your range?

4

[gasp]

Welcome!

What is your starting number in your range?

4

I had a hard time starting ramp on 4 but do OK on 5. 4 was just too little air for me and I have my exhalation relief setting on 3 which is the maximum setting for my machine in providing exhalation relief.

My ramp setting: 5 at 15 minutes

[ems]

I slip the mask off while turning the machine off.
I don't need to get up very often, any more--thanks to cpap.

Ditto for me.

[Sheriff Buford]

Thud: you'll probably eventually quit using the ramp feature. I also read a link posted here a while back that research suggests something in an apnea event causes you the urge to go to the bathroom. Reducing the apnea events with cpap therapy may reduce or eliminate the need to go during the night. If I sleep thru, the need to go doesn't awake me. If I awaken (for some unknown reason) I often have the urge.

Sheriff