A flat pressure line

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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Pugsy
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Re: A flat pressure line

Post by Pugsy » Fri Feb 15, 2013 10:15 am

growing wrote: How can I compare this with my previous results? I find no connection. Am happier from this AHI decrease, any way.
Previous result we were wondering about is the fact that the machine doesn't seem to want or need to go about 5 cm pressure in APAP mode.

By using straight cpap mode we would look to see if there was an increase in AHI...thinking that if the machine really needed to go above 5 cm that we would see a large increase in the number of events.

So you used 5.5....and had a lower AHI but statistically we can have that much of a variance anyway.
BUT you didn't have a large increase which we would assume would happen if you really needed more pressure.

So it looks like you don't need much pressure at all to effectively prevent the collapse of the airway. I don't know why the APAP mode flat lines at 5 cm...but it appears that you don't need much pressure and maybe it just doesn't need to increase.
Maybe if you were to use the software offered by DeVilbiss it would show a tiny variation in the pressure line....I don't know.

If straight cpap mode showed an AHI of say 5.0...then we would have shown that you likely needed more than 5 cm pressure and then we would wonder why APAP mode doesn't want to go above 5 cm.

I don't know what is going on. I don't know if you simply don't need more than 5 cm pressure in APAP mode or if the machine is doing something weird. If your AHI from last night had been strongly elevated then we would assume that APAP mode wasn't working properly but cpap mode didn't show that.

Does anyone have this machine and use APAP mode and also see a flat line for pressure...maybe it is a SleepyHead thing???
Anyone use SleepyHead and the Devilbiss software to see if pressure lines match?

Do you have the Devilbiss software? If not, do you want it?

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cosmo
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Re: A flat pressure line

Post by cosmo » Fri Feb 15, 2013 11:15 am

growing wrote:
My pressure last night was 5.5 cm straight CPAP. I slept for 7.39 hours and had 3 hypopnea (= a decrease) and 2 NRI events (new thing) though SH recorded the AHI as 0.78 (seems an error for sure) .
Seems like you're doing well on low pressure.

Even though my apap pressure on the Intellipap showed the same low as yours, I'm currently at 12 cm CPAP mode.

growing
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Re: A flat pressure line

Post by growing » Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:53 am

cosmo wrote:
growing wrote:
My pressure last night was 5.5 cm straight CPAP. I slept for 7.39 hours and had 3 hypopnea (= a decrease) and 2 NRI events (new thing) though SH recorded the AHI as 0.78 (seems an error for sure) .
Seems like you're doing well on low pressure.

Even though my apap pressure on the Intellipap showed the same low as yours, I'm currently at 12 cm CPAP mode.
I remember, you had 4-15 cm range, not long ago. And, now, you have it set at 12 cm straight CPAP. Obviously, an interesting leap.

Eager to know the outcome.

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The Choker
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Re: A flat pressure line

Post by The Choker » Sun Feb 17, 2013 12:24 pm

growing
What was your diagnosis?
T.C.

growing
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Re: A flat pressure line

Post by growing » Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:02 pm

I had flunked 2 sleep studies. I could not sleep in the sleep lab settings.
I am contemplating to have a 3rd study on sleeping pills.

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The Choker
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Re: A flat pressure line

Post by The Choker » Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:06 pm

growing wrote:I had flunked 2 sleep studies. I could not sleep in the sleep lab settings.
I am contemplating to have a 3rd study on sleeping pills.

What were your symptoms that led to two sleep studies?
T.C.

growing
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Re: A flat pressure line

Post by growing » Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:20 pm

(http://s1304.beta.photobucket.com/user/ ... sort=3&o=0)

Possibly, one of the narrowest APAP pressure ranges (5.0-6.0 cm) with no deflection, at all.
Last edited by growing on Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

growing
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Re: A flat pressure line

Post by growing » Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:30 pm

The Choker wrote:
growing wrote:I had flunked 2 sleep studies. I could not sleep in the sleep lab settings.
I am contemplating to have a 3rd study on sleeping pills.

What were your symptoms that led to two sleep studies?
Day-time sleepiness, tachycardia, raised blood sugar, raised hemoglobin, scary dreams followed by waking with racing heart, decreased memory, lethargy, regular brain fog etc. etc.

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The Choker
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Re: A flat pressure line

Post by The Choker » Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:44 pm

Oooookaaaaaay
T.C.

cosmo
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Re: A flat pressure line

Post by cosmo » Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:56 pm

.
Last edited by cosmo on Fri Apr 12, 2013 3:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Pugsy
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Re: A flat pressure line

Post by Pugsy » Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:58 pm

Are you using the delay or ramp feature for a short time at the beginning of your sleep sessions?

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growing
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Re: A flat pressure line

Post by growing » Mon Feb 18, 2013 10:10 am

Cosmo,

Interesting to see 2 distant pressure-levels viz. 4-15 cm and 12 cm producing similar AHI. However, I would be a bit more thoughtful about the CA components at these higher pressures.

cosmo
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Re: A flat pressure line

Post by cosmo » Wed Feb 20, 2013 12:55 am

.
Last edited by cosmo on Fri Apr 12, 2013 3:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

growing
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Re: A flat pressure line

Post by growing » Fri Feb 22, 2013 6:27 am

cosmo wrote:Image

I did 1 night on the Devilbiss the other day with 12cm cpap mode. Similar AHI to my Autoset so my self titration is on point. I pretty much eliminated obstructive apneas
Congrats.

I am more optimistic on my own experiments on self-titration, now.

Thanks (particularly for the DevilBiss data).

DaveLP
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Re: A flat pressure line

Post by DaveLP » Wed Feb 27, 2013 7:34 am

I noticed this morning that my pressure lines are flat on SH, but varying normally when I read the data using the Devilbiss Intellipap software. If I go back and look at previous nights on the SH software, pressure changes are noted through the night up to a point. The point that I no longer showed pressure changes was when I turned off EPR and left my pressures set at 9 to 10. I found that using exhalation pressure release ran my AHI numbers higher. Apparently, when I use EPR, the reduced pressure allows my throat to close periodically and my AHI numbers go higher.

It is odd that SH stopped showing pressure changes and the Devilbiss software recorded normal pressure variations as it always has. My pressure is set at 9 to 10. I've tried max pressures from 10 to 12 and higher. With me, the higher the pressure, the more likely I'll have lip flutter and dry mouth and throat. Dry throats stick together and contribute to apnea for me. I'm better off with narrow ranges closer to my titrated pressure and the numbers show this.