5th night on ASv & omg, I actually feel better!

[mossytreesprite]

I just had to report that although I only got 5.25 hours of sleep last night, I actually feel somewhat clear headed for the first time in ages. I'm really starting to become a believer now! My AHI was still 7.8, but it's mainly made up of hypopneas rather than CA or OA. I actually woke up before my alarm (admittedly, I thought I had slept through my alarm, but I actually just read the numbers wrong, but still!) Odd's are that even though I only got 5 hours, it was 5 more restful hours than I have had in years. I can't wait to see what 7 or 8 hours will feel like!

I switch to the Resmed VPAP tonight, so we'll see if the improvement continues. I seem to be having good results thus far on the Respironics unit, so if the Resmed doesn't have the same success, I will definitely ask to stay on the respironics ASV. Only time will tell.

Thanks to everyone for your help on here!

[Pugsy]

Be aware that the S9 Adapt reports things a little differently and your AHI may be lower because of it and it doesn't mean that the 960 therapy was not as good. It's a different machine and it just reports things differently.
It doesn't even offer centrals as a separate category....so just a heads up about what the reports may or may not show.

[JDS74]

Be aware that the S9 Adapt reports things a little differently and your AHI may be lower because of it and it doesn't mean that the 960 therapy was not as good. It's a different machine and it just reports things differently.
It doesn't even offer centrals as a separate category....so just a heads up about what the reports may or may not show.

Just to clarify:
I think the reference to centrals not being reported is intended to point to the S9 Adapt and not to the PR 960 ASV which does report them as Clear Airway apneas (CA).

[mossytreesprite]

Interesting, I wonder why the S9 Adapt doesn't report centrals? My S9 CPAP reported centrals. Even more strange since it's supposed to be therapy for centrals. Good to know about this, thanks for the pointers Pugsy and JDS.

[Pugsy]

We are never really told why the S9 Adapt doesn't report centrals in a separate category. It is just the way it is.
Perhaps it is assumed that any centrals will simply be prevented or maybe if any do happen they get dumped into the Apnea category in general. I have looked but all I ever found was more "maybe why" and not anything definitive.
I also have always wondered why a machine that is used to specifically treat centrals doesn't report them separately...but it is just the way it is done and they didn't ask my input.
I just wanted to give you a heads up on how it reports things. Is it "better"? Beats me but it is different and I think that the final judgement needs to be in how you feel and how you sleep and not simply the "numbers" you see on the report.
I am using a S9 Adapt now but I have never been able to lay my hands on a 960 to compare it to. I don't use it because of centrals though. I never really had a problem with them anyway. I just use it because I got a chance to try one and found out I sleep really well with it and that's all that matters to me.

[mossytreesprite]

Well they clearly should have asked your opinion, Pugsy - it would have been the right thing to do! Their loss, really...

I definitely hear you on having the "test" being how you feel and not the numbers. I'm glad, too, that this random fluke has allowed me to try out both machines. At first I just thought, "this is so silly and inefficient to give me one machine for 5 days and then switch it out", but now I'm thankful because I can better assess if one machine may help my apnea over the other.

I'm still having a good deal of trouble with aerophagia. I've been slamming a glass of sparkling water as soon as I wake up. It's somewhat of a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory moment, but it sometimes helps to get the air out of my belly before it travels any further, but even then, my stomach and intestines feel pretty unpleasant for the rest of the day. I've brought the wedge pillow back into play, but that's not doing the trick either. I'm just hoping it will resolve as I get used to the higher pressures and pressure fluctuations. Still, I'm feeling like I'm finally getting some positive results from the therapy, which is doing wonders to bolster my morale - I had been feeling pretty hopeless before. I guess lack of sleep will do that ...

[Pugsy]

The 960 might be gentler on the aerophagia causing issues...I don't know. Wish I could experiment to see if it is actually gentler with it's more versatile settings available.
Will be interesting to see what happens. Most people who end up with this type machine don't ever get a chance to try both to see which one feels better. It's good that you got a choice.
I don't have aerophagia issues myself so I wouldn't be a good candidate to evaluate for those possible issues.
But then I have adjusted easily to any machine I have ever tried in any mode of operation in the Respironics and ResMed line. I guess I am lucky in that regard.
What I did learn was that with bilevel I simply sleep better...and since that has always been my number one goal then I am going to use or do whatever it takes to sleep better and longer...my sleep is already fragile due to pain issues so anything I do to make it better is one step ahead for me.

[palerider]

Interesting, I wonder why the S9 Adapt doesn't report centrals?

I'll offer a guess... a central is classed as 10 seconds of no air flow without a blockage.

to have a central, the machine would have to wait for you to not breath for 10 seconds before it did anything.

since it jumps in pretty close to the time you'd take a breath, it never gives you a chance to have a central, so technically, there's nothing to report.

[mossytreesprite]

That does make sense, Palerider. I guess if you're having centrals, the machine isn't really doing its job properly. My central AI has been around 1. 5 on the Respironics, but I'm pretty sure that some of those were morning S/W/J stuff.

HME is on their way, so the new model to try out will be here shortly. It's just like Christmas, except not!

[palerider]

That does make sense, Palerider. I guess if you're having centrals, the machine isn't really doing its job properly. My central AI has been around 1. 5 on the Respironics, but I'm pretty sure that some of those were morning S/W/J stuff.

HME is on their way, so the new model to try out will be here shortly. It's just like Christmas, except not!

I've got a friend who was brought back from the brink of death (somewhat literally) by his adapt 36037 and supplemental o2 (congestive heart failure, 10% ejection fraction, back up to 45%ish) sure, the adapt didn't do it all, but it certainly put the smackdown on the cheyne stokes respiration he was having before I got it for him... before the adapt:


after:

[cnaumann]

I've got a friend who was brought back from the brink of death (somewhat literally) by his adapt 36037 and supplemental o2 (congestive heart failure, 10% ejection fraction, back up to 45%ish) sure, the adapt didn't do it all, but it certainly put the smackdown on the cheyne stokes respiration he was having before I got it for him... before the adapt:

That report does not make much sense. Why is it only reporting part of what is clearly Chenye Stokes as Chenye Stokes? It is also reporting an obstructive event ng the pauses in the Chenye Stokes, which is also questionable. I think it all goes to show that machine-flagged events are not always what they are flagged to be.

Glad everything is working out.

[palerider]

That report does not make much sense. Why is it only reporting part of what is clearly Chenye Stokes as Chenye Stokes? It is also reporting an obstructive event ng the pauses in the Chenye Stokes, which is also questionable. I think it all goes to show that machine-flagged events are not always what they are flagged to be.

he was likely having both obstructive and csr, based on what his pressures were trying to do and other observations.

you can have both, breathing fades off, throat closes also, machine sense it's pressure pulse, and flags an obstructive, even though there was no effort.