Starting with A-CPAP tonight

[Arlene1963]

Recently I posted here about the delay in receiving CPAP therapy here in my city in Ontario (for some reason our wait times are very long)

I have moderate sleep apnea (AHI 16) Lowest desaturation 88% - average sat 93%. Based on this info I wanted to start therapy ASAP.

Thanks to some wonderful advice here, I decided to start self treatment and ordered an Airsense 10 Autoset for her, and Swift FX for Her Nasal Pillows from a company in the USA.

These arrived today and so the journey begins.

Just want to check here to make sure I have all bases covered to start this:

1)Have downloaded Sleepy Head to analyse my sleep data to see what adjustments need to be made
2 I am starting with the factory default 4-20. Is this the best protocol or do folks here think it better to start at a slightly higher pressure.
3)Should I change ramp time? If so. what should I change it to initially?
4)I am leaving factory default settings for everything else, are there any that need to be changed that I am unaware of?
5)Silly question, but if I need to get up in the night to use the washroom, what do I do with the mask and do I switch the machine off?

Thanks for any suggestions. So much appreciate the help. Can't wait to get started!

[grayghost4]

Since you are using 4-20 ... there is no point in using ramp... it will just delay the machine from raising the pressure if necessary.
Many of us find that ramp is unnecessary ... especially with a low starting pressure.
I would recommend that you put the mask on and start the cpap while watching tv or reading or some other activity that will distract you from the mask, and see what you think of a starting pressure of 4.

[RebornSleeper]

2. I didn't like the way four felt so my starting pressure was raised to 5. It's really based on comfort.

3. Again, a comfort thing. I felt like the ramping was suffocating me. So I turned it off. If you like it, you can adjust the amount of time it takes to ramp. Very versatile for your comfort.

4. There are a lot of features. The one I love is the most is being able to warm up my humidifier before I start at night!

5. If you disconnect your mask from the hose the and have the Autosense on, the machine will turn off on it's own. Go to the bathroom with the mask on. Come back, connect your hose and the machine will start back up. I love this. There is so little you have to do. It keeps me from becoming too awake trying to get everything going again.

I do agree with trying it out during the day. Try different settings to see what you like. Autoset is so great at responding to you. I like not having to fight against a machine.

[Arlene1963]

Thanks so much for your replies!

I have tried lying down on the bed with the machine turned on and wow, it feels strange at first, but I rather like the feel of the air. No problem with breathing at 4. I'm going to try to wear this as much as possible to get used to it before going to sleep. Thanks for the suggestion.

Really like the idea of warming up the humidifier. Sounds very soothing.

Thanks for the info re the autosense, .. makes perfect sense. What wonderful technology this is!

[Sheriff Buford]

I would start a pressure of 8. You'll probably want that much pressure in the middle of the night when your mind starts racing. Forget the ramp. Most of the time I leave the mask on (un-hook the hose from the mask) for a bathroom break. Good luck! It's a journey. Don't give up! It's worth it.

Sheriff

[Arlene1963]

Thanks Sheriff!

[Arlene1963]

Hardly slept last night so the stats are probably not a true reflection of my regular sleep, but here is the first night's report.

Not sure what this data means but I had no OSAs.

There were times when the pressure went high (12) and breathing became a bit more difficult, I was aware of the pressure. This was when I was sleeping or dozing most probably.

[Arlene1963]

I got up multiple times during the night and slept maybe for a few hours only.

[Sheriff Buford]

It looks as your night was not all that bad except for the amount of rest you say you did not get. It's hard to measure anything in the cpap-world after one night. Let's see how you do after a few nights under your belt. Let us know how you feel today.

Sheriff

[Arlene1963]

Sheriff, I've decided after last night, to take your advice and set the range from 8-20. Seems I can handle the feel of starting at 8. If I run into problems I will come back here for advice.

Just longing to get into the groove of falling asleep with this machine. I suffer from insomnia (have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep) so am so hoping that once the apnea is treated sleep will be the REWARD!!!

But it won't all happen magically on the first night, might take many months and many nights of frustration.

I am not quitting this .... !

[OkyDoky]

Arlene,
Somethings you can do to make your screenshots more helpful.
1. Go to view and uncheck right side bar
2. Click on the triangle on the left side of the date
3. Go to file, preferences, appearance and uncheck the show event pie chart.
4. You can move your graphs by grabbing the label and dragging. We generally need to see:
Events
Flow Rate
Pressure
Leak
5. And if you go to Fullscreen Toggle before you take the Screenshot it will remove the top header.

Then if anyboby needs more specific info they can ask.

[Guest]

Arlene,
Somethings you can do to make your screenshots more helpful.
1. Go to view and uncheck right side bar
2. Click on the triangle on the left side of the date
3. Go to file, preferences, appearance and uncheck the show event pie chart.
4. You can move your graphs by grabbing the label and dragging. We generally need to see:
Events
Flow Rate
Pressure
Leak
5. And if you go to Fullscreen Toggle before you take the Screenshot it will remove the top header.

Then if anyboby needs more specific info they can ask.

Where do I find Fullscreen toggle.

Using imgur I can only post the we burl not the screenshot, what am I doing incorrectly.

Thanks.

[OkyDoky]

Arlene,
Somethings you can do to make your screenshots more helpful.
1. Go to view and uncheck right side bar
2. Click on the triangle on the left side of the date
3. Go to file, preferences, appearance and uncheck the show event pie chart.
4. You can move your graphs by grabbing the label and dragging. We generally need to see:
Events
Flow Rate
Pressure
Leak
5. And if you go to Fullscreen Toggle before you take the Screenshot it will remove the top header.

Then if anyboby needs more specific info they can ask.

Where do I find Fullscreen toggle.

Using imgur I can only post the we burl not the screenshot, what am I doing incorrectly.

Thanks.

Go to view and it is just above Take Screenshot.

[Arlene1963]

Thanks so much for that help Okydoky!

Is this the necessary info that will be required, and is the formatting ok? I can't seem to find a way to post a thumbnail that is clickable. Not sure what I am doing wrong, but it doesn't seem to offer me that option in imgur.

[OkyDoky]

Is this the necessary info that will be required, and is the formatting ok? I can't seem to find a way to post a thumbnail that is clickable. Not sure what I am doing wrong, but it doesn't seem to offer me that option in imgur.

Yes that looks much easier to see. Now if someone needs more specific info they can ask.
As far as the thumbnail. This is where I asked that question. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=108815&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
I came to the conclusion that you had that option before on the first page without signing in but now you have to sign in, click on your ID in the upper right corner. It will then give you options and you click on images.Then you click on the image you want and it will open up the image with the full menu. The thumbnail options are there.