Where is the relief???

[skittlesmcgee]

I have been using my cpap for 4 nights now and I feel no different. I called my dr and they told me to call the DME supply location to get my compliance report. Well I called and she said everything looks good. No leaks, no episodes nothing so why am I not feeling relief? Ok I know that 4 days of therapy vs the months I went without proper sleep are a drop in the bucket but shouldn't I be feeling something? I still wake up tired, I'm still tired throughout the day. Is there something else I should be doing?

[linuxman]

A compliance report likely would not have enough information for them to really say much about your therapy, but that will depend on the machine. In general only summary statistics are sent. Give us some more information about what equipment you're using ( in detail) and what sort of AHI numbers were seen at your sleep study. Depending on the machine you have, you may be able to extract detailed information from it with some free software that's available.

[Hang Fire]

no episodes

If they mean "events", that is hard to believe. I would not trust a DME with my therapy. Why don't you register, fill out your equipment profile and let's see if some of the members can help you.

The way you are going about it as a guest giving insufficient information is not a good way to get help.

[skittlesmcgee]

A compliance report likely would not have enough information for them to really say much about your therapy, but that will depend on the machine. In general only summary statistics are sent. Give us some more information about what equipment you're using ( in detail) and what sort of AHI numbers were seen at your sleep study. Depending on the machine you have, you may be able to extract detailed information from it with some free software that's available.

I don't know what my AHI numbers were from my sleep study. When the dr read me the results he said I had 32 events in 266 minutes. My cpap is the dreamstation with humidifier and because of my sleep study my pressure is set at 7. The compliance report she emailed me shows an average AHI of 2.1 and a max AHI of 2.9. The dr said everything is looking great. After 2 nights of my mouth falling open (I'm a nose breather) I called today to have them send me a full face mask.

[linuxman]

A compliance report likely would not have enough information for them to really say much about your therapy, but that will depend on the machine. In general only summary statistics are sent. Give us some more information about what equipment you're using ( in detail) and what sort of AHI numbers were seen at your sleep study. Depending on the machine you have, you may be able to extract detailed information from it with some free software that's available.

I don't know what my AHI numbers were from my sleep study. When the dr read me the results he said I had 32 events in 266 minutes. My cpap is the dreamstation with humidifier and because of my sleep study my pressure is set at 7. The compliance report she emailed me shows an average AHI of 2.1 and a max AHI of 2.9. The dr said everything is looking great. After 2 nights of my mouth falling open (I'm a nose breather) I called today to have them send me a full face mask.

Well, assuming all event types were included, that would be an AHI in the range of 7 or so..not too bad. You're at around 2 now, which is pretty good. If you're interested in more details, you might be able to get it depending on your specific model of DreamStation. Do you know if your machine is the basic CPAP model, or is it the CPAP Pro or CPAP Auto model? The later two are data capable so detailed info can be extracted and viewed in a software package called SleepHead. You'll need a computer (PC or MAC) to do this w an SD card reader.

On how you feel, I'd say it's too early and need to give it more time. It would be nice to see detailed data, however. Maybe we'll see something that might be waking you...like really excessive mask leaking.

[OkyDoky]

I don't know what my AHI numbers were from my sleep study.

Request a copy of your Sleep Study and prescription. They are your medical records and they will give you more information. If you ever want to buy something at a different supplier or online you just give them a copy of your Rx.

[Soothest Sleep]

Everyone experiences relief at different rates and times. For me, it has taken 3 months for me to have a day when I woke feeling refreshed (today, as it happens). Over the weeks, I have been noticing small positive changes, however, and I am reminded that my Resp.Tech. told me that therapeutic changes can be subtle ones.

One thing that can help is to keep a journal recording your experiences each night. Just a note or two to give yourself a reminder of what is happening. As you look over your notes in future weeks, likely you will be able to see good changes, even if you are not yet feeling good.

Keep on keeping on!

Jean

[y_not]

I did the sleep study (around a year ago) then an auto CPAP to find the "average" pressure (In the UK the NHS supply the equipment for free) an auto CPAP for a week. This gave an average of just 7 so the swap to a manual machine set at 7 and for a month I felt awful!

I returned for a pre--arranged appointment and they decided to increase the pressure to "see if I felt any better" - I did, suddenly it was as if someone had switched the light on and I woke up BUT, over months I felt that the "light was dimming" so, with no other option, I purchased an auto CPAP. Sleepyhead software records an average of 11 but a high of 18 - seems the variation is quite significant so the auto sense does it's job and once again I'm awake!

Seems there is some trial and error, the "experts" don't have all the answers for every person, we have to become experts in ourselves, so if you have a manual - consider an auto, if you have an auto - consider the ramp setting, whichever you have consider a humidifier, think about other health issues - do you have a cold, flu or something else? The list is pretty endless but, once you get the combination right (and only you can do that) then you will feel the benefits.

Good luck

[RokMartian]

Definitely look at the sleepyhead software recommendation.

If you have the Dreamstation, you might also want to look to see if you can use the Dreamapper App - it connects to your dreamstation via bluetooth and will give you your AHI. Its not nearly as detailed as sleepyhead, but if you are interested in seeing how you do everyday, its a quick way to see the AHI and leaks, without having to remove the sd card and loading it into your computer.

[skittlesmcgee]

So I tried the sleepyhead software last night and got a message saying my machine isn't compatible which sucks. My amara view mask should be here today so hopefully that will help some. I caught my mouth open a few times last night. Also based on the reviews of the dream mapper app I think they got rid of the ahi feature. When it comes to leaks what am I looking for? My compliance report had a section for leaks.

[linuxman]

So I tried the sleepyhead software last night and got a message saying my machine isn't compatible which sucks. My amara view mask should be here today so hopefully that will help some. I caught my mouth open a few times last night. Also based on the reviews of the dream mapper app I think they got rid of the ahi feature. When it comes to leaks what am I looking for? My compliance report had a section for leaks.

That's unfortunate. You must have the straight cpap model. If you're willing to go into the clinician's menu, you can turn on daily AHI display so you can see it in the "My Info" menu. They apparently just have it turned off right now. Mine came that way as well. To get into the menu just hold down the front control knob and ramp button at the same time for around 5 seconds, you'll see the provider menu come up. From there you can make lots of changes, including pressure and many other settings. If you want more details on the clinician menus, you can find request the manual from here: http://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-p ... tup-manual

[skittlesmcgee]

Thank you so much! I won't get in trouble for going to that info will I?

[Pugsy]

What is the model number on your machine?
The machine you have chosen for your profile equipment is indeed compatible with Sleepyhead and offers all sorts of data.
I suspect you have chosen the wrong machine but let's look at the model number to know for sure.
You may have a machine that doesn't collect any useful data and if that is the case you have zero way to know for sure if your therapy is even effective or not.

So look on the blower unit for a 3 digit number with some letters in front and behind the 3 digits and tell us all the letters and all the numbers.

If it is this machine DSX200S11... https://www.cpap.com/productpage/pr-dre ... chine.html
It only offers hours of use.
and if that is the case you have a dataless brick and should be reading this
https://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/
scroll down the page for "help I am stuck with a brick".

A compliance only report doesn't include leak evaluation...are you sure you saw it on what you were given?

[linuxman]

When it comes to leaks what am I looking for? My compliance report had a section for leaks.

Sorry, missed this question. Without full data, you can't do much. You're pretty well confined to what the machine display offers. Is it showing "mask fit" percentage? That reports the amount of time spent below a particular leak threshold. You can still have leaking going on even with that at 100%, but it shouldn't affect therapy. I haven't used the DreamMaper app, so I don't know what it provides. I'll try to take a look at that later to see if there's anything useful there.

[Pugsy]

I haven't used the DreamMaper app, so I don't know what it provides.

DreamMapper just shows what is shown on the LCD screen. If something isn't available on the LCD screen it won't show up on the DreamMapper software report. DreamMapper is not a detailed product at all even when the machine is a full data machine...you get AHI, leak average and hours of use...that's it. No graphs or anything detailed.
If SleepyHead says it isn't compatible..unless she found an old version of SH somewhere...I suspect that the reason there's no data is that the machine is a brick.
Probably need to know what version of SH was being used.