1st week results of APAP

[Snooter]

Thought I would do the customary update of a newbie.

First I would like to thank those that spend their time educating all the new comers. You are a great resource.

I was diagnosed with severe apnea with a AHI of 54.7, RERA’s at 82 events per hour and 2 Central Apneas ver a 5 hour period. However my median SaO2 was 96.4% during sleep where during wake if was a median SaO2 was 96.9%. Snore was light, but my in-house snore indicator strongly disagrees. My prescription was for a CPAP set at 10inHg.

After many months of consternation and research (thank’s guys) I bought the Remstar Auto M machine with humidifier. I have had it just under a week and feel very comfortable with it. The first evening I spent 4 hours under it and had an AHI of 10.5 at a <90% pressure of 10.5 inHg. It’s been going down ever since. My current reading are AHI of 6.7 at a <90% pressure of 8.2 inHg. Mask is a medium size Comfort gel. (measurements said I should use a large, but noticed the if I reduce two of the measurements by 1/16 of an inch I was a medium.) Everything fits, relatively comfortable and in house snore indicator is happy. She even cuddles with me as I fall asleep. So I claim a big success. I have the APAP set for 4 to 13 inHg. (I know the low end is pretty low, but it’s nice to wakeup without all the noise. It looks as though my mouth is not leaking.

Several comments:

Although I haven’t had a problem running out of water the M series reservoir seems smaller then it’s predecessor.

I know 55AHI is considered severe, does anyone know what is considered moderate, low and normal? Right now and average of 6.7 looks OK to me. I just read someone saying less than 5 AHI is normal.

My leak rate is on average 30L/m which seems high for me, but I don’t notice any problems.

The Remstar LED display doesn’t have a back light so is hard to read unless you turn the lights on. Is this right or do I have a defective unit?

I’m glad I choose an APAP. The pressure of 8inHg is better than 10 and waking up to 4 is even better.

Thanks everyone for your input.

Snooter.

[jskinner]

I know 55AHI is considered severe, does anyone know what is considered moderate, low and normal?

<5 Normal
5-15 Mild
15-30 Moderate
>30 Severe

[t-bone]

Snooter, welcome to the forum!

I doubt I was of any help to you, so I won't take credit. I agree, though, that the folks here are most helpful, and most are very kind. Kudos to all!

Like you, I have a Remstar Auto-M. I've not set it for APAP, but like the data provision (I will likely try it on auto at some point in the not-too-distant future).

I have not run out of water in my humidifier yet. My humidifier stays at 5, I never experience rainout (and I'm not complaining), and I've used the machine for as much as nine hours at a stretch without going dry. I would say it's like the case of that famous glass: The optimist says it's half full, the pessimist says it's half-empty, and the realist tells you it's twice as big as it needs to be. My reservoir is as big as it needs to be for me.

[jskinner]

I have not run out of water in my humidifier yet. My humidifier stays at 5, I never experience rainout (and I'm not complaining), and I've used the machine for as much as nine hours at a stretch without going dry.

I think its depends a bit on the mask leak rate. I've been using the Oracle mask for a week now with the Humidifier set to 5 to try and reduce dryness. I run out of water every night now. This never happened before using this mask (although I didn't have the setting has high either since every other mask would get rainout at this level)

[Snoredog]

your AHI will go down if you increase the Auto:Min pressure up from default 4.0cm setting to 5.0cm or even 6.0cm. You will probably breathe a lot easier as well. 4cm is usually not enough to flush out your exhaled CO2.

[Guest]

Thanks skinner, t-bone and snoredog for your input. I have toyed with the idea of upping the lower limit as you say snoredog. I did notice that skinner you have your C-Flex set to 1. Mine is currently set at 2, but not sure why I would want to up it to 3 or lower it to 1. What are the advantages?

snooter.

[jskinner]

I did notice that skinner you have your C-Flex set to 1. Mine is currently set at 2, but not sure why I would want to up it to 3 or lower it to 1. What are the advantages?

C-Flex is primarily a comfort feature. Try it a different levels for a few nights and find which level you like best. Its has little, if any, effect on treatment.