Need help to use ResMed Air10 to diagnose

[ephesuscat]

Hi dear members,
I have been diagnosed with severe apnea and started using CPAP machine for the last month. Oh my god! I never knew I can go along my day without a nap. I am still adjusting to it but so happy that I am on my way to a better life.
Now, with all the symptoms I am realizing my mom probably suffers from Sleep Apnea as well. She has been having some heart issues and all her life she suffered high blood pressure. I am now visiting her and wondering if I can use my Resmed to see if she has sleep apnea?
My machine is set to auto adjust 8-12.
Is this possible at all? Where she lives, there is no sleep clinics or this type of medicine. But if I can find out whether or not she has sleep apnea, I would find a way for her to get the treatment.

Thank you for being here and thank you for your help,
EphesusCat

[Fetou]

If you go with a reasonable starting pressure around 6 and let the max go to 20, and the machine increases the pressure significantly during the night in to maintain airway flow, there's a good chance that OSA is present. With the Sleepyhead data, it can also shed some light on the situation. From what I've read, it isn't always as definitive, but it certainly was for me.

The other element is the subjective feel after sleeping. A distinct improvement in sleep quality and an improvement in symptoms can shed some light. I don't think most people would put up with the CPAP if they didn't feel the benefit in some way.

I am also doing this with my mom within the next month. Her sleep apnea is pretty blatant though.

[zoocrewphoto]

If a person needs enough pressure to cause the machine to react and increase pressure, you can see that the person does have sleep apnea. If you set it for say 6 straight pressure, and there are lots of events, then you can also say that the person has sleep apnea.

But there is no way to see what events would occur on a typical night without cpap. So, somebody with mild sleep apnea, or somebody who doesn't need much pressure for treatment will slip by with very little useful data.

So, it depends on the person being tested how useful the machine can be in diagnosing sleep apnea. As a positive example, my mom was diagnosed about 20 years before me, and she had used her machine off and on for years, but didn't feel like she was having much success. Her machine was pre-data, so she really didn't know how well it might be dialed in to her needs. After I got past my compliance and followup, I reset my machine to her prescription of straight 10. I am a night owl, so she used the machine (with her own mask and hose) for a little over 4 hours before giving it back. I downloaded the data and printed the report before switching back to my settings and going to bed. Her ahi was 3.4 (doctors like it, but most people feel better if it is lower). And then I saw the duration of her events. Most over 30 seconds. One over a minute long. And they were in clusters. No wonder she felt like crap. n another night, I set it for 10-13 just to see what it wanted to do without letting it go really high. We printed both reports and she made an appointment with my new sleep doctor. He reviewed her last sleep study and those two reports. Then prescribed a new machine like mine set for 10-15. She is much happier.

[ephesuscat]

These are amazing responses, thank you so much. I don’t know how to change the setting but search and find out tomorrow and try this. If we can at least see some events, I can convince her to seek some help. You are all awesome, thank you!

[Pugsy]

Get the provider manual here.
It explains how to get into the setup menu area to change the various settings.
https://sleep.tnet.com/home/files/resme ... -guide.pdf

[palerider]

And, more importantly, what those settings *mean*.