Jonathan's ongoing list of questions, comments, concerns...

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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palerider
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Re: Jonathan's ongoing list of questions, comments, concerns...

Post by palerider » Tue Dec 04, 2018 4:24 pm

JonathanZK wrote:
Tue Dec 04, 2018 8:47 am
palerider wrote:
Mon Dec 03, 2018 9:24 pm
I wouldn't bother getting several though... I started out with the mirage quattro... and read (here) about how "fragile" and "delicate" the mask cushion was.. so I bought a spare right away on eBay. Five years later, when I switched to the P10, that spare cushion was still in the package. I went through three elbows, several headgears and the knob on the forehead bit had some felt wedged in it, because the clicky part had broken... but that cushion kept keeping on. In fact, shortly before I switched to the P10, the main frame itself broke and the elbow wouldn't stay in it anymore... So, basically, you might regret it eventually if you stock up...
I love my Mirage Quattro. I've had it for two weeks, and it has been a dream (in comparison to the [Dis]ComfortGel I had before). It's good to know yours lasted five years. I hope mine will too.
I'd wash mine once a week with (usually) dawn unscented soap, and hot water, and just rub it with my fingers, ... then every night, I'd wipe it with a squirt of purell on a tissue, just to remove the facial oils from the cushion.

There's a thread (or few) about boiling the cushions with baking soda and distilled water, which seems to restore them to near new clarity and feel, but I never tried that.

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Re: Jonathan's ongoing list of questions, comments, concerns...

Post by JonathanZK » Wed Dec 05, 2018 10:17 am

palerider wrote:
Tue Dec 04, 2018 4:24 pm
JonathanZK wrote:
Tue Dec 04, 2018 8:47 am
palerider wrote:
Mon Dec 03, 2018 9:24 pm
I wouldn't bother getting several though... I started out with the mirage quattro... and read (here) about how "fragile" and "delicate" the mask cushion was.. so I bought a spare right away on eBay. Five years later, when I switched to the P10, that spare cushion was still in the package. I went through three elbows, several headgears and the knob on the forehead bit had some felt wedged in it, because the clicky part had broken... but that cushion kept keeping on. In fact, shortly before I switched to the P10, the main frame itself broke and the elbow wouldn't stay in it anymore... So, basically, you might regret it eventually if you stock up...
I love my Mirage Quattro. I've had it for two weeks, and it has been a dream (in comparison to the [Dis]ComfortGel I had before). It's good to know yours lasted five years. I hope mine will too.
I'd wash mine once a week with (usually) dawn unscented soap, and hot water, and just rub it with my fingers, ... then every night, I'd wipe it with a squirt of purell on a tissue, just to remove the facial oils from the cushion.

There's a thread (or few) about boiling the cushions with baking soda and distilled water, which seems to restore them to near new clarity and feel, but I never tried that.
I've been using some CleanSmart Daily Surface Cleaner. It claims to kill 99.9% of germs, specifically mentions that it's appropriate for CPAPs, and breaks down to saline -- and it's cheap. So I use that daily.

Boiling is a good idea too. I never thought about that, but it it makes sense. I used to boil my kids' bottles regularly for the same reason.

Best,

Jonathan

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Re: Jonathan's ongoing list of questions, comments, concerns...

Post by JonathanZK » Fri Dec 07, 2018 9:18 am

So I dropped my machine. I rolled over last night, and the tube pulled it right off my night table.

Everything seems to be "normal." No water appears to have gotten into the machine -- in fact, very little escaped the reservoir at all. Pressure reads as normal, and feels normal. The onboard diagnostic checks show everything is fine.

The air feels warmer. I didn't realize it before, but the heat, although switched on, was not functioning. But now, after the fall, it is working. Or maybe it was working before, and now is working more. I don't know. I have no basis for comparison.

Anyway, is there anything else I should be on the lookout for?

Thanks,

Jonathan

PS: I did read an older thread on this topic, and will be buying some velcro strips today to adhere the BiPAP to the table so this doesn't happen again.

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Re: Jonathan's ongoing list of questions, comments, concerns...

Post by babydinosnoreless » Fri Dec 07, 2018 9:45 am

I recently had something similar happen. This was my solution. A not slip rubber matt and bungie cords. It seems to be working. (Crossing fingers)

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Re: Jonathan's ongoing list of questions, comments, concerns...

Post by JonathanZK » Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:35 pm

So it's been a while since my last post... I'm not sure what happened, but after a period of relative success with 17/13, I started to have a few bad nights with AHI3.5, and, 1.8, and 2.2... so I increased pressure in an effort to get things back under control. Here's my last week's worth of data:

Image

And here's my raw data and trends:

Image

You can sort of see where things began to go awry, around the 3rd of December. The pressure increases brought Obstructives back down, but not like I saw for the last couple weeks of November. Hypopneas are just all over the place.

I'm not really sure what to do. Even with the increased pressure this past week, one night I'm at 1.2, and the next at 0.4, and the trends are heading back up.

It's like my body is adapting to and fighting against the pressure. Does that happen? And is this kind of variance in AHI normal? Should I ever expect (hope) to see an AHI that's more or less consistently < 0.5?

Thanks!

Jonathan

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Re: Jonathan's ongoing list of questions, comments, concerns...

Post by palerider » Tue Dec 18, 2018 4:21 pm

JonathanZK wrote:
Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:35 pm
So it's been a while since my last post... I'm not sure what happened, but after a period of relative success with 17/13, I started to have a few bad nights with AHI3.5, and, 1.8, and 2.2... so I increased pressure in an effort to get things back under control. Here's my last week's worth of data:
Uh, no, just no.

First, I *never* want to see the calendar, it's just a total waste of space.. and second, while the animated gif is cute, I can't look at what's happening, because before i can focus on anything, IT CHANGES!

Cute, but no.
JonathanZK wrote:
Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:35 pm

It's like my body is adapting to and fighting against the pressure. Does that happen?
Well, I'd say "no", but you do adapt to a 'new normal'... and there are a LOT of variables that affect sleep.
JonathanZK wrote:
Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:35 pm
And is this kind of variance in AHI normal? Should I ever expect (hope) to see an AHI that's more or less consistently < 0.5?
Not without an auto machine.

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Re: Jonathan's ongoing list of questions, comments, concerns...

Post by JonathanZK » Tue Dec 18, 2018 4:53 pm

palerider wrote:
Tue Dec 18, 2018 4:21 pm
JonathanZK wrote:
Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:35 pm
So it's been a while since my last post... I'm not sure what happened, but after a period of relative success with 17/13, I started to have a few bad nights with AHI3.5, and, 1.8, and 2.2... so I increased pressure in an effort to get things back under control. Here's my last week's worth of data:
Uh, no, just no.

First, I *never* want to see the calendar, it's just a total waste of space.. and second, while the animated gif is cute, I can't look at what's happening, because before i can focus on anything, IT CHANGES!

Cute, but no.
Duly noted. I won't repeat that mistake.
palerider wrote:
Tue Dec 18, 2018 4:21 pm
JonathanZK wrote:
Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:35 pm

It's like my body is adapting to and fighting against the pressure. Does that happen?
Well, I'd say "no", but you do adapt to a 'new normal'... and there are a LOT of variables that affect sleep.
JonathanZK wrote:
Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:35 pm
And is this kind of variance in AHI normal? Should I ever expect (hope) to see an AHI that's more or less consistently < 0.5?
Not without an auto machine.
So, given that, I'm pretty much in "as good as it gets" territory for the next year until I can afford to plunk down $1800 on an auto bipap. Is that about right?

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Re: Jonathan's ongoing list of questions, comments, concerns...

Post by Pugsy » Tue Dec 18, 2018 5:05 pm

You could increase the EPAP a bit (and this forces IPAP up a bit if you keep the same difference) and whatever it is that is causing the clustering of events you are seeing (probably either on your back or in REM) and the increase in pressure will better prevent those clusters from happening.

Obviously if you had the auto adjusting capable machine in auto mode the machine would just do the increase for you when needed and back off when not needed.
The draw back to the fixed machines...you have to use higher pressure all night for those short times during the night when you need more.

So you can still reduce the numbers a bit...just requires a little more pressure all night.

Keep an eye out on the forum Often Bilevel machines can be found for the $400 to $600 range.

You might be surprised what a little 0.5 cm increase in EPAP and IPAP will accomplish and not be a horrible experience or too big of a change.

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Re: Jonathan's ongoing list of questions, comments, concerns...

Post by Pugsy » Tue Dec 18, 2018 5:08 pm

I realize it's the holidays and you probably don't have any extra cash right now but watch LSAT's posts next year....
viewtopic.php?p=1280400#p1280400
This one will probably be gone but he will get others as he has a chance....always a very fair price and sometimes even new 0 hour machines.

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Re: Jonathan's ongoing list of questions, comments, concerns...

Post by JonathanZK » Wed Dec 26, 2018 1:20 pm

Pugsy wrote:
Tue Dec 18, 2018 5:08 pm
I realize it's the holidays and you probably don't have any extra cash right now but watch LSAT's posts next year....
viewtopic.php?p=1280400#p1280400
This one will probably be gone but he will get others as he has a chance....always a very fair price and sometimes even new 0 hour machines.
Thank you. LSAT actually sent me a PM on the topic.

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Re: Jonathan's ongoing list of questions, comments, concerns...

Post by JonathanZK » Wed Dec 26, 2018 1:30 pm

So an interesting thing happened last night... The electricity went out.

Apparently, my sleep was undisturbed -- although I do have a faint memory of the BiPAP machine automatically reactivating and the subsequent increase in pressure...

But I do have a question. Is it safe to be breathing in a mask/hose for any period of time absent positive pressure? I know the thing has holes in it and that it isn't airtight, but they say you shouldn't sleep with your head under a blanket due to CO₂ buildup. Does the same apply here? Should I be thinking about attaching some kind of alarm so that, when this happens again, I wake up to disconnect?

Thanks!

Jonathan

PS: Had my first 0.0 AHI night. I won't post a full image and derail my electricity question, but this is one beautiful screenshot: https://imgur.com/d72dU2G .

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Re: Jonathan's ongoing list of questions, comments, concerns...

Post by LSAT » Wed Dec 26, 2018 2:31 pm

JonathanZK wrote:
Wed Dec 26, 2018 1:30 pm
So an interesting thing happened last night... The electricity went out.

Apparently, my sleep was undisturbed -- although I do have a faint memory of the BiPAP machine automatically reactivating and the subsequent increase in pressure...

But I do have a question. Is it safe to be breathing in a mask/hose for any period of time absent positive pressure? I know the thing has holes in it and that it isn't airtight, but they say you shouldn't sleep with your head under a blanket due to CO₂ buildup. Does the same apply here? Should I be thinking about attaching some kind of alarm so that, when this happens again, I wake up to disconnect?

Thanks!

Jonathan

PS: Had my first 0.0 AHI night. I won't post a full image and derail my electricity question, but this is one beautiful screenshot: https://imgur.com/d72dU2G .
The elbow of your mask has an anti-asphyxia valve that will allow you to breath even though the mask is sealed. You can hear it open and close as you breathe. The CO2 vents will continue to expell the CO2. Most people will wake up when the power goes out.

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Re: Jonathan's ongoing list of questions, comments, concerns...

Post by JonathanZK » Wed Dec 26, 2018 8:51 pm

LSAT wrote:
Wed Dec 26, 2018 2:31 pm
The elbow of your mask has an anti-asphyxia valve that will allow you to breath even though the mask is sealed. You can hear it open and close as you breathe. The CO2 vents will continue to expell the CO2. Most people will wake up when the power goes out.
Thanks. Good to know -- especially since we're having a stormy night tonight and have no idea what will happen with the electricity.

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