Newbie working on it but.....

[ashaper]

I tried CPAP therapy several years ago after a “moderate” diagnosis but gave it up after10 months as I found it intolerable. Gave away my machine and equipment which later proved to be a big mistake. After some cardiac and cognitive issues made themselves evident my Dr. sent me for another sleep test. This time it was diagnosed as moderate to severe. Ended up purchasing a Resmed Autosense10 Autoset and have been trying to make it work.
I find the Deamwear nasal mask much more tolerable that the others I have tried due to the teletubby hose connection on the top of my head (as opposed the the more common elephant trunk connection). An open view mask without hose management issues really works for me, mostly. I still have trouble keeping it on after getting up in the middle of the night as I tend to fall back into bed and fall asleep. It also meets my wife’s noise level requirements.

My issues are, in addition to putting the thing back on,:
- per Airview my leak rate is high varying around 25 l/ minute
- my AHI varies around 3-5

Do I care what the leak rate is if it makes the mask tolerable and I get reasonable AHI? I know many of you would consider it too high but It’s better than the 40 AHI I exhibited without treatment and I continue to work on it. My pressure btw runs around 12psi.

I am working on getting Sleepyhead working but it requires another computer and I am finding it a challenge to get the data into the software. Also I find the SH output difficult to understand and interpret. I also must admit I also have some concerns with spreading that much personal data out on the internet, especially since I don’t understand it yet.

That’s me so far. Suggestions and comments would be appreciated.

[Pugsy]

There's no personal data in SleepyHead unless you put your name in there.

If the leaks are really bad the machine might be missing some events so your AHI might actually be higher.
When faced with really bad leaks the machine loses ability to sense, respond and record events.
A little large leak probably not a big deal but really big large leaks that are prolonged...can impact therapy effectiveness as well as accuracy of the data reported.

He's a sample report of mine. I cropped out the only personal thing...which was the user profile name and I didn't use my real name...I used Pugsy.

[Okie bipap]

If your leak is around 25 l per minute, the machine can compensate for it with out any problem. ResMed draws a line in the sand at 24 l per minute and says anything over that is excess leakage. The machine can actually compensate for more than that and still adequate treat your sleep apnea. An AHI of 3 to 5 may be considered my the medical community to be adequately treated, but most of us here on the forum consider anything over 1 as unsatisfactory.

[Pugsy]

You really need to get SH up and running and see just how bad the leaks are.
If it never goes much over 25 that's not a huge deal but if you spend much time over 40 L/min ...the accuracy could come into question.
At 35 L/min I started seeing some "unknown apneas" being flagged. The machine knew something happened but didn't know what to call it.
Over 40 L/min and I didn't even get unknown flags...the machine didn't know what was going on.

[Julie]

What are your pressure settings?

[ashaper]

My pressure range is 8psi to 15psi. When I set the machines reporting period to 1 day I get 10psi to 12psi. I don’t know if that is an average or maximum.

[Pugsy]

It's not psi...it's cm to water and we just shorten it to cm.

The pressure number you see on the machine screen for the 1 day reporting period is what we call a 95% number and it's not an average or max. It's just a number where you spent 95% of the time at OR BELOW that number.
To see the maximum you need to use the software as that is part of the detailed data only available with the software.

No need to explain about the humidifier thing in your comments...we all know that with the AirSense/AirCurve 10 models the humidifier is built in to the blower unit.
Other brands and older ResMed models had separate humidifiers that could be removed.
Can't remove the AirSense humidifier...now it can be turned off and use something else in the place of the water chamber but the humidifier section is still there whether it is used or not.

[ashaper]

Lol, yes I guess 8-15 psi would blow me up like a balloon.

One thing I forgot to mention is that on the nights when I forget to put the mask back on so the machine only sees the first 3-4 hours of sleep my AHI goes way down. I must be having a lot of events later in the night.

I know, got to get SH going.

[palerider]

Lol, yes I guess 8-15 psi would blow me up like a balloon.

It'd pop you like a balloon... guts all over the ceiling.

15cm of water is about 6 inches of water... so if you stick a straw 6 inches into a glass... and blow, you've just blown more than 15cm water pressure.

I know, got to get SH going.

Yes.

[Pugsy]

There's a good chance that some of the increased AHI in that second session are probably awake events getting flagged by mistake especially if it takes a little bit to get back to sleep.

Go here and read and watch all the videos and you will see what I mean.
http://freecpapadvice.com/sleepyhead-free-software
I was going to wait on dumping this on you until you had SleepyHead but you might as well learn now.

My next question would be why are you getting up in the middle of the night and going back to bed....like I did here and it's 3 AM where I live. In my case my excuse is the old dog...she had to go pee despite peeing 3 hours ago when I went to bed. Some nights she can go all night and some nights she can't.
But hey...a least she came and got me to take her out instead of peeing a lake in the middle of my living room floor....big dog...when she pees it's a lake.