Giving cpap another shot after some time off (Oscar Screenshots)

[redlegs]

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea last March and had difficulty using my dreamstation and getting used to it. Ended up having to return it for not meeting compliance. After some medical issues in Nov/Dec of last year, I decided to buy my own dreamstation auto CPAP finally was able to get the funds to do so. Here are 3 days from recently I was going to post last nights but I forgot to unlock the SD card when I put it back in the machine. All the rest of the gear I use should be in my signature. I did fix the leak issue from the 28th. I don't know my prescription I am waiting for my Dr to send me over a copy of it. I feel like I've been sleeping fairly well for the last 2 weeks. I have only woken up a few times mainly because of the cat I recently adopted more so than any apneas or taking my mask off. As of right now, I believe it's set between 5 to 20 cm h2o and seems to max out around 17 most nights. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Sorry I some how copied someone else's screen shot for April 26the reading.

[Pugsy]

Some nights your pressure needs aren't so high...some nights quite high.

Is your sleeping position maybe a factor here...do you sometimes sleep on your back and other times sleep on your side?

[Pugsy]

You don't need to lock your SD card. Your machine doesn't care about that little text file that some operating systems put on the SD card.
That "lock your card" warning really only pertains to ResMed S9 machines. All the others it doesn't matter..the machines don't care.

[redlegs]

I tend to fall asleep on my back but I do toss & turn at night & do wake up on either side sometimes. Ok good to know about the lock thing thanks.

[Pugsy]

You probably need a little more minimum pressure if you are going to consistently spend much time on your back.
Probably not a lot more though. It looks like when you need it the machine pretty much goes up and stays up and sets its own new minimum.
If you look at Sunday April 26 with the minimum being 8.5...it resulted in a much more stable pressure line. Didn't go as high or with wild variations. I don't know how much of that was because of the minimum being higher or just position related but if it were me and I could handle that 8.5 minimum...that's what I would be using for a week or two and then see what trends or patterns develop.
It's possible that with a little higher minimum the pressure won't have to go quite so high to prevent those events.

[redlegs]

You probably need a little more minimum pressure if you are going to consistently spend much time on your back.
Probably not a lot more though. It looks like when you need it the machine pretty much goes up and stays up and sets its own new minimum.
If you look at Sunday April 26 with the minimum being 8.5...it resulted in a much more stable pressure line. Didn't go as high or with wild variations. I don't know how much of that was because of the minimum being higher or just position related but if it were me and I could handle that 8.5 minimum...that's what I would be using for a week or two and then see what trends or patterns develop.
It's possible that with a little higher minimum the pressure won't have to go quite so high to prevent those events.

Now that you point that out I think your right. I will give up my minimum to 8.5 tonight and give it some time to test it. Sorry I some how copied someone else's screen shot for April 26the reading. You are right though I checked some data from my last time with cpap and it had min at 9 and my high pressure wasn't near 17.

[redlegs]

After checking a few other resources I am going to set my minimum to 10 a flex of 2 instead of 3 and reduce the number of pillows I use since it does cause me to tuck my chin which could be contributing to the snoring. Also going to pick up a neck pillow if needed after a few nights to see if that'll help overall with my therapy.

[redlegs]

Here is last night I also tried the F&P Simplus mask I had gotten the first time but never really used. The snores at the very start were me doing so manually testing out different pillow configurations. Also including two 2 hour zoom-ins to get a bit more detail for everyone.

[Pugsy]

How did you do in terms of comfort and sleep last night? On paper the results are quite acceptable.

[redlegs]

I think I slept fairly well. Though elsewhere someone was suggesting a bipap machine since I snore at anything below 16 cm h20.

[Pugsy]

A bilevel machine would enable you to use the higher pressures more comfortably with the increased PS (pressure support or difference between inhale and exhale) should you have problems with the higher pressures you sometimes need.
Right now the most you can get is a 2 cm drop during exhale and that's only at a setting of 3 and IF you breathe forcefully since the amount of drop is flow based.
That difference between 2 PS and 3 or 4 or 5 PS available on a bilevel machine can be pretty remarkable in terms of comfort for some people. The more difference the easier it is to exhale.

[redlegs]

I'm going to try some other adjustments see if they help before talking to my Dr about bipap.

[redlegs]

The first half of last night was just an unmitigated disaster. I used the SCC the first half and while it didn't feel too tight or anything it's clear it was more harmful than helpful by a mile. Also, my cat kept waking me throughout the night so that didn't help. The 2nd half of the night I used the Dr. Daktoa anti-snoring knockoff collar I got on amazon. As you can see the two halves are night and day differences though not sure about from my regular days before this. I'll post the full night, first half by itself, first half 2-minute segment, 2nd half of the night, and 2nd half 2-minute segment. Also, I swear I turned off the ramp feature again before going to bed but it seems to have kicked in anyway. I am going to have to noodle around with it to figure that out.







now for the 2nd half of the night

[Miss Emerita]

Looks like Dr. Dakota is the winner!

I just wanted to say that if you wind up getting a bilevel machine, I'd strongly recommend the ResMed Aircurve VAuto. The algorithms make breathing more comfortable, and it has some advanced settings that I believe are not available on the PR Dreamstation Bi-Pap.

[redlegs]

I thought it was a winner too but not sure anymore after the last night. Way more hypopneas and a 1 or 2 RERAs it seems.