Just got my CPAP and having issues.

[modest811]

**Hello guys, I can't access OSCAR till monday because my computer doesn't have a SD drive. I ordered a portable one to my house but amazon can't deliver it till monday***

So I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea with a AHI of 5.3. Pretty low. Doctor said on my back I was an AHI of 9, and lower on my side. I was excited to get my CPAP going. The first night I tried it I had a really bad sleep and was up every hour. Last night I took the thing off in my sleep. I've been feeling EXHAUSTED the last two days and the myAIR app wasn't working on my phone so I found out how to see the information the machine. Low and behold my ahi was 9!!! While wearing the cpap machine. I had way more central apnea's too when my doctor told me I had obstructive sleep apnea.

I had the EPR on, I've tried turning that off and I'll see how it goes. But I'm just new to this and i haven no idea what is going on. I'm a 30 year old male, not overweight, pretty average. Just sleep hasn't been refreshing in so long.

[Pugsy]

Quit worrying about the central apneas. I would bet my last dollar that the bulk of them are awake/arousal breathing irregularities getting flagged by mistake.
These machines have zero way to know if we are asleep or not and they only measure air flow.
Our awake/arousal breathing is very irregular when compared to asleep breathing and these irregular breaths can and will be flagged by the machine as some sort of apnea event (any category but often central) and we get false positives. If we aren't asleep they simply don't count except to point to the fact that we didn't sleep so great.

Go here and watch the videos
http://freecpapadvice.com/sleepyhead-free-software
and once you get the software up and running you can see for yourself asleep vs awake/arousal breathing.

It's common to not sleep so great when we first start cpap therapy. Let's face it there's simply a lot of new stuff going on with the face and the brain has yet to come to grips with its new "normal".

Your main job right now...just getting used to the mask blowing air up your nose and using it and sleeping. Quit worrying about the data....until you are actually sleeping soundly it is most likely going to reflect a lot of tossing and turning and poor sleep awake false positives and they simply don't count. Nothing counts unless you were actually asleep.

[modest811]

Thank you. You've lowered a lot of my anxiety around this, and quickly!

Really appreciate it. I'll check out these videos and report back when I get some more sleep time and have my OSCAR set up.

[modest811]

Hey Sorry to bother you again. I got Oscar working! And it looks like the night I had it on all night I had more Central apena's than thought? What does this data mean? Should I keep going with this?

[Pugsy]

Please review this thread for graph formatting.
viewtopic/t158560/How-to-post-images-for-review.html

That data doesn't mean much unless you were for sure asleep which we both know you said you didn't sleep well.

Turn EPR off just in case it is causing the centrals. While rare...not impossible and at your starting pressure you shouldn't need it.
If you do...set your machine so that EPR is only on in ramp only and make use of the ramp feature by turning it on and setting EPR to be on but only in ramp.

[rcobourn]

Are you feeling air starved? That was my difficulty starting CPAP, because my minimum pressure was too low. Your chart is showing a minimum of 4cmH2O. I would be gasping for air. 12 is about the lowest I can tolerate. Something to experiment with, anyhow.

[Miss Emerita]

Modest811, to speed up your adaptation to this new experience, you could try setting the machine up outside your bedroom during the day or in the evening so you can use it while you do something mildly diverting, like reading or watching TV. You want to teach your mind/brain not to be concerned about the novel sensations, and this is a good way to do that.

You have an excellent machine, you've already gotten in at least one full night masked up, and you're already set up with Oscar, which is great. People here will be very happy to support you as you work toward comfortable and effective treatment. The beginning can be pretty ragged, but with patience and an experimental outlook, you will find that things start to improve.

[Julie]

RCoburn - I don't think you're reading it right... it's not at 4/20 but 5 and 15 (look under the big AHI sign, not from the graph).

[modest811]

RCoburn - I don't think you're reading it right... it's not at 4/20 but 5 and 15 (look under the big AHI sign, not from the graph).

You're correct. It starts out at 4 in the beginning of the ramp...

Hoping turning the EPR off and getting more sleep will help... Still pretty worried about this though because I feel awful! Bleh!

[rcobourn]

RCoburn - I don't think you're reading it right... it's not at 4/20 but 5 and 15 (look under the big AHI sign, not from the graph).

Check the Oscar statistics.