Stat Summary question

[writes4me]

I hope I'm posting in the correct place.

I was diagnosed with sever sleep apnea before going onto a CPAP machine. Out of 60 seconds I was breathing roughly 10 of that. So, here I am now, about 5 months in and was starting to feel like my progress was not getting better. I asked for a scan of the card and just got the results today. I tried to read the stats from other logs but I don't really know. I'm hoping others here with much more experience can give me some aid in deciphering this.


Usage

Total hours: 85:46 hours
Usage: 04:22 hrs/day
Used Days>4hrs 12 days
Used days<4hrs 6 days
Non Used days 4 days

Total Days 22 days

% Used Days > 4hrs 54.5%

Treatment

Pressure 95th centile: 13.9 cm H2O
Median Pressure: 9.9 cm H2O
Max. Pressure: 16.8 cm H20

Leak 95th centile: 0.63 l/sec
Median Leak: 0.14 l/sec
Max. leak 0.94 l/sec

Events

AHI: 11.2 events per hour
AI: 3.3 events per hour
HI: 7.5 per hour
Time in Apnea 1.3% Mask On Time

Settings

Device: S8 AutoSet
Max pressure setting: 20.0 cm H20
Min. pressure setting: 4.0 cm H20


That's pretty much it. I'm still too tired to go without naps but I'm not a total zombie either.

At present, I'm taping my Opus 360 nasal pillow head gear to my face with masking tape, then taping the nasal pillows in place around my nose. I don't want things to slip off and I did notice once or twice before I did this, that I'd wake up with one of the nasal pillows giving me an up-do on my bangs. I'm wearing the medium size pillows. The small ones went up into my nostrils and the large ones practically covered my entire nose. As it is, the pillows I use now give me a gorilla nose (nostrils spread out and because of the angle of the device it pokes the end of my nose up). If you'd have asked me, I would never have thought I could sleep with something like that going on. I must really be tired.

Thanks for any reading and advice or observations. I'm going back to my doctor soon.

[hobbs]

"Pressure 95th centile: 13.9 cm H2O
Median Pressure: 9.9 cm H2O
Max. Pressure: 16.8 cm H20"

Does this info come from a Resmed Elite as in your signature? I thought only an apap would give high/low pressures?

[ozij]

I hope I'm posting in the correct place.

Yes, you are.

Usage

Total hours: 85:46 hours
Usage: 04:22 hrs/day
Used Days>4hrs 12 days
Used days<4hrs 6 days
Non Used days 4 days

Total Days 22 days
% Used Days > 4hrs 54.5%

That's major problem no. 1: Only 12 days out of 22 in which you used the machine for more that 4 hours. And an average usage of 04.22 and 4 days non-used. Meaning that for all the rest of that time you're getting as badly choked as before.

That's for 5 months??? Maybe the machine doesn't keep that much data, I don't know.

Treatment

Pressure 95th centile: 13.9 cm H2O
Median Pressure: 9.9 cm H2O
Max. Pressure: 16.8 cm H20

Leak 95th centile: 0.63 l/sec
Median Leak: 0.14 l/sec
Max. leak 0.94 l/sec

Events

AHI: 11.2 events per hour
AI: 3.3 events per hour
HI: 7.5 per hour
Time in Apnea 1.3% Mask On Time

Settings

Device: S8 AutoSet
Max pressure setting: 20.0 cm H20
Min. pressure setting: 4.0 cm H20

"Pressure 95th centile" means you're spending 95% of your time at or below that pressure.

"Median Pressure: 9.9 cm H2O" means you're spending half the night above 9.9.

Taken together those two mean you're wasting your time in the lower pressures, and possibly getting to many hypopnea events. Have the bottom pressure taken up - do it gradually if you find the change bothering you, but do it.

You should also be aware that some people don't do well with broad ranges - the changing pressures as the machine roams from low to high and back cause arousals - even if when the obstructive events themselves are handled properly.

That's pretty much it. I'm still too tired to go without naps but I'm not a total zombie either

.

Its good you're not a total zombie, but you're supposed to use the machine for naps too.

As it is, the pillows I use now give me a gorilla nose (nostrils spread out and because of the angle of the device it pokes the end of my nose up).

Seems to me that headgear is too tight - I've used two kinds of nasal pillow masks with three kinds of headgear- and when they poked my nose up I readjusted the heagear. Poking your nose up means it's exerting too much pressure, or maybe that specific mask just can't be made to fit the shape of your nose.

O.

[Wulfman]

I agree with what ozij said.
A minimum pressure of 4 is way too low. And, according to your numbers, it looks like your minimum pressure needs to be up to at least 10. Too many events occur between 4 and the pressure you really need to stop them.
It could be that the pressure changes are messing up your leaks and disturbing your sleep. You NEED more sleep with that machine to get to feeling better.

One other thing you could try is to set that machine in CPAP mode so you can use the EPR (Exhale Pressure Relief) function (which is not available in Auto mode). You could start with a set pressure of 10 for a week and see what the numbers look like.
It could also be that you have the wrong mask and you may also be mouth-leaking.

Hang in there and keep working on the right combination.

Den