still newbie--reading & setting your own pressure?

[eloise1253]

Hello! I am so glad to have found this forum. I am curious--so many of you talk about reading your "numbers" and making adjustments--is that the general thing? My machine is an auto-set, supposed range btwn 8 and 20--I usually see it at 11 to 13.5 when I check it. But I just assume it has been prepared for me by the re, based on the doctor's readings & recommendations (of which I have a copy.). Am I supposed to do something with the little memory card? I left my home area soon after starting with the CPAP; figure I'd get in touch wih either the sleep study lab or the CPAP rep with any questions. He did not make it seem that I would need to check the memory thing, unless I misunderstood! I admit, I don't really understand what the numbers you all reference mean.

I am greatly enjoying reading posts and learning how others adjust to this new phase of life. I can't believe how quickly my husband adjusted to "quiet" nights, after 20 years of snarky snoring beside him!!!

Elaine

[BeanMeScot]

Your machine is data capable so it records a bunch of information every night that you use it. Using that, you can discover if your AHI is good and if your leak rate is bad. Either can impact how you feel.

When using an APAP, your low number needs to be fairly close to your titrated pressure. What was the pressure recommened for you at titration? I would have the bottom number no less than 2 away from that pressure. So if your titrated pressure is 11, I would have the low number set to 9. An APAP works best within a limited range. Otherwise, it can't increase the pressure quickly enough to stop the apneas and your AHI becomes too high.

[Pugsy]

Do you know how to access the data that is available on the LCD screen besides the pressure??
The little data card would hold the data for transferring to a computer if you had the software. It would also be used to check compliance if insurance was involved and needed to know how much you were using the machine.
But there is still quite a bit of data available on the machine screen.

[rested gal]

Welcome to the message board, Elaine!

As Pugsy said, you can see your AHI, AI, HI, leak, and 95% pressure right in the machine's window -- no card-reading or software needed to see that. To head toward the efficacy results menu, just hold down the right and left arrow buttons together -- before 12 noon (data gets re-set after noon.)

If you can't find that data, it may be that the person who set up your machine didn't turn that feature on. If so, you can turn it on yourself, if you feel comfortable about going into the clinical setup menu.

Here are a few old topics about how to access the clinical menu. Some of the items might not be exactly the same on your machine, but the menu tree described by Brenda should be similar to the menu in your machine.

Brenda's post:
viewtopic.php?t=22776

My post:
viewtopic.php?p=226375#226375