First Night...question about Leak

[eDiddy]

Hi All -
As with everyone else, I had my share of trials and tribulations when it came to the diagnosis of sleep apnea. The pulmonary doctor figured that I have had SA for the majority of my life. (I remember the first time someone told me I snored at 7 years old.) I spent a lot of time here reading and educating myself about sleep apnea and what I was about to get myself into. I definitely appreciate everyone's knowledge on here - Thanks!

During my sleep study (I had two separate studies for diagnosis and titration), they reported an AHI of 51. I finally got my equipment on Thursday. The RX mentioned that I used a chin strap (which I didn't care for) and still mouth breathed at night. I would have thought that would affect the titration negatively, but they never switched me to a FFM. The pressure prescribed is 8. So, I told the DME that I wanted to try the Liberty since I knew that I mouth breathe. They said no problem, and was surprised that I knew what the Liberty was.

The interaction with the DME actually went well. They had to reschedule, and were very accomodating and seemed to feel bad (the therapist's car broke down so they couldn't meet with me on Wednesday and rescheduled at my convenience on Thursday.) They went over the mask return policy, and even said that I could drop my card off anytime in the morning and they would run the report for me. They did tell me that my doctor is pretty particular about the machine and that he would likely make tweaks at my next appointment in a month.

I am determined to make this work so that I can feel better. My determination comes from the fact that I watched my dad go through plenty of health issues from untreated sleep apnea from kidney failure to heart issues and death. So, I know what it can do untreated! (I joke that my dad is still teaching me life lessons after death.)

Anyway, I wanted to report my first night details. I slept the entire night and logged 8.5 hours of usage. It took a little bit to get through some initial mask leaks, etc.
AHI: 0.6
Leak: 33.2

I am making some assumptions with the leak. Does the Respironic's machine take into account the intentional leak of my ResMed mask? The DME set me up with the small nasal pillows. I am going to try the medium ones tonight and see if that makes any difference, as my nose was one area where I did have some leaks.

Thanks again for all of your knowledge and willingness to share.

Eric

[jules]

the respironics machines report flow that they allegedly have - no fancy math to do - however the LED data can be faulty for the m series machines

what is your pressure? you need consider that

[Muse-Inc]

Welcome aboard Eric!

...Does the Respironic's machine take into account the intentional leak of my ResMed mask?...

Nope, gotta do the calculations yourself.

...set me up with the small nasal pillows. I am going to try the medium ones tonight...nose was one area where I did have some leaks.

Good idea to try the next size up and observe the effect. They wanted me in the M pillow but it felt like too little air, so I switched to L and was happy.

[jdm2857]

At a pressure of 8, the vent rate for the Mirage Liberty is 32 liters/minute. You should subtract this figure from the machine's reported leak to get the excess or correctable leak rate.

So your leak rate looks good

Here's a link to the vent rate vs. pressure data for ResMed masks: http://www.resmed.com/us/assets/documen ... sa_eng.pdf

[eDiddy]

Thanks JDM! I had figured that was the proper way to get to the leak rate. But, thought that I would ask some of the experienced people to make sure.