Night #2 on the S9 AutoSet…two BIG thumbs up!!!!

[Prowest]

I got to say that I something has really changed and I think the S9 is a part of it. I only got 4.5 hours of sleep again (I will make up for it tonight!) and I feel unbelievable today. My AHI for last night was 0.20 (one event at about 5AM for 11 seconds). I am normally drinking a bunch of Diet Coke (don’t drink coffee at work) to keep a minimum level of alertness, but I am wide awake and very clear-minded between yesterday and today when I started on the S9. I do not think I am imagining it as my stress level is through the roof this week and normally I would feel pretty beat by now, but I am wide awake and full of energy which is awesome!

Now, a couple things, I am not sure this is a uniquely S9 related cause/effect situation. Some changes I have noticed that I think are playing into what I feel are night and day improvements are as follows…

- I think the seal on the mask with my face was a critical improvement. I know now after the mask-fit testing feature in the S9 unit that my mask on the M-series was way too loose, but I had no way to pick that out when using the M-Series because I did not have any idea about unacceptable leak rates.

- I think running in APAP mode has been a real improvement. I was on 8cm CPAP with my M-Series and got good AHI results (Less than 2.0 and typically less than 1.0). I have been running my S9 in APAP mode with an 8-20 cm range. The two nights had me staying typically around 8-9cm of pressure most of the night, but I have had a couple excursions each night up to as high as 12-13cm of pressure for a period of time. If I was in CPAP mode and was fixed at 8cm, I want to believe that as the need for higher pressure took place in CPAP mode I would have been more susceptible to an event. I guess I could always have upped my CPAP to ~12-13 cm of pressure, but I would not have known where I was at on pressure until I was able to see the data form the S9 with the ResScan 3.10 software…really good stuff!

If what I am saying is true, then you can get there with any APAP with a good seal on your breathing mask and the right information, but it took the mask fit test on the S9 and the amount of data from the S9 with ResScan 3.10 Software for me to put it all together and make what I think are the correct connections on my sleep requirements.

I am going on a startup for work from the 21st to the 31st and will be all over the map on sleep and hours during that time so this will be an interesting test of the S9 and the data it collects.

On the noise-front…the first night I used the swivel elbow from my M-Series on the S9 outlet and connected it to the SlimLine tubing that came with the S9 (my ClimateLine was on backorder). Last night I took it off because my ClimateLine came in and it needed to be hooked up directly to the S9 to operate. That elbow was causing a lot of noise (queue the “no duh” from the audience!!). The S9 with the swivel elbow was still a lot quieter than my M-series Pro, but after connecting the hose directly, the noise from the unit virtually disappeared.

The only real noise I could tell then was some mask noise on my Mirage Quattro. I read somewhere on this forum last night about the Mirage Quattro masks leaking at the elbow making noise. That is what is going on with mine. If I giggle the elbow, the noise stops and it is super quiet. They recommended using teflon plumbers tape around the male ends of the elbow connections to help it fit more snuggly and plug that leak. I have not done it yet, but I will tonight. That is an absolutely brillent idea whoever came up with that.

Making progress!!!
Dave

[dave21]

That's good news on your S9 results, glad to see it's helping you too!

[tattooyu]

So jealous of all of you that have the new S9. I can't afford it on my own, and I'm not due for a machine for another 4 years. For me, the biggest advantage is that the S9 handles apneas above 10 cm. I'm at 14.6-18 cm, so that would help me bring down my minimum a bit to help with the bloating.

[harry33]

well done, a positive attitude is essential and you have it, that teflon tape is slippery, though