Why buy software? Opinions appreciated

[VABeach]

Starting my 9 month on APAP and have adapted to it without to many problems. The only benefits I have received from the therapy is longer, unintrupted sleep, many more night of dreams (none bad), and the biggest benefit is that I don't snore anymore according to my wife (very important benefit).

I have not purchased the software yet, because I don't know what the information will tell me that the basic machine data doesn't. The data from the APAP is as follows:

____________day____week___month___6 months
Pressure_____7.0____ 8.0_____7.6_____ 7.4
Leaks (L/s)__0.36____0.24___0.28_____0.24
AHI_________2.3_____2.3____2.7______2.3
AI__________0.3_____0.4____0.6______0.4
HI__________2.0_____2.0____2.1______1.9
Usage_______6.12___7.21___7.35_____7.43

I am trying to understand what I will learn from the software and what changes I might make to the settings. From the basic data above, the leakage is appears to be the data point to improve the most.

I would appreciate any comments on the basic data above and any information to support purchasing software.

thank you in advance.

[Wulfman]

Why? So you can actually SEE what's going on during the night.

Den

[Janknitz]

If you're not having any problems (and you may never have any problems), the data you already get is fine. But if you are having problems, that data is too general to sort out what the issue might be.

In my case, my numbers looked great but I was starting to be awakened by night sweats, with my heart pounding and feeling very panicked. When I looked at the graphs, I could see my maximum pressure bumping against the top limit--otherwise the data looked perfect. We raised my maximum pressure and the night sweats stopped. I feel much better.

If your AHI's suddenly go up, it's nice to know why. Maybe you are leaking at a particular pressure or time, but how will you know with just general information? Maybe during REM sleep you are having clusters of events that a change in pressure can fix. You cannot see that with the general screen information.

Not everybody needs to geek out with the data like some of us do (guilty!). But having access to that data when you need it is very helpful.

[echo]

Well, here's a very recent testimonial to having graphs and data to work with: viewtopic/p502236/Please-help-me-here-a ... ml#p501750

As jan says, the summary info you see is not always useful in troubleshooting problem (which most, if not all, of us have in the beginning, eg leaks, mouth breathing, incorrect pressure...). An average is only that, one little number to sum up the whole night, but doesn't tell you the whole picture!

[lovecpap]

If you have EPR on....take it off.....you will have better HI results.

[nobody]

You don't have to buy it, there are other ways to get it.

[Uncle_Bob]

I sent you a PM. read up and ask any questions

[Goofproof]

Why buy software? Because I couldn't find any other way to get it.

Either way, knowing is better than having your head in the sand. Knowledge is Power, and in this case better health. Jim

[WearyOne]

I agree that if you're feeling well and the numbers on the machine are good, then that's all you need. But if start feeling bad when you were feeling good and/or the numbers from the machine start looking not so good, then you need the software to get more detailed info. Or, if you're like me, you find it interesting to keep track of the software data! And for my machine and software, I only know the snore numbers from the software. And although my numbers are good AHI-wise, snoring is still showing up on the software and I'd never know that was an issue if I only went by the machine numbers.

Pam

[Complikatyed]

Having the software makes me feel less controlled by the machine and more aware of what's happening. It made a huge difference in my peace of mind and I'm hoping will eventually help me get the kinks sorted out with my therapy.

[Janknitz]

Having the software makes me feel less controlled by the machine and more aware of what's happening. It made a huge difference in my peace of mind and I'm hoping will eventually help me get the kinks sorted out with my therapy.

Boy, it's exactly that in a nutshell! I felt that the control had been snatched away from me when I was told I would have to use xpap--even before that when I was scheduled for a SA class at Kaiser rather than asked when I could attend a SA class. That really pissed me off!

Getting my data and understanding everything gave the control back to ME, and I'm a lot happier and compliant that way.

[kteague]

The only benefits I have received..

You've got a pretty impressive list of benefits there, but was your use of the word "only" because you feel something is lacking? One thing software can tell you is the length of time of events. Let's say one has only 1 apnea every other hour of sleep, that's 4 in 8 hours of sleep. Sounds excellent - as long as they weren't 45 second events, or all clustered back to back, making for a lot of desat time in a sort time frame. Those with no reason to believe their therapy isn't fully effective are likely just fine with the machine overview. The data can be a safeguard.

[Air Hose]

You don't have to buy it, there are other ways to get it.

Please do tell, I've been looking around but not having much luck. Thanks.

[jdm2857]

Please do tell, I've been looking around but not having much luck. Thanks.

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