First night report

[Homer1959]

Well , it took me a good hour if not more to fall asleep but hey, I was listening to all the new noise, worry about the hose location and playing with my mask .

One of the main reason for the delay in the sleep was I'm pretty sure the setup of the humidifier . I use the climateline and the auto set up is at 27 c ( 80f) way too hot for me. I turned that down to 22c ( 71f) and I started to feel a lot better with the cool breeze on my nose.

So I went to bed at 23:30 , I probably fell asleep around 1am , never went to the bathroom during the night YEAH !!! I woke up at around 6:30 am. I dont know if its a placebo effect but anyway I feel generaly better , a lot less muscle stiffness, its strange but I feel lighter ,

I had a pretty good seal with the mask, the smiley man was displayed this morning, however I had too much pressure on the top of the mask, I'm feeling pressure and discomfort on each side of the nose .

I will get rid of the ramp set at 4 for 5mn s, I was suffocating, a little more and the mask would have been removed in a panic state not a good feeling. Tonight I'll start at the prescription setting ,min 8 max at 18.

The daily report show AHI 2.3, not sure what that mean, 2.3 apnea event per hours maybe ? Anyway my dr said that I had 66 event per hour during my test so that would be an incredible improvement

Any other information that I can get from that screen ? Like how high the pressure went to keep the passage open ?

Another question, my machine seems to start on the humifier screen displaying the orange color, is there a way to set up the machine to remember the last setting ? I mean to see the screen in blue at startup.
What is going to happen if I forget to confirm the setting ? the humidifier wont start ?

In conclusion, I'm somewhat happy with my first night,I was expecting much more difficulty.

[BlackSpinner]

Congratulations on a successful first night. That was not a placebo feeling - it is the feeling of getting enough O2 and sleep.

Look up the member UncleBob. He has links to software and instruction manuals.

AHI - combined Apnea and Hypnea (apnea wanna be) 2.3 is good under 5 is consider "normal".

Sore nose - cream for breast feeding - pure lanolin is good protection for the nostrils.

I am not familiar with the mask so I can't help with the rest. Most masks work best when not strung too tight. If the discomfort is out side the nose you can use some fabric to protect your skin. You need to deal with that asap - don't be butch about it.

[tschultz]

Congrats! In spite of some things to get used to it looks like the machine did what it was supposed to for you. I am dreaming of the day that I can get a good nights sleep and not have SaO2 levels drop to 58%, my first sleep study showed 462 events over 4 hours but I am still waiting for my prescription before I can get a machine.

Thanks for the information. Also if you check, with some searching, you can get the clinician manual for your machine which will give you more settings and do get the software so you can monitor your progress by looking at your own data.

[brazospearl]

Homer, you're off to an excellent start! There will probably be bumps in the road, but we'll help you through them. Congratulations on your wonderful first night!

[robysue]

The daily report show AHI 2.3, not sure what that mean, 2.3 apnea event per hours maybe ? Anyway my dr said that I had 66 event per hour during my test so that would be an incredible improvement

Any other information that I can get from that screen ? Like how high the pressure went to keep the passage open ?

When you're in the short Sleep Quality menu (the place where you saw the AHI = 2.3 this morning), you can press and hold the info button and the button with the two check marks on it simultaneously for about 3 to 5 seconds to make the S9 load the "detailed" Sleep Quality Report. You need to do this before noon, however. Once the LCD flickers, turn the big round knob down one icon to get to the detailed report and click the knob once to get into it. Then you can scroll down through the information to find things like:

• usage
  pressure [which represents the 95% pressure level for the night]
  leak [which represents the 95% leak rate for the night]
  AHI [the total AHI index for the night]
  AI [the apnea index for the night]
  CAI [the central apnea index for the night]

You can even use the big round knob to change the time frame for the reported data from 1 day (the default) to 1 week, 30 days/1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year (if I recall correctly). At the bottom of the list, there's a Back and Home to click on to get back to the main menu.

A bit of arithmetic lets you compute the HI = AHI - AI and the OAI = AI - CAI if you want them without downloading the data into ResScan.

The pressure number is the 95% pressure level. If you are running in Auto mode with a range from p_min to p_max, then your pressure was AT or BELOW the 95% pressure level for 95% of the time the S9 was running during the night. That also means it was running at a pressure AT or ABOVE the 95% pressure level for 5% of the time the S9 was running during the night. To understand how long 5% of the night really is, all you need to do is remember that 5% of one hour is three minutes.

The leak number is the 95% leak rate. It's statistical definition is similar to the statistical definition of the 95% pressure level. Your unintentional leak rate was AT or BELOW the 95% leak rate for 95% of the time the S9 was running during the night. And consequently your unintentional leak rate was AT or ABOVE the 95% leak rate for 5% of the time the S9 was running during the night. Again, remember that 5% of one hour is three minutes. So if your S9 was on for 7 hours and your leak number is 10 L/min, that means that your unintentional leak rate was AT or ABOVE 10 L/min for a grand total of

(3 minutes per hour) * (7 hours) = 21 minutes

during the night. Now that 21 minutes might have been part of one lengthy 30 minute leak that you were keenly aware of because you were fighting with your cat when she decided to play with the hose. Or it could be that there were a series of much shorter leaks off and on all night, but the total length of these shorter leaks adds up to no more than 21 minutes. You can't tell from the LCD alone.

NOTE: Mr. Red Frowny Face only appears on the Short Sleep Quality menu if your 75% leak rate is AT or GREATER THAN 24 L/min. That's the unintentional leak rate level where the ResMed engineers believe that CPAP/APAP therapy is definitely going to become compromised. Mr. Red Frowny Face means you are leaking at a rate that is AT or GREATER than 24 L/min for an average of 15 minutes (or more) for every hour the machine is running. Under some circumstances it is possible for you to have Mr. Green Smiley Face show up in the Short Sleep Quality menu (if your 75% leak rate is below 24 L/min), but still have the leak reading on the Detailed Sleep Quality report be AT or ABOVE 24 L/min since the leak number is the 95% leak rate.

Another question, my machine seems to start on the humifier screen displaying the orange color, is there a way to set up the machine to remember the last setting ? I mean to see the screen in blue at startup.
What is going to happen if I forget to confirm the setting ? the humidifier wont start ?

I think that after about 30 seconds or so, the S9 simply accepts the current orange setting as the default setting and turns it blue. But I'm not sure. I could never stand to look at the orange light that long and wait for it to change.

In conclusion, I'm somewhat happy with my first night,I was expecting much more difficulty.

Congratulations on a good first night and wishing you many, many more.

[Homer1959]

Thanks you all, for your kind words, encouragment and especially Robysue for the long and detailed information that I was looking for . Lots of great folks here , I'M glad that I've discovered this place. Take care of you all )

[DoriC]

Congrats! In spite of some things to get used to it looks like the machine did what it was supposed to for you. I am dreaming of the day that I can get a good nights sleep and not have SaO2 levels drop to 58%, my first sleep study showed 462 events over 4 hours but I am still waiting for my prescription before I can get a machine.

tschultz, I hope you'll be getting your machine very soon, what's the delay?

[tschultz]

tschultz, I hope you'll be getting your machine very soon, what's the delay?

The delay seems to be typical of Ontario, Canada and I am sure the XMas holidays aren't helping anything, I was told to expect 4-6 weeks for the analysis and prescription and my second study, for the CPAP titration was on 18th of December. So far each Wendnesday since I tried to push the sleep lab to see if my prescription can be expedited, yesterday when I spoke with them it seemed like that may actually happen. If I haven't heard anything by Wednesday then I'll call again and push harder, perhaps resorting to calling every day and/or dropping by in person.

I don't know why they don't just start with an autoset machine set to a range above and below the final pressure from the titration study immediately after the second lab test. The APAP algorithm should do its job and keep things under control while at the same time providing valuable data that can further fine-tune what the settings should be. I'm told the home evaluation is 2 weeks and uses an autoset machine anyhow - all I need is the prescription so I can get on with things. Worst case the prescription can always be changed/modified as the final lab results and ongoing data reflects.

I've already decided that I intend to get an autoset machine regardless of how hard I have to fight with the DME, sleep doctor, and anyone else that I need to plow through even if I have to pay the whole shot from my own pocket.

[DoriC]

Exactly! Quite frustrating for you I'm sure. Keep us updated and good luck.

[Homer1959]

tschultz, dont give up and keep your focus on the APAP. I am a newbie here and I going to be only on my third night with my resmed S9. Let me tell you that I already feel some change in my sleep and how I feel durinfg the day.The machine seems to work very well,on my first night the machine displayed 2.3 AHI this morning the machine showed 4.2, so the automatic machine is really taking care of me .

I'm also lucky with my mask knowing that members here seems to have a lot of trouble at finding the right one. My leaks are below 10 ltr per minutes or whatever is the scale , 3.6 last night so my mask stay well put during the night and it doesnt hurt me , I keep it just tight enough . My hose if coming from over the top of my head so it doesn't bother me . So far its a somewhat easy adaptation and I cannot ask for more .

good luck hoping that you will get your machine before the new year )

[tschultz]

I'm so glad to hear that you've already noticed an improvement! Thanks for sharing your results and I hope things continue to improve for you as your body starts to heal and recover from its sleep deprivation. If someone had asked me a year ago I would have said ho big deal, what's a little missed sleep. Well, I think we all know the answer to that one by now.

I am sure I will see similar results as I felt better after my titration study and slept better that night than I have in a long time in spite of being new to CPAP, the hose, mask and all the other wires and strange bed and no cats. I can adjust to the mask and CPAP and I am VERY sure my wife will sleep much better not worrying about something happening to me in my sleep.

Impatiently waiting ...

[MoonBear]

Congratulations! I have only been using cpap for three weeks so I clearly remember that lighter feeling. I am so happy you have had an easy time, and it's great you have such good news to celebrate in the New Year.

And, Robysue, another post of yours that should be ar hives for newbies.

Bear Hugs,
MoonBear