YIPPIE!!! Finally got an APAP

[Lew56]

I took everyone's suggestions/recommendations last week and went to the medical supply place on Monday morning to talk with the respiratory therapist. I previously made an appointment with her, and a prescription along with a copy of my sleep study was also forwarded to her by my sleep doctor. When she was informed that I had arrived, she came out of her office and let me know that she was getting my new machine ready. I had no idea what she was giving me, and I was ready to walk out if she didn't give me what I wanted. When I looked at the machine, I recognized it to be quite similar to what many on the forum have. She confirmed that it was the PR System One REMstar Auto CPAP Machine with A-Flex with humidifier. Needless to say, I was very excited. In addition, I got the new ResMed FX nasal mask.

She had me use it in her office for about 10 minutes. Unlike my old Fisher Paykel brick, I didn't sense any pressure build-up under the mask. I asked her if it was functioning properly. It was a completely different experience...one that I could easily acclimate to.

The first night with the APAP was awesome! There were no mask leaks, no discomfort, and basically it was as if I wasn't using a xPAP at all. There were some very strong winds the following night which kept me up, so it really wasn't a good night.

On the old cpap, my pressure was set to 14. It has been set to this since my previous sleep study in 2003. The APAP is showing my average pressure to be 9.0. My AHI for the past two nights is 5.3. Hopefully, I should start feeling better on this soon.

I know, I know...gotta update my profile.

[rested gal]

Way to go, Lew!!

What pressure range is your shiny new PR1 Auto set for?

Hope you have continued comfy, good-breathin' nights from now on.

[Lew56]

What pressure range is your shiny new PR1 Auto set for?

The doc requested that the range be set for minimum of '6' and maximum of '14'.

[moresleep]

Excellent. Your new machine will record full flow data to an SD card, which you can review with Encore/Pro software. You might consider a tighter range, when you get comfortable with the machine and have a sense of what your minimum and maximum required pressures really are. That would keep the machine from wasting time coming up to the effective pressure.

[Sheriff Buford]

Keep the current setting a few weeks to get a good AHI average. Then, you may try "bumping" up your bottom number up to a 7. Keep it there for a few weeks and see if your AHI drops. If your machine averages a 9 most of the night, bumping the lower number up may reduce the time it takes to get to nine, and may reduce your AHI. If it prevents one apnea from occurring, your AHI average will drop.

Sheriff

[Guest]

Your new machine will record full flow data to an SD card, which you can review with Encore/Pro software.

I plan on downloading some software next week while I'm off of work. It'll give me some time to become familiar with it and learn how to analyze the data.

Then, you may try "bumping" up your bottom number up to a 7. Keep it there for a few weeks and see if your AHI drops. If your machine averages a 9 most of the night, bumping the lower number up may reduce the time it takes to get to nine, and may reduce your AHI. If it prevents one apnea from occurring, your AHI average will drop.

I don't want to mess with the setting quite yet. The respiratory therapist is expecting me back in her office in two weeks to do a data dump. My sleep doctor wants to see me in two months to do the same and analyze the data. Since he wrote the prescription for the machine and the settings, I don't want to make any changes quite yet. After I'm released and they are no longer monitoring me, I'll feel more comfortable about changing the settings.

[pap4life]

Smart move. Lew. Don;t chase the numbers. Let the Doc do all the changing thats necessary for the time being.