New to CPAP

[rdg21]

Hi all -- great resource we have here, and glad to have found it. I was diagnosed with severe OSA (AHI north of 75 per hour) about two months ago, and have been on CPAP for the last three weeks. I finally got the software and hardware setup to read my card (thanks to posts on this board!), and thought I'd dump them in case any of the more experienced people had advise on things to watch, or feedback. Unfortunately, I'm on somewhat a DIY sleep apnea cure since my DME and sleep doctor both have no follow-ups scheduled "don't call us, we'll call you". I guess my machine reports via wireless modem to them, so they can intercede at need only!

I have the Quattro FX full face mask, and struggled with it for the first week -- think 2-3 hours worth of sleep each night, and fighting with it like a maniac for an hour to two hours trying to get it marginally sealed before that. At one point, I tried using a secondary strap across the bridge to ratchet it hard against my face in the hopes of a seal. It was so tight I'd wake up with headaches from the tightness of the mask, and was still getting reported AHI off the machine in the 15-20 range.

Well, after reading some posts here, I was enlightened about the whole inflation system for the mask, and it's been better now!

So, in any event, here's some numbers. I have lots of data now, but not the intelligence to figure out what to do with them!

CPAP Pressure: 12.0
Periodic breathing: 0.9% (this was high early on, and is 0% for last two weeks)
Avg Clear Apnea Index: 0.0
Avg Obstructed Apnea Index: 3.8 (was in the 20's early on, and is in the <2 range last two weeks)
Avg Hypopnea Index: 0.9 (was high, but is now basically 0)
Avg RERA Index: 1.1 (was high, dropped to the lowest point a few weeks ago and has been steadily rising from about 0.5 to nearly 2.0 over the last 2 weeks)
Avg AHI: 4.7 (machine reports AHI 1.2 for last 7 days)
Avg Flow Limitation: 0.0
Avg VS Index: 1.1 (in the 0.1-0.2 range for last 2 weeks)
Large Leak: 0.0
Days Used: 24
Avg Usage: 5:47
Min Usage: 2:45 (yuck, that was a hard night)

[Sheriff Buford]

Welcome! The "Quatro-folks" in this forum will help you with your mask. One thing is for sure... your initial response to stop a leak by tightening the straps may in some cases be the wrong move. The mask should be comfortable. It should "float" on your face... not be "crammed in". After getting advise from the "Quatro-folks", you may need to find another mask. The mask should be comfortable and leak free for your sucess. Again welcome!

Happy 'papin'

Sheriff

[Pugsy]

Your number are all quite acceptable. In the software there is a glossary of terms definitions that might help you understand what each term means.
Also if you have the clinical/provider manual it also has further definitions. Do you have it?

Only thing that I see that needs work is hours of use and the amount shown may be lowered falsely by early nights with minimal use and mask troubles. So you may now be getting more hours of sleep routinely but that number may reflect some bad nights.

AHI we like to see under 5. the lower the better and your more current nights reflect improvement anyway.
Large leak percentage showing on the LCD screen is pretty useless. It is just % of time spent in large leak.

Was there something you had a specific problem understanding? Like what number is acceptable for each scored item?
Might be easier for me to address specific questions.