1st 30 days - how am I doing

[aldanno]

Diagnosed with sleep apnea. AHI of over 50.

Was given a Phillips Resperonics System 1 with Resmed mask - seems to work great by the way. Been using it for just over 30 days now.
Comfortable, no leaks and best of all, no forehead brace. Before use - hardley ever slept for more than 5 hours. Nw sleeping 7+. Feeling more rested and seem to tolerate the gear just fine.

Flow set to 5, Humidity at 3 seems to work well for me.
Readings from my machine:
Use: 1 Day - 8:00, 7 Day - 7:18, 30 Day 7:30
AHI: 1 Day - 5.8, 7 Day - 5.8, 30 Day 7.3
Periodic Breathing: 1 Day - 9.9%, 7 Day - 5.7%, 30 Day 7.9%

Thanks
Dan

[Slartybartfast]

That's a huge improvement, and the fact that you're sleeping longer and tolerating it well is encouraging. But there's room for improvement. Hitting those numbers right out of the box indicates that with a few tweaks you should be able to lower them.

Congrats. You're off to a great start.

[Tino2You]

Nice numbers...best of all you saying your are sleeping comfortable and feeling more rested.

Great news!

-tino

[tearendt]

Dan..... Looks good and the AHI numbers may go down with use.... mine did. Best of all is your better sleep. I'm not there yet.
Tim

[Pugsy]

Welcome to the forum.

Generally we like to see AHI less than 5.

Looks like your numbers are from what you see on the machine's LCD screen. You might want to use the software that is available and get a little deeper look at what you are seeing. Did you know that software is available?

You can use EncoreBasic. Windows based software only. You can find it in UncleBob's signature line.
memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=38643
Be sure to read the Help section as it does a decent job of explaining how to use the software.
EncoreGuide link this will show you examples of what you will see. For a different machine than yours but the basics are the same.
http://www.healthcare.philips.com/pwc_h ... _Guide.pdf

I don't know which model PR S1 machine you have but you can also use SleepyHead software. SleepyHead reports the same data that Encore do but presents it visually different plus you can do some cool things with it. I have links and information on it in my signature line. If your machine is a 60 series machine with the heated hose option (look on the bottom of the blower for a 3 digit number..with be X60 with X being 4 or 5 probably) you will also need the Patch to make SH work with the 60 series machines. There is both a Windows and Mac version available.
Discussed here. viewtopic/t83551/SleepyHead-Series-60-Patch-Avail.html

Your periodic breathing numbers trouble me a little bit. They are higher than I would want to see on a consistent basis if it were my report. You need to use the software and see just what that AHI is composed of. It actually is composed of 3 components....Clear Airway events...Obstructive Airway events and Hyponea events.
If your AHI is composed of primarily clear airway events and they are all coming during the episodes of periodic breathing you may need to keep a close eye on them. Some might be explained away with awake/semi awake junk clutter but if you are sleeping soundly through the night and still having them all through the night then you might want to talk to your doctor about them.

[aldanno]

Pugsy,
Thanks, yes the numbers are from my CPAP screen. It has a cell modem hooked up so am not sure I can plug in an SD card right now. I use a mac so will check out the software you recommended.
Yep - I'm not sure what periodic breathing really means - but think I'd like that to be 0%
Doc appointment isn't until Feb - so wish we could start fine tuning now. My AHI has been trending down (from highs of 11 to a low of 4.6). I'd think upping my pressure a notch or two (from 5) would be a good start - but they said not till the doc orders it.
OK-obviously more to check out.
Dan

[Pugsy]

If they are using a modem they may have removed the SD card but you can put on in the slot. Generic SD card will work just fine. Doesn't have to be Respironics brand.
The modem can be quickly easily removed and then replaced once you have download the data off the SD card.
The SD card does NOT have to be removed for the modem to be used.
See this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY1GkmAaOE4

Periodic Breathing is a general waxing and waning of breathing air flow. It might mean something and it might not but it bears watching.

If you don't have a SD card already in the machine..just go buy a generic SD card and slip it into the slot.
The machine stores almost all of the detailed data on the internal memory for about 30 days but it does not store waveform flow graph data on the machine at all. The SD card must be in the slot during the night to get wave form data.
Waveform data would be especially important for evaluating periodic breathing.

You can use SleepyHead and your DME will never know it unless you tell them...which I wouldn't do because they will get all in a tizzy and don't know about SleepyHead anyway. They only know about Encore.

For forum members to help you understand your reports it really helps us to see what you are seeing so here is a thread that talks about how to post images in your post here. I don't use a Mac so I don't know what you need to do to get screen shots but once you get them you have to host them on the web somewhere. We talk about it in this thread.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=81072&p=737779#p737779

I'd think upping my pressure a notch or two (from 5) would be a good start - but they said not till the doc orders it.

Actually I wouldn't do anything with the pressure until I saw what the AHI is made up of. If it is primarily Clear Airway events then raising the pressure is not going to help at all and might make things worse. Clear airway events the airway is already open and more pressure won't help. Clear airway events (centrals) are when there is no air flow but the airway is open. Now if that AHI is all obstructive apneas or hyponeas..then maybe a little more pressure might be indicated but I don't recommend it until you know what you are dealing with and with your PB numbers...if they stay elevated you need to bring your doctor for sure into the loop.

Educated yourself on what you are seeing on your reports before you even think of making a change.

[aldanno]

Pugsy,
Thanks for even more info. I unplugged the modem, found the sd card slot and installed one.
I was hoping that it might load up stored data - but no such luck. I've downloaded SleepyHead software and will check my results in the morning.

Crazy that DMEs and Docs don't make this software available from the get-go. Knowledge is always a good thing.

Dan

[Pugsy]

I was hoping that it might load up stored data - but no such luck. I've downloaded SleepyHead software and will check my results in the morning.

It should have giving you lots of detailed data. The PR S1 machines store a lot of data.
What makes you think it didn't put the stored data on the SD card? Did you get a "no data message" with SleepyHead?
If so you may have gone too far into the P Series folder during the navigation to the SD card.
You need to stop at the drive letter where the SD card sits...if you see anything other than the drive letter in that "choose" line...you have gone too far.
Give it another try. The machine stores everything but flow graphs. I know this for a fact because I have a PR S1 machine and I have forgot to put the SD card back in the machine during the night. I lost only one little flow graph.