Is there any way

[sjmguest]

For an unactivated registered guest to post the Sleepyhead data so she can get some input from you?
I've been trying for a month + to glean what I can from reading here, but I suspect I am missing the help I could get from other eyes on the data.
Can I load data to DropBox? and link to it???

Please advise.

[Pugsy]

If you can't link to an image you can't link to a dropbox account either.

Read this thread. I explained how to work around the inability to post links that new members are facing while waiting on official approval so they can log in and then post links.

viewtopic/t156463/Things-to-do-while-wa ... roval.html

[sjmguest]

Thank you both.
As soon as I can figure out getting IMGUR I will proceed.

SJMguest

[Pugsy]

How to use imgur
ttps://sleep.tnet.com/reference/tips/imgur

How to organize...3 pages, be sure to read all 3
ttps://sleep.tnet.com/resources/sleepyhead/shorganize

We don't need or want all the graphs the software will offer. Just the basics and if we need something else we can ask.
For examples
viewtopic/t103468/Need-help-with-screen-shots.html

[sjmguest]

Thank you. I am able but not adept. And will be out of the house for a few hours.
Before the end of the day I will have figured it out and get back to you.
I appreciate your extra directions -- a lot ))

[sjmguest]

I know this isn't supposed to be so difficult, but this is just a wild stab
%20dot%20com/yC6tD7t dot png
%20dot%20com/vmVX9Xc dot png
%20dot%20com/nIg1Oju dot png
%20dot%20com/qQTaEJH dot png

[palerider]

I know this isn't supposed to be so difficult, but this is just a wild stab
%20dot%20com/yC6tD7t dot png
%20dot%20com/vmVX9Xc dot png
%20dot%20com/nIg1Oju dot png
%20dot%20com/qQTaEJH dot png

just post the part after imgur.com next time, without all the ' dot '. make it easier for people to get to.

[TedVPAP]

I know this isn't supposed to be so difficult, but this is just a wild stab
%20dot%20com/yC6tD7t dot png
%20dot%20com/vmVX9Xc dot png
%20dot%20com/nIg1Oju dot png
%20dot%20com/qQTaEJH dot png

I converted to working links

http://i.imgur.com/yC6tD7t.png
http://i.imgur.com/vmVX9Xc.png
http://i.imgur.com/nIg1Oju.png
http://i.imgur.com/qQTaEJH.png

[TedVPAP]

I know this isn't supposed to be so difficult, but this is just a wild stab
%20dot%20com/yC6tD7t dot png
%20dot%20com/vmVX9Xc dot png
%20dot%20com/nIg1Oju dot png
%20dot%20com/qQTaEJH dot png

I converted to working links

http://i.imgur.com/yC6tD7t.png
http://i.imgur.com/vmVX9Xc.png
http://i.imgur.com/nIg1Oju.png
http://i.imgur.com/qQTaEJH.png

I am not an expert but here is some advice:
Post the data as specified in the links the Pugsy posted.
Increase your lower pressure. The floor needs to be fairly close to the pressure which prevents OSA.

[Pugsy]

Please review the format....lose the AHI graph (we can see the AHI better on the left side) and in its place put the flow rate graph back in line.
No need to redo these images though...just remember it for future image sharing.
Also see if you can scrunch the flow limitation graph in the image...it can be done with careful resizing..5 graphs in one image.

I would like to see what would happen with the minimum a little higher...like 8.0...maybe a little bit more but I prefer to start low and work up. Sometimes we get lucky and don't need as much as I first thought.

Your data isn't horrible. I have seen much worse. You are battling leaks but for the most part they don't exceed 30 L/min and that's where it starts getting a bit iffy in terms of accuracy. Some nights the leaks aren't a problem at all or are very minimal.
I have had worse myself. Leaks are a war we never truly win...sometimes we take the battle and sometimes the leaks take the battle.

Can you share a bit about how you are sleeping and feeling in general? Numbers don't always tell us the complete story.

If it were me I would increase that minimum pressure slowly and work up to 8 cm minimum...see what the AHI looks like then and re-evaluate things then. All this depending on how you are feeling and sleeping.
If you are feeling absolutely on top of the world and sleeping great...there is no urgent need to change anything.

The primary goal...get good sleep and feel decent. It's not just all about numbers. The best numbers in the world don't mean squat if you feel like crap.

[sjmguest]

Excellent news, thank you.

I am 73 and have considered myself to be extremely healthy. My only Rx is Zoloft which I have taken for more than 20 years. In May I went to my GP because I had been feeling really punk for a few weeks, the primary symptoms being extreme fatigue and a cough which I had been suppressing for months with dextromethorphan at bedtime. An X-ray indicated my lungs were hyperinflated and a blood test indicated too many RBCs, so I had a lung function test (okay there) and an at-home over-night sleep test which indicated 'moderate sleep apnea'. I was completely blindsided. I had never really even thought about sleep apnea, much less considered it as a possibility. I seemed also to have chronic sinusitis, and the flare up finally gave in after a few courses of Augmentin.

Meanwhile, I was given a 2-week loaner CPAP machine (ResMed 10 and Respironics Dreamwear Cushion Mask) which I used dutifully and which lowered my AHI to something >5 and then was prescribed my own. I used it for four weeks and when I tried to get input from the Respiratory Therapist on my case (like: why are my AHI so high????) he irritated me enough that I quit using it. I kept reading here and trying to figure stuff out, and then a few weeks ago after getting up to pee 5 times during the night I decided to get a grip and try it all again.

My general health is back. I am not tired all the time, but some days (like today) I feel a bit beat up. (My life includes 1/2 acre of weedy gardens, 4 aging dogs, 1 aging cat and 25 or so chickens, so it is always a bit of a circus.) Also, once I wasn't sick with the sinusitis I was in a much better emotional state to accept that since this isn't going to get better on its own I should try harder.

As to my sleeping, I have never worried about all the times I get up because I have felt they always came at the intervals between cycles and therefore weren't problematic.
I chose this mask because it seemed to me to be the only one I could probably handle. I have always slept side-side-back-side-side-stomach-side....and round and round (three dogs on the bed make it a bit of a challenge). I think I have pretty much kicked the stomach part because I really can't keep the mask in place when I do that, but my back misses it.

What else did you ask? I have wandered off and lost the track.
I will go and fix my Sleepyhead settings for the next round if there is one.

[Pugsy]

Let's see if a little tweaking of the pressures helps you feel a bit better.
You've got a little room for improvement there and it might help and the changes suggested are unlikely to hurt. Your machine already wants to go up there anyway and spends a good bit of time up there.
Bear in mind that if you see centrals...just shrug your shoulders because we can't do anything about them with this machine and you aren't having enough of them to be a problem where you need a different machine. Just mentally remove them from the AHI evaluation when it comes to pressure needs.

How long have you been back on the machine this time?

I understand about the circus life. Mine is one as well minus the chickens but I have horses. They aren't as much work as chickens but I would love to have some but the coyotes would have a grand feast unless I fix up a special coyote proof confinement and night and then being home before dark becomes a necessity...and all that work so I haven't pushed real hard for chickens.
2 horses...4 inside cats, 4 dogs (one that is very old and I have to stay up late to get her that last pee break or else I wake up to a pee lake in my flow), 3 outside cats, plus the possums and raccoons and deer that I feed.
I know I need more sleep but the old dog has to have that pee break so I deal with it.
We do the best we can and while not perfect it is the best we can do and that has to be good enough.
I also have a garden but while hubby helps with it, he is a truck driver and gone a lot so the bulk of the work falls to me.

I also do a lot of tossing and turning at night. Back issues there but again I am working on improving that situation.

Use the mask that you are most comfortable with and can get the best sleep with. If you get some leaks sometimes don't panic.
As long as they aren't too deep into large leak territory and fairly short lived it isn't the end of the world. Yes, sometimes there are things we can do or change masks to improve the leaks but often they create more of a sleep problem than the problem they are fixing is causing. My sleep is already fragile so I don't want to add something that potentially causes problems sleeping just to fix 30 minutes of large leak that I sleep through anyway.

Now if a leak wakes you up..then it needs to be fixed even if it is a tiny leak because anything that disturbs our sleep is unwanted but it needs to be fixed because it is disturbing your sleep and not necessarily because the machine can't handle it.
These machines actually do a decent job compensating for a fair amount of leak so I just trust the machine to do its job.

Want to see an ugly leak report? I have a doozy of one to share with you so that you know that you aren't alone and that even 8 yr cpap veterans sometimes have ugly leak nights.

[sjmguest]

You are making me feel better. Thank you.

I started back on the CPAP just two weeks ago tomorrow.

Last night was my first at a pressure of 7, and while I was tempted to set it back down because of the leakage, I will leave it at 7 for a day or two and see what happens. Good. I really needed help making that decision.

One noticeable change: I have only gotten up twice the past two nights.

[Pugsy]

One noticeable change: I have only gotten up twice the past two nights.

Is that to pee?

Nocturia was the very first symptom of sleep apnea that I got rid of when I started therapy. That alone makes it worth it to me...I was getting up 4 or 5 times a night. If I never had one other improvement just not having to get up to pee every hour or 2 would be reason enough for me to continue with the therapy.

Now I realize at your age...if that is also going on with you that there is a chance of the prostate being part of the problem but hey...any improvement is better than 4 of 5 times a night huh?

Yeah, don't worry about the leaks right now. Some of them may be more related to the pressure that the machine goes up to than what it starts with. We fit the mask at 6 cm maybe and the machine goes to 10 or 12 and the fitting well at 6 goes right out the window at 12. As you increase the pressure you will adjust the seal to the slightly higher pressure and there won't be as much of a difference and hopefully less chance of the difference causing any leaks.

[sjmguest]

Yup....it was to pee, but....no prostate.
Girls don't get 'em....