Is this apnea, psychological response, or a faulty machine?

[stupidusername]

Which one, exactly? Look on the bottom, there's a REF number, what is it?

Text on the bottom says REMStar Auto INTL -- REF 561 P

Hopefully you're aware that they've been recalled, all of them, ever.

Eugh. I missed this as I have had it stowed away in a cupboard for the past couple of years. (Explanation above; also why I was still using SleepyHead). From what I'm reading, it looks like that's a sort of cumulative probabilistic type thing, where I'll most likely get away with using it for a few nights to figure out what's what? Hoping so!!

Let us know what it is *before* tonight, so we can perhaps offer some suggestions about what settings to use to have a more successful night.

At the very least, I'd suggest turning the pressure up to 7. If it's a 550 or 560 model, then set the min to 7 and max to 20.

I'm sorry I had just got home and it was nearly 1am when I wrote my last post, so posted and slept!! But I set it to a constant 7 roughly as suggested by Miss Emerita and it worked much better.

[stupidusername]

Only thing I can tell you about the one image you posted is that you weren't asleep from at least 08:18:20 and maybe prior to that time frame. If you weren't asleep it's not sleep apnea or airway related.
Does your single zoomed in image look anything like the examples in my "how to post" thread?

I was definitely asleep and dreaming at the start of the graph, then I woke up in a panic feeling I couldn't breathe and as soon as I came to pulled the mask off my face. Then I sat for a few seconds (my girlfriend reckons about ten seconds, but could be a bit longer I think), got my breath back and then turned off the machine.

Upping the pressure, I was able to sleep with no issues last night (albeit quite light sleep).

Apologies for getting the graph wrong, had assumed that the other graphs didn't matter so much given it was really just that graph (and the associated experience) that looked weird to me, rather than a broader "sleep apnea" question. Have posted as instructed for last night's readings!

[Pugsy]

I looked at your Sept 14 full detailed report.

WAY too much large leak going on. The amount of excess leak is so bad it affects the machine's ability to do anything at all with any degree of accuracy.

I do realize that doing any of this stuff all by yourself is a challenge in itself but it can be done.
Education and patience and a don't give up attitude is going to be critical.

I little bit of excess leak the machine can handle well enough but when there are prolonged episodes so deep into large leak territory then everything including results becomes questionable.
You want that top leak line to stay below 90 L/min as much as possible. Above that and essentially all bets are off.

[stupidusername]

You want that top leak line to stay below 90 L/min as much as possible. Above that and essentially all bets are off.

Absolutely, makes total sense. I'll go away and mess about with it for a week or two and see what I get then come back for help when it's a bit less botched. Thanks a lot for looking! The main aim with the initial post was just to kill off my fears after a couple of bad experiences -- and make sure no one said "ohhh stay off that machine it's broken in a bad way". But now with you guys' help I've upped the pressure and it's way better, so I can go and try a few nights getting it right, but feeling more relaxed about it.

[palerider]

Which one, exactly? Look on the bottom, there's a REF number, what is it?

Text on the bottom says REMStar Auto INTL -- REF 561 P

Ok, that means it's a "System One 60 Series Auto" machine, it's one of those that has been recalled because the sound deadening foam starts to dissolve and get blown into the airstream. There's a thread on the front page about it with links to many videos.

From what I'm reading, it looks like that's a sort of cumulative probabilistic type thing, where I'll most likely get away with using it for a few nights to figure out what's what? Hoping so!!

Probably so.

I'm sorry I had just got home and it was nearly 1am when I wrote my last post, so posted and slept!! But I set it to a constant 7 roughly as suggested by Miss Emerita and it worked much better.

Since it's an auto machine, put it in auto mode, and set the min to 7 and the max to 20, and let's see what the data looks like. While it's not as responsive a machine as the Resmed Autoset machines, it will raise pressure if your breathing is bad and that will give you a better, faster indication of what pressures you need.

[stupidusername]

Since it's an auto machine, put it in auto mode, and set the min to 7 and the max to 20, and let's see what the data looks like. While it's not as responsive a machine as the Resmed Autoset machines, it will raise pressure if your breathing is bad and that will give you a better, faster indication of what pressures you need.

That's great, thank you! I'll give that a go. I might try a few nights getting used to the lower pressure, then I'll give it a bit more freedom to up it and see what happens!

[Pugsy]

If you feel discomfort exhaling at 7 cm minimum you might consider adding Flex exhale relief and see if that helps.
Choose a setting from 1 to 3 that simply feels the best in the AFlex mode.
Bear in mind that Flex won't/can't work its magic unless the minimum pressure is 6 cm. Flex won't engage on that model machine unless someone is using at least 6 cm pressure.

[stupidusername]

If you feel discomfort exhaling at 7 cm minimum you might consider adding Flex exhale relief and see if that helps.

Thank you! I've tried the flex before and found that it woke me up every time I fell asleep because my breathing changed pace, but it didn't... I found the 7cm quite comfortable though.

[palerider]

If you feel discomfort exhaling at 7 cm minimum you might consider adding Flex exhale relief and see if that helps.

Thank you! I've tried the flex before and found that it woke me up every time I fell asleep because my breathing changed pace, but it didn't... I found the 7cm quite comfortable though.

*flex (and Resmed's EPR) is purely driven by your breathing, absolutely, completely.

Flex often makes people *think* it's trying to rush them to breathe because it raises pressure before you're finished exhaling, but that's just what it does, if you remind yourself who's boss and just breathe how you want to breathe, the machine will follow.