A few newbie questions - with Data!

[plaqueman]

I will give your suggestions a try. I think my sleep hygine is decent, but I also agree, my brain is adjusting to the CPAP. The mask does not bother me, but the pressure does give me a bit of a feeling of shortness of breath once I wake up. The pressure (or perhaps the apnea event) will wake me up an hour or so after going to sleep, then the pressure is usually in the 9-12 range, and I find it a bit difficult to exhale against it. I feel a bit short of breath. Later in the night if I happen to wake up with the pressure higher, I am usually able to go back to sleep pretty quickly, and feel less bothered by it. It seems I get used to it as the night goes on, but the first time it is a little disconcerting. Thank you for your insight. I have watched a couple of sleep HQ videos now, and think I know enought to adjust settings and tweak things appropriately now also.

Even with all that, I am not getting up to use the bathroom, I feel rested, and my AHI is down to 6-7 from near 60. It is good, and getting better!

[Dog Slobber]

I agree with granny. Increase min to 9. You machine is spending a lot of time over 10. Increasing the minimum, can often reduce the need for the device to go as high, as it's preventing move FLs and apneas.

When I see pressure graphs with a lot of large saw tooths, the solution is often increase minimum pressure.

[ChicagoGranny]

the pressure does give me a bit of a feeling of shortness of breath once I wake up

I am guessing the operative word is "feeling". The muscles of your lungs can easily exhale and inhale, but the brain is not yet accustomed to the CPAP process.

If you want, when you get that feeling, turn the machine off and let it restart at the ramp level. Check that you have AutoStart set to ON.

[plaqueman]

Yes Granny, "feeling" is the operative word. By morning, it"feels" normal and feels hard to breath when I turn it off. The first night I put an oxygen meter on my finger to help convince my brain that I was not actually suffocating, and that helped.

All of this makes perfect sense; I will move the min. pressure up to 9 tonight and see if that helps reduce my apnea events. The Autostart is ineed on. Would it hurt anything to turn the EPR back up to 3, to help my exhale sensation? Or do you thing that would reduce the effectiveness?

Either way, I am looking forward to a restful night with an apnea index of 1 or less in the near future! It has already been such an improvement....I can't believe I survived as poorly as I must have been breathing at night.

Thanks!

[ChicagoGranny]

Would it hurt anything to turn the EPR back up to 3, to help my exhale sensation?

Go ahead. I didn't expect you to turn it down. It shouldn't decrease the effectiveness. In many users with excess flow limitations, it reduces them.

[plaqueman]

I have implemented the suggestions, and am getting used the pressure now, and feeling quite comfortable. It looks like perhaps I may need to bump the minimum pressure up even slightly more? Please take a look at my Sleep HQ and see if you agree. Also, thanks to your suggestions, the last two nights of sleep have been outstanding in terms of AHI, and were the most restful nights sleep I can recall in a long, long time. Thanks everyone, and please feel welcome to sugget more tweaks!

https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_ ... e9a154cdfb

[ChicagoGranny]

The red line shows you don't spend much time at the minimum of 9.0, so you could increase the minimum to 10.0.

How do you feel about your EPR of 2? Any reasons you wouldn't want to use 3? You could try 3 in a future change.

[plaqueman]

Granny,

I was suspect that raising it to 10 might be in the cards. I will give it a try. I cut the EPR back to 2 because I seem to notice pressure when I first start to exhale, then a drop off in pressure, and I find it a little bothersome. I get that is how it works, but it is less pronounced at 2 than 3.

Thanks so much!

[plaqueman]

I have uploaded a few more nights of data, and the results of my therapy keep trending better, and it keeps feeling more and more comfortable.

One question: the Sleep HQ app always reports that I am using an f30i mask, and I have to go into the data and change it to the f20 airtouch that I am actually using. It seems to be picking this up from the Resmed 11 data, but I can't tell where. In my Resmed settings, it says "full face", but does not specify the exact type. Where is sleepHQ getting this errant data, and how do I go about fixing it?

Also, I noticed I had changed the device response to "soft" at some point. I changed it back to standard this morning and will see if I notice a difference.

Thanks!

[ChicagoGranny]

One question: the Sleep HQ app always reports that I am using an f30i mask, and I have to go into the data and change it to the f20 airtouch that I am actually using.

From AI:

SleepHQ learns which CPAP mask you're using because you manually select it within the SleepHQ application when adding or updating your device data. You choose your specific mask from a list of options or can add a new one if it isn't listed. SleepHQ doesn't detect the mask automatically; you must input this information to track its performance.
How to tell SleepHQ your mask:
Add your CPAP device: to your account if you haven't already.
Select the CPAP mask: you are currently using from the provided list.
Upload the data: from your CPAP machine's SD card or USB stick. SleepHQ will then associate your mask with that therapy session data.
By selecting your mask, you enable SleepHQ to track its specific performance alongside your therapy data, allowing you to see how different masks affect your treatment.

I haven't found how to make a mask change that will "stick".

[plaqueman]

Hello again! I have a bit more data recorded, and hope that y'all can take a look at it for me. I have had the minimum pressure on 10 for some time now, and have gotten a good comfortable mask with low leaks. I am quite comfortable going to sleep with the apparatus now, and in fact find it comforting. I do usually wake up about 30 min to an hour after falling asleep the first time it kicks up to about 12, but usually go back to sleep pretty easily without having to reset it and allow it to ramp again.

I think my AHI is decent, but I still want to get it even better. (As a reminder, my sleep test showed an AHI of 59.2, and it was mostly obstructive with minimal CA.). From looking at the data it seems like I tend to get a cluster of events about 2 hours after going to bed. What do you folks see that I might try to improve my scores? Thanks in advance!

https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_ ... e9a154cdfb

[ozij]

You've got ramp set up on 6 - and there's a lot of snoring going on when you're there. It's too low for you.

Look a the zigzag pattern of the flow: your apneas, flow limitation and snores pop up once the pressure has dropped. In other words, the machine doesn't realize that the minimal pressure is too low for you.

Your Resmed 11 should have a "for her" setting, try it.

What is an AutoSet for Her mode? How is it different from the AutoSet mode?

It may simply be better for you - regardless of whether you're a male or a female. The extra responsiveness above 10, and the "Slower pressure decays." may be just what you need.

[plaqueman]

Ok, I tried "for her" last night, but didn't adjust the pressure minimum, and there was little to no improvement; granted, it was only one night. I didn't want to move too many settings around at once and possibly confuse cause and effect of changes. I may try going back to regular apap vs "for her" and bumping the minimum pressure up a bit. I see what you are saying about the snorning during the ramp mode, but I don't see much in the way of AHI during ramp mode either, so is that an issue? I am inclined to bump the minimum pressure up to 11 and not tinker with ramp pressure. 11 is a bit uncomfortable for me as soon as I strap the mask on, but after a ramp period I don't find it uncomfortable for long. Thoughts?

https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_ ... c24233a8bc

[ozij]

Why not a ramp of 8 or 9?

[plaqueman]

I start it lower so I fall asleep before it becomes powerful- so I start it low and let it “ramp up” as I go to sleep. I might be accustomed to it enough now though, so I will give it a try.