1st Night - Gonna call it a success...2nd night update...

[SharkBait]

Okay, here's a little snapshot of last night (2nd night)...



I wore the machine for 10 hours 35 minutes, about 8-9 hours of that was sleep. I love to read, so I'll sit there all night wearing that thing reading if I'm not falling asleep...

At a little before 3:00 AM, (hour 6.25 on the graph), I woke up and felt like nothing was working. My mask was on okay, and I could feel air, but it was constant with no exhale relief. I laid there for a minute, and then sat up. I was in no mood/state of mind to analyze, I was just kind of sitting there staring at the machine waiting for it to do something... So I reached over and clicked it off. You can see the little gap there where I got up.

I see a bunch of OA's but I don't see what pressure I'm at during that period but my sense is that I was pegged at 12 and that doesn't show up on the graph due to the orange max apap line. Not sure what was going on.

Also at about hour 1 1/2 there's a little stair step in pressure and a couple of OA clusters, but I'm not sure I really fell asleep during that little bit. I might have dozed just a bit at that point, but for some reason decided to get up and do some things before going back to bed (thus the gap).

I'm having some coughing and so I think that's making some whacky stuff as far as that first hour and a half was concerned. But the hour 6 1/4, something definitely was up because it woke me up and I felt like crap. But overall this morning, I felt pretty good again. My head just seems so much clearer even if I am groggy from sleeping so much -- of which coffee takes care of in short order.

Thanks again for all the advice and comments.

[Gerald]

Shark........

if that was my chart, I'd bump the pressure up 1/2 cm on the low end....and try to reduce the leaks. The straighter the "leak line", the better.

You may be leaking pressure thru an open mouth......so, do what you can to reduce mouth breathing.

Also, be sure that a "fine white filter" is installed behind the gray foam. Over time, well-filtered air will help your sinus cavaties clear up. Right now, you may be having some sinus gunk going down your throat....and that has a tendency to close off the airway, too. The change in sinus drainage......from day to day......affects my AHI score. Just another variable in the whole equation.

[rested gal]

If that were my chart, I'd set the pressure range at 10 - 20, A-flex set at 3.

The leak rate looks very good to me.

[SharkBait]

If that were my chart, I'd set the pressure range at 10 - 20, A-flex set at 3.

The leak rate looks very good to me.

10-20 or 10-12? I was thinking of the latter, or maybe even switching over to a CPAP of 10 (my titrated figure...).

[Georgio]

By going to the 10 -20 you will see where the higher pressure goes for awhile. (It's going up to your max. now.) After a week or so, you will have more data to allow you to consider narrowing your range. Good work though getting with the program for you first 2 nights! Keep up the good work.

Oh yeah, sometimes it's worth your while to check out how many posts people have to help "rate" their advice (chk. out rested gal).

Georgio

[SharkBait]

Oh yeah, sometimes it's worth your while to check out how many posts people have to help "rate" their advice (chk. out rested gal).

Georgio

I noticed that when I first started researching (hard to miss as most of the "our wisdom" entries seem to be hers)...

I was just making sure it wasn't a typo as 20 seems pretty darn high... lol.

[Georgio]

Yeah you may not go that high, but it gives the machine the room to respond and record events for you above where you are now. Post you chart again tomorrow and you may get a little better idea how things are going. You're doing great.

[SharkBait]

Yeah you may not go that high, but it gives the machine the room to respond and record events for you above where you are now. Post you chart again tomorrow and you may get a little better idea how things are going. You're doing great.

Thanks. I set it up for 9-14. I got nothing but time to work it up to 20 if need be.

First night's chart looked really good, and the leak rate was much cleaner (avg pressure was 8.9). I wore the mask quite a bit tighter the first night and it stayed tighter even with pillow contact, but at the expense of my nares. As I think about it, I'm thinking my mask got a bit askew during my pre-3:00 AM episode and all that data for that period has altered the overall picture.

[SharkBait]

Lanseoh is for "nursing moms"....so, if it's safe for mommies.....it certainly won't hurt my nares! You'll find it in the "supplies for nursing moms" section of the drugstore.

Gerald,

GREAT suggestion. Did the same as you suggested -- about 3/8" and covered nares and base of nose and it really made a difference. Thanks!!!

I did feel a little strange buying this product -- I thought about pairing it with a box of Magnum condoms and just slamming them on the counter and yelling, "That's right! That's what I'm talking about!!!" (In my best Eddie Murphy voice). But I went with adding shampoo and candy instead...

[SharkBait]

If you've got Encore Pro and you've missed this, then check this out.

http://james.istop.com/EncoreProAnalyzer/

It's free and it's awesome. I'd like to express yet another thanks and "great job" from one programmer to another to Mr Skinner.

I don't think it works with EncoreViewer 1.0 as it reads the MS SQL Server database that Encore Pro uses. But I bought my equipment last week and I can tell you if you look for it you can find Encore Pro. I wanted the DB so I could perhaps write some of my own stuff, but so far it looks like Mr Skinner has everything I'd want to see already coded....

[Gerald]

Shark......

Two things........

First, Hoseheads have no "shame".....if it's good enough for "mommy nipples", it's for sure good enough for our nares....male or female!

Second......I used Skinner"s program to find my "sweet spot".......the pressure setting that gave me the lowest AHI at the lowest pressure.
I used Encore Pro for over a year.....and found it to be very tempermental. When I changed laptops, I was never able to get it to run on my Lenovo.

I have since purchased "Viewer"....and because I've already found my "sweet spot".....thanks to James......I can now use "Viewer" to keep things running smoothly.

Finally......your progress....and your "git-r-done" attitude.....is an inspiration to all the newbies.

You "give back" as you gain more experience.......and you help others....whether you realize it or not.