First Night: Success!

[AmyE]

Well, last night was my first night, and I feel so much better this morning that usual! Yay!

I did wake up often, just trying to get used to the hose, the new pillow (PapPillow) and the mask. I had to go to the bathroom, and when I put the mask on again (Mirage Swift LT for her with the small pillow) I couldn't get a good seal again, and I found that the area around my nostrils was burning. I put some Vaseline on, not sure if that was okay or not...

But still-I feel good! And my husband slept better as well.

Now, how do I read the data? What do I want to keep track of? Do I need a clinician manual to figure all of this out?
Amy

[jnk]

I did wake up often,

That is common when starting out.

I had to go to the bathroom,

Nocturia may lessen for you in time, if it is due to OSA.

I couldn't get a good seal again,

When I first put my mask on, I hold a finger over the air vents on the front for a few seconds and pull the nasal pillows away from my nostrils as the pillows inflate, then move the mask around in a little circle once or twice. That allows the pillows to inflate into place and they seem to seat themselves better.

I found that the area around my nostrils was burning.

That is common at first. A few days of irritation, but that should improve with time.

I put some Vaseline on,

Petroleum based products are not the best choice, for you or your mask.

how do I read the data?

What happens if you hold down the left arrow and right arrow buttons simultaneously for three seconds? That should allow you to scroll through the numbers using the up and down arrows.

What do I want to keep track of?

The most important info for now is leak. After a few weeks, AI, and AHI will be important.

If your mask was programmed into your machine, leak should be O.O or very slight. Your machine will keep averages (means, actually) for the week once you've used it a week. Seeing what your numbers are for a few weeks and comparing that to the numbers from your sleep study will tell you much of what you need to know.

Do I need a clinician manual to figure all of this out?

No. But if someone gets their hands on the clinical manual for the Elite II, it will be useful to a lot of us in other ways.

Glad it went well! I hope your husband has some excitement about it too. Keeping our spouses involved helps the whole process.

I throw a towel over the top of my machine at night. I make sure not to block the intake on the back, but cover the top of the machine. It keeps the noise down for my wife.

You are well on your way. May your successes continue, AmyE!

[tattooyu]

AmyE, congratulations on your first night!

jnk is definitely right. Petroleum based products can start to break down plastic. My suggestion is to go to your nearest Walgreens or Rite-Aid/CVS and get some Ayr Saline Nasal Gel. It smells really nice and works wonders for the nares (nostrils) inside and out. It is totally safe for CPAP equipment and even states that on the box!

Good luck and good sleep.

[Debjax]

Congratulations! I also had success from the first night, with the same issues you have listed.

I started with a nasal mask (not the pillows) and kept waking up because of leaks and my nose itching something fierce. The nose itching went away after awhile, as did the waking up. Within a week I no longer had to get up to go to the bathroom, and now I only have to when it is "legitimate", you now, like drinking alot of liquids after 9:00pm.

jnk's tip about seating the pillows on the LT, blocking the vent for a few seconds, worked like a charm for me (I've been using the LT for about 2 weeks now), and took my "seating the pillows" from about 10 minutes if fotching with it to about 30 seconds. If you are having problems with leaks, try using the medium pillows..sounds counter intuitive, but it worked for me. Also, the small made my nose and nares hurt, the medium did not...matter of fact, once seated and inflated, I really couldn't even tell they were on.

Welcome to the club and wait, it just gets better from here.

[SharkBait]

AmyE, congratulations on your first night!

jnk is definitely right. Petroleum based products can start to break down plastic. My suggestion is to go to your nearest Walgreens or Rite-Aid/CVS and get some Ayr Saline Nasal Gel. It smells really nice and works wonders for the nares (nostrils) inside and out. It is totally safe for CPAP equipment and even states that on the box!

Good luck and good sleep.

I'm gonna get me some Ayr Saline Nasal Gel and see if it beats (or meets) the Lanolin. My first impression was it turned to saline too quickly to do me any good, but I've seen enough recommend it to tell me that is incorrect.

We'll see what happens...

I do feel like the Lanolin has some relief effects for pain since nursing mommies use it, but I'm past the tender stage and just want to ensure good seals...

[tattooyu]

SharkBait,

I mainly use it for the soothing effects. I don't know if it helps the seal, per se, but I think I've read somewhere on here that other users use it for that reason.

[Wulfman]

Congratulation!

Here's some instructions for getting into the menu (if you need them). They're from two different files I had and there's some duplication......but more is better.....right?

Den



1. Accessing the Clinical Menu

Turn on the device and wait until the standby (RAMP/SETTLING) screen appears on the LCD.
At this stage you can adjust the ramp/settling time.

Press the DOWN and RIGHT keys simultaneously for 3 seconds to access the clinical menu.


2. Changing Options and Settings.

Press the LEFT (menu) key to access the SETTINGS menu screen.

Use the UP and DOWN keys to scroll through the RESULTS, OPTIONS and SERVICING menu screens.

From a menu screen, use the LEFT (enter) key to access the parameters in that menu.

Use the UP and DOWN keys to scroll through menu parameters.

Use the LEFT key to view or change each parameter setting as required.

Press the RIGHT (exit) key until you return to the standby (RAMP/SETTLING) screen.






ResMed S8 Series
To get into the provider setup mode in a ResMed S8 CPAP machine - such as the S8 Compact, S8 Elite or S8 AutoSet Vantage - follow these steps:

1. press the right and down arrows simultaneously for about 3 seconds until the "Clinical Menu" appears on the screen

Use the up and down arrows to cycle through the settings and use the left "soft key" to select "Change" or use the right "soft key" to "Exit" from the Clinical Menu. Below is a list of settings you can cycle through on an S8 AutoSet Vantage automatic CPAP machine. There are four groups of settings which have adjustments and data within them.

* Settings
o CPAP Mode
o Minimum CPAP Pressure
o Maximum CPAP Pressure
o Maximum Settling / Ramp
o Mask Type
o Tube Length
o Humidifier
o Smart Start
o Leak Alert
* Results
o Efficacy Data
o Usage Data
* Options
o Smart Data
o Reminders
o Factory Defaults
o Erase Data
o Date
o Time
o Menu Type
o Language
* Servicing
o Run Hours
o Serial Number
o PCV Number
o SW Number
o BR Number

[AmyE]

Okay, I got the Ayr (hopefully 1 time with vaseline won't ruin it!)
And I got the data from the machine. The first info said PRESS: NO DATA (not sure what that means)
and then leak 0.00 l/s (which I thought was strange because I KNOW I felt leaking)
AHI: 1.6
AI: .2
HI 1.4

I do have data from my sleep study, but I don't know what to compare these #'s to. The study results shows:
sleep efficiency was 69.9%
Coleman's PLM 12 Index 2.1/hour
Total Hypopneas 102 (index 17.9/hr)
Total Mixed Apneas 0
Total Obstruct Apneas 0
Total Central Apneas 1 (.2/hr)
Total # Events 103 (index 18.1/hr)
Total # Events in REM 34 (index 31.1/hr)
Total # Events in Non REM 69 (15/hr)

Oxygen Saturation Lever was good at 98% baseline and a low of 93%
Arousals 108 (index 18.9/hr)
Arousal w/Resp. Event 68 (index 11.9/hr)
Arousal w/Coleman's PLM 0

There is also info about %sleep stages and sleep latencies.
So what info is the most important?

[AmyE]

If you are having problems with leaks, try using the medium pillows..sounds counter intuitive, but it worked for me. Also, the small made my nose and nares hurt, the medium did not...matter of fact, once seated and inflated, I really couldn't even tell they were on.

Welcome to the club and wait, it just gets better from here.

Thanks! Actually I'd started out with the XS pillows, which seemed to fit better before the machine was on. But when I tried to actually breath with the machine on, It was noisy and breathing felt difficult. So I moved to the Small and it was much much better. I could barely feel it and breathing was very comfortable. I only noticed the stinging in the middle of the night. But I have the Ayr now and apparently I wasn't having leaks--guess it was just my imagination!
Amy

[jnk]

The first info said PRESS: NO DATA (not sure what that means)

That may be because you waited until after noon to get your data. The nightly data is only available until noon, according to the time as it is set in the machine. Or it may be that it won't show you pressure, since it always operate at the set pressure which should be listed elsewhere. In other words, I don't know. Hopefully someone else will.

leak 0.00 l/s (which I thought was strange because I KNOW I felt leaking)

I believe that number may be a 95 percentile number. So, as I understand it, that means you had no significant leak for 95% or more of the night.

So what info is the most important?

Right now, leak is your most important number, and it looks like you're doing great. Under "mask type" on your menu, does it say "Swift"? (It should.)

Are those numbers from a diagnostic sleep study, a titration sleep study, or a combined study where both occurred on the same night?

As you typed in, your numbers from your sleep study were AI = O, HI = 17.9, for an AHI = 17.9 (AHI is AI plus HI.)

Your machine-estimated event numbers, in comparison, are AI = 0.2 (negligible), HI = 1.4, for an AHI = 1.6.

So you went from an AHI of 17.9 to an AHI of 1.6. Pretty darn good, especially considering how ResMeds score events.

I think you deserve to pat yourself on the back!

jeff

[Correction on above. Study shows AI = 0.2, HI = 17.9, AHI = 18.1. So AHI went from 18.1 to estimated AHI of 1.6. Even better!]

[tattooyu]

So you went from an AHI of 17.9 to an AHI of 1.6. Pretty darn good, especially considering how ResMeds score events.

I think you deserve to pat yourself on the back!

Heck yeah, Amy. Nice going. I hope to get my numbers down to that level in the next few weeks/months. Sweet!

What did you think of the Ayr Gel scent? I really, really like it for some reason.

[AmyE]

That may be because you waited until after noon to get your data.

I did get the data before Noon, but I don't know if the clock on the machine is set correctly. I did not see that anywhere in the settings.

Right now, leak is your most important number, and it looks like you're doing great. Under "mask type" on your menu, does it say "Swift"? (It should.)

Yes, the mask is set to Swift.

Are those numbers from a diagnostic sleep study, a titration sleep study, or a combined study where both occurred on the same night?

From the sleep study. I had a full night for the sleep study, and a full night for the titration.

So you went from an AHI of 17.9 to an AHI of 1.6. Pretty darn good, especially considering how ResMeds score events.

Thanks for the analysis! I thought it seemed pretty good. I used to dread going to sleep, now I can't wait!
Amy

[AmyE]

What did you think of the Ayr Gel scent? I really, really like it for some reason.

I haven't tried it yet--just got it today. I will let you know!
Amy

[riverdreamer]

Amy, that leak number is just an average. If most of the time it wasn't leaking, but a few times did, the average will still be very low.

The pressure showed as zero because you are not using an auto machine. It only shows the 95% pressure when you are on Autoset. With an Elite, you don't have that option. It runs all night at the pressure that is set.

Since your sleep study doesn't seem to show much in the way of apneas or hypopneas, I'm not sure how you are going to see what is happening with your therapy. I am too new to understand just what the respiratory events are that they are basing your therapy on. Hopefully somebody with experience will know.

[AmyE]

The pressure showed as zero because you are not using an auto machine. It only shows the 95% pressure when you are on Autoset. With an Elite, you don't have that option. It runs all night at the pressure that is set.

Ahhh, that 'splains it!
Amy