Highly malignant apnea, would you help me please?

[jules]

What part of "Try single-pressure (CPAP mode)" do you not understand???


Den

Yeah and start that with 10 for a couple weeks.




..

[Wulfman]

What part of "Try single-pressure (CPAP mode)" do you not understand???


Den

Yeah and start that with 10 for a couple weeks.




..

Yep. Sounds like a good place to start to me. (especially after seeing some of those reports showing lower pressure use)


Den

[jules]

titrated pressure - you should always start there --------

of course I realize not everyone does

and in this case 10 is very reasonable

and he might need to turn off all the flex - ALL of it -

[jweeks]

And just to really confuse you...some of us do much better on one straight pressure rather then the autos range of pressures. I get a much better AHI and feel better using one set pressure. So if you try a wider range and it doesn't help try setting the machine in cpap mode for one pressure.

Hi,

I am wondering if the poster should be trying bi-level when he is at those pressure levels?

-john-

[williamco]

Wulfman wrote:

Just to re-emphasize what Brenda (and I) have tried to get across to you in the two threads you have going.......

You keep asking for input and suggestions and are apparently disregarding the ones given you.
You're trying all of these screwy pressure ranges and getting equally screwy results and you're getting frustrated.

What part of "Try single-pressure (CPAP mode)" do you not understand???

Den my friend, I never disregarded any suggestions you or Brenda or others have given me. Here is CPAP on 15 on the same night you and and Cori told me to try it



My AHI went up from 5.5 to 8.2 - now if the AHI went up , should I continue with it? you even suggested to redo starting at 10. do you and Julie still think if at 15 my AHI is 8, do you think that I should redo it at 10 ? if your answer is yes, I will do

Den, I just didn't want to post so many pictures not to bore you all, but rest assured every word you , Brenda, Cori and jules , or others say, I work on it

also Julie suggested to try taping my mouth, I did try it last night and it worked great with me I love it - leak is steady line at 32 LPM which is only the intended leak

you also suggested to me to try side sleeping, I did that last night and my AHI went down from 5.5 to 4.2
here is the report of side sleeping and mouth tape




whithin a day or two I work on all your suggestions
Thanks for your help
William

[DoriC]

Here's a simple strategy to follow that worked out well for us. Set your cpap at 10cms(your titrated pressure) for a week, adjust mask for leaks, no flex, no ramp, if you have no sinus/allergy problems, set your HH to Passover Mode, get more sleep, keep face and mask clean. Don't over analyze reports but really concentrate on how you're feeling, then make small pressure changes as necessary and stay with that for week. You get the idea.

[Wulfman]

ONE night for less than 3 1/2 hours doesn't count.

And, almost nobody sleeps the same......night after night. This therapy is all about "averages" when analyzing data.


Den

[MoneyGal]

Yep! This was the type of client I found most difficult to deal with when I was a stockbroker.

"Yesterday the stock price bounced from x per share to 2x per share! Now it doesn't fit my purchase guidelines! Should I sell, or hold, or what?"

Next day: "The stock once again moved prices! I'm just not sure about this approach!"

Next day: "Now the stock is going up! That is good! What did you do yesterday that you can repeat today so this trend continues?"

Next day: "OK, I checked my stock price every five minutes over a one-hour period and it went down. I no longer think you are a good broker." etc. etc.

[DoriC]

MoneyGal, our nephew is a stock broker(we love him but don't use him as our financial advisor,they say money and family don't mix well). He always tells us stories like that and although it's not funny, we always laugh.

[williamco]

MoneyGal : so everyone is trying to help here. but in your entire post there is nothing about help but ....
Thanks anyway

[MoneyGal]

I apologize if my post seemed overly snarky. There is some advice there, but you have to see through my post to get at it. Here it is:

I think you may still be tired because you are not addressing the fundamentals of sleep hygiene (just like I would tell a client that was viewing their investing "results" in five-minute and single-stock increments that they are focussing on datapoints that don't make a lot of difference to their overall financial well-being).

In particular, I think you are tired because you are not getting enough sleep, and at consistent times of day. You could think of basic sleep hygiene (getting sufficient sleep at relatively consistent times from day to day) like the "dollar cost averaging" approach to investing. If you don't practice some of these fundamental behavioural rules (saving sufficient money consistently over time), you will not have investing success unless you are *exceptionally* lucky -- and you are much more likely to be unlucky.

Now, this analogy is not the greatest. However, when I look at your charts and read your posts, I think you may be jumping to conclusions about the success of CPAP treatment for you without handling the absolute basics first. I think you may be inappropriately attributing your "tiredness" to ineffective CPAP treatment when I suspect it is about basic sleep sufficiency. I realize you are also getting numbers that you aren't happy with (and I would not be happy with, either). But, just like with investing, you must handle the basics (are you saving sufficiently and consistently to give your investments even a chance of producing results for you?) before you start tweaking your stock picks.

In general, I think the basics of just "saving money" are extremely overlooked in investing. Lots of micro-studies are coming out which show that for average investors over the past few decades, simply putting money in GICs would have netted them the same or more than people invested in equity markets, at much lower cost and risk. I am suggesting the analogy may hold for sleeping, as well. If the problem you are solving is "being tired" then simply getting sufficient regular sleep will go a long way. Tweaking your CPAP performance is important too, but you must get the basic inputs right first.

[timbalionguy]

I see you tried straight CPAP for one night and your AHI went up. One night, especially a short night, is nowhere near enough of a 'test' to see if this is working. When I make pressure changes, I will discard the first nights' data, maybe 2 nights worth. The AHI always increases, when going either up or down for the first day or two. My situation is such that I have to look for trends. A weeks' worth of data won't do it for me, I need two weeks worth to see any meaningful patterns.

My data is starting to suggest that straight CPAP at around 14 may be where I end up.

[DoriC]

williamco, I know there was a good message for you in MoneyGal's post but since the stock market is of particular interest to me I just read that as a humorous analogy as I'm sure she meant it. When you've been here awhile you'll see some of the threads go completely OT with no analogy at all when some of the "boys and girls" get going and just when you think you'll never laugh again because you're sleep deprived and OSA has completely consumed your life, they will find your funny bone again. I can name some of the troublemakers but I don't want to offend by forgetting anyone. You know who you are! Just know we all have your best interests at heart and you have some of the best here helping you.