Still not right

[pdean44]

Still running with high AI after 5-6 days on my new pressure. I tried increasing pressure to 13.2 and i ran at 11 ai that time. So placed it back to 13 last night. Which put me back at 9 or so which i was running at even when i was set to 11. I may try backing it off a little. To see if that does anything. I dont want to make any major chnages until i finally get a reader and know what is going on and when.

I was wondering how much of an inpact epr can have on your ahi and ai readings? Mine is set to epr3 at medium?

I sleep on my back primarily. Just not comfrtable on my side. I was recently raised from 11 to 13 my titration pressure. That stopped my snoring and i feel a bit better. My wife is happy about the snoring part. I was hoping to have good numbers after the pressure change. If i am not snoring that has to be mean i have less obstructve breathing so I am frustrated the numbers do not reflect a major improvement.

[Rycharde]

You and I have the same equipment, but I have my ptessure at 10. I use EPR set at 1, after having tried all three settings. I seems to be the best for me. I also tried higher pressures, and always came back to my titrated ptessure, since that is where my AI's are at or near 0.0, and my AHI is always umser 2.0. Keep in mind that EwsMed machines tend to score HI's higher, and in fact may not be what would be classidied as a true HI. I tend to disregard the HI's and focus on the AI's.

Try the EPR settings at 1, 2 and 3 on different nights and see what the data shows.

Hope this helps,

Rycharde

[pdean44]

Hmm i have been wondering about that epr thing. What position do you normally sleep in at night? Curious since we have the same gear?

[Rycharde]

I sleep in various positions. On my back, left side, on my stomach. NEVER on my right side for some reason.
I fold my pillows over and let my head hang down over the edge while on my stomach.

Don't be afraid to wxperiment. The most that happened to me was my hose came off, noxxel and all one night. Simple fix and back ro sleep again.

Rycharde

[Uncle_Bob]

I was wondering how much of an inpact epr can have on your ahi and ai readings? Mine is set to epr3 at medium?

have you tried anything other than 3, dropped it to 2? i did and found no difference in my score. EPR is a comfort feature for me and does not alter my AHI. I hope you can get a reader and software, you might find out events are happening on awaking in the morning. When you say still not right are you talking numbers or how you actually feel?

[pdean44]

Well i feel a lot better. Definitely an improvment. I dont know if it is me starting to awake at the end of the sleep period that could be creating anomalies or anything of that sort. I dont want to make any drastic changes without being armed with that data. But it is frustrating to see folks with great numbers that have the same equipment i do and not know why?

[pdean44]

I sleep in various positions. On my back, left side, on my stomach. NEVER on my right side for some reason.
I fold my pillows over and let my head hang down over the edge while on my stomach.

Don't be afraid to wxperiment. The most that happened to me was my hose came off, noxxel and all one night. Simple fix and back ro sleep again.

Rycharde

For an acrobatic sleeper you have good numbers

[cpapquuen1]

Epr does decrease your exhale pressure by whatever value you have set. (ex: cpap set @ 10 EPr on 3== inhaling @ 10 exhaling @ 7). If you are having alot of hypopneas play with the EPR setting before you continue to raise your overall pressure.

[pdean44]

I would assume the next setting to try would be epr2?

[Uncle_Bob]

I tried increasing pressure to 13.2 and i ran at 11 ai that time. So placed it back to 13 last night.

One night observations are not very useful IMO, especially without software to look at your data over time. If you are titrated at 13 i was going to suggest leaving epr at 3 but going for a pressure increase. If you only tried it one night and did not see an improvement then there could have been other issues sleep hygiene related that could have knocked your AHI off.

Just my opinion, i hope you get the reader soon.

[echo]

If you are feeling better at 13cm, but AHI still high and you are unsure about the effects of the EPR, then i would suggest staying at 13 for another week and tweaking the epr settings. During my self titration at some point I had to go more by how I felt than what the numbers said. Just to make sure it's not a typo, are the numbers you mention (11 ai @ 13cm, 9 ai @ 13cm and 11cm), the AHI or the AI?

Agreed, don't start fiddling too much with the pressure until you get the card reader. Plus if you're feeling better, let that be your motivation to stay patient until you get your sw set up. You might just be getting lots of sleep-onset central's or a/h's and awake-onset hypopneas/apnea's.

[Rycharde]

Pdean44,

The numbers are good, but only when using my nasal mask. If i use the FF mask, all bets are off. I try to use Ff for those rare times that I have some congestion. With the FF, my numbers are higher and leaks are in abundance.

Have fun when you get the SW. I like seeing what my nightly numbers are, and taking an event and stretching the hour out lets me see what might have caused it. Fun stuff, especially when talking to my DME. Her look can put me on the floor!

Rycharde

[pdean44]

If you are feeling better at 13cm, but AHI still high and you are unsure about the effects of the EPR, then i would suggest staying at 13 for another week and tweaking the epr settings. During my self titration at some point I had to go more by how I felt than what the numbers said. Just to make sure it's not a typo, are the numbers you mention (11 ai @ 13cm, 9 ai @ 13cm and 11cm), the AHI or the AI?

Agreed, don't start fiddling too much with the pressure until you get the card reader. Plus if you're feeling better, let that be your motivation to stay patient until you get your sw set up. You might just be getting lots of sleep-onset central's or a/h's and awake-onset hypopneas/apnea's.

yeah i ddid not give out the ahi numbers as i dont recall them but they are up there like 21 or so. I realy dont recall off the top of my head. I just know my numbers are way higher than anyone is mentioning.