Im new to the CPAP machine

[Dewain]

I downloaded the sleepyhead software and imported the data off the sd card from my machine there is a lot of info, I have no idea what im looking at I hope to get better at this. My wife has been a great help she was the one to tell me to tell the Cardiologist about my snoring. I had a bout of A-Fib in late December for about a 1-1/2 weeks he put me on lopressor. I hope to get the machine working correctly Im the biggest problem. My wife told me she woke up around Midnight and I had the mask off and the machine off I don't remember doing this but Im sure I wore it until I got up at 0430 after she put it back on.Im going to keep at it and thanks again for the info.

[ChicagoGranny]

My wife has been a great help she was the one to tell me to tell the Cardiologist about my snoring.

Your wife should not have had to say this.

It's sad that every cardiologist does not screen their patients for sleep apnea. A very high percentage of heart patients have sleep apnea as a major contributor.

From what I hear from friends who are heart patients, may of the cardiologists in the Chicago area have started to routinely look into sleep apnea in all their patients.

[Dewain]

I went and saw the cardiologist for a follow up on my A-Fib that I had about the middle of December it was New years eve I told him that I wanted to be off of Pradaxa and that my Wife said she thought I had sleep apnea, when I said that he said that could very well be my problem went and had my sleep study and was told I had severe sleep apnea. Im off Pradaxa taking a 325 mg asprine now, Imstill trying to get used to the cpap machine I must have woke up and cut it off. I hope to get the kinks out of sleeping with a full mask.

[jweeks]

I downloaded the sleepyhead software and imported the data off the sd card from my machine there is a lot of info, I have no idea what im looking at I hope to get better at this.

Hi,

Welcome to the forum and to the world of CPAP.

One of my co-workers had an A-fib event in December, and a second follow-up event. He was pretty in tune with his health due to being a long time CPAP user, so he caught it right away both times. It is still pretty scary. I'm glad you made it through the ordeal. One thing that my friend commented on is that he was glad that he had an oximeter because it immediately showed the pulse rate abnormality. He further picked up a hand-held 3-lead EKG, and he is learning to read the waveforms. Learning about these tools and reading the data can be very helpful in tracking your health and getting early warnings of problems.

Yes, that is a lot of data. I really have no idea what I'm looking at, either, but that doesn't stop me from commenting about it. Can you save the reports or images, and post them here in the forum? Until then, the most valuable numbers to look at are AHI (which is ideally under 5, lower if practical) and leaks (you want them low, too).

-john-

[Dewain]

I've been on this machine since 2-9-2013 and absolutely do not like the full mask it hurts my nose it makes noise at night when it starts to leak around the seal which wakes me up, Im going to try and get in touch with the person that set me up with the machine and see about a different mask even if I have to put the strap on to help keep my mouth shut.

[LSAT]

I've been on this machine since 2-9-2013 and absolutely do not like the full mask it hurts my nose it makes noise at night when it starts to leak around the seal which wakes me up, Im going to try and get in touch with the person that set me up with the machine and see about a different mask even if I have to put the strap on to help keep my mouth shut.

Before you dump the Quattro, be sure that you are fitting it properly. Check this informative post by janknitz.
http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/taming ... e-quattro/

If you were a snorer, chances are you are a mouth breather and a full face mask may be necessary to get the proper treatment.
You could try a nasal mask with a chinstrap, but, for most people it is not effective for stopping mouth leaks.

[nanwilson]

I've been on this machine since 2-9-2013 and absolutely do not like the full mask it hurts my nose it makes noise at night when it starts to leak around the seal which wakes me up, Im going to try and get in touch with the person that set me up with the machine and see about a different mask even if I have to put the strap on to help keep my mouth shut.

Dewain, you do not have to keep your mouth shut if you are using a full face mask. That is what it is for, those of use that breathe through our mouth and nose use full face masks. Get yourself into your suppliers office and get a different mask the one you have is obviously not working for you. I have gone through several masks until I settled on the one that works the best for me. To help the nose problem you can use a tiny piece of tape or a bandaid over that spot and to help the face farts (noise) do this.........
Take an old well washed cotton t shirt, lay your mask on it and draw around it but adding about an inch all round. Now cut this pattern out and then make a hole for your mouth and nose..........voila, you have a temporary mask liner. You can go to padacheeks.com and see what Karen makes for our comfort issues. She is a member here and does marvelous stuff to help us adapt to this therapy.
Welcome and good luck
Nan

[Dewain]

Thanks for the info I might try the cloth thing tonight, my only other problem is that most nights I take the mask off and dont remember doing it sometimes I catch myself.

[Dewain]

This ought to be interesting tonight with me coming down with something, I'm going to fight it as best I can. Thats why I felt like I have been up all night

[Pugsy]

This ought to be interesting tonight with me coming down with something, I'm going to fight it as best I can. Thats why I felt like I have been up all night

Bummer. Coming down with a bug is no fun. Do the best you can under the circumstances.
Treat your symptoms like you would normally treat them and let time run its course.
I found that I actually was able to breathe a little better with the humidified air helping with the nasal congestion when I had a cold.

[Otter]

I downloaded the sleepyhead software and imported the data off the sd card from my machine there is a lot of info, I have no idea what im looking at I hope to get better at this.

Well, post some screenshots, then.

[Otter]

I've been on this machine since 2-9-2013 and absolutely do not like the full mask it hurts my nose it makes noise at night when it starts to leak around the seal which wakes me up,

A mask liner may help. Not only does it help with the seal and let your skin breathe a little, it also protects the cushion from the oils on your face. If you make the liner out of an old t-shirt, leave a little of a seam at the bottom so the liner has sides, and always keep the same side out.

Another trick is to cut a piece of moleskin for the bridge on your nose. That should reduce the wear and tear on your schnoz, and I find that it helps my QFX seal and stay put.

[Dewain]

Well I have a full blown cold but did manage to keep the mask on most of the night.here are some of the numbers from this morning.
AHI 13.69 8.95 8.67 8.67 8.67
Hours per Night 05:11 04:52 07:22 07:22 07:22
Pressure 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.00
Average Leaks 2.77 6.96 14.32 14.32 14.32
95% Leaks 9.60 30.00 43.20 43.20 43.20

[Pugsy]

Having a bad cold will so totally mess up your AHI numbers. Not reliable at all.

Though it does look like your 95% leak number (where you were at or below that number) last night was significantly improved over the other average % numbers.

You want to stay below 24 L/min..

So until your cold has run its course we really can't tell with any accuracy what happened last night other than it was an ugly night on paper and you probably felt it.
The older reports when you didn't have a cold...your leaks may or may not have been really bad and with really bad leaks we can't tell with any accuracy what happened except your leaks were bad.

It's really hard for us to offer much of an opinion when you just show the numbers like you have.
There's more to what goes on than just a number.
Your AHI is too high...that's for sure and probably we can't blame all of it on the cold symptoms but some of it is likely cold symptoms making the machine flag things it wouldn't normally flag.

Can you post an image of one of your other night's detailed reports with the graphs and stuff?
Don't know how?
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=81072&p=737779#p737779

[Dewain]

Ill try to post something tonight. Thanks