Newbie with specific questions...

Hi, everyone. I started treatment a couple of weeks ago. I have a DreamStation BiPAP with heated tube and humidifier. I am using a DreamWear full face mask that fits well with no leaks. I am able to wear it all night long with no problems. Doctor's prescription called for BiPAP pressures of 20/15 psi. Machine reads 15 when I turn it on. Pressure is very high at first, drops back when it senses my exhalations, but sometimes seems very low if I wake up at some point during the night. I have no mask leaks.

Important factor: I have severe trouble falling asleep. I'm not worrying about anything or running things through my head. I am tired and sleepy but just don't drop off to sleep. For the past couple of weeks, I have been prescribed 30 mg of Temazapam after trying 7.5 and 15 mg. This dosage of 30 mg is a lot, and when I go out, I and down for the full count. I think the drug is significantly repressing my respiratory activity. I am waiting to hear back from my sleep doc and nurse practitioner about this as I write.

Here are some numbers from last night via Dreammapper: 10 hrs duration, 15 clear airway apneas, 185 obstructive apneas, 69 hypopneas, 26.9 AHI.

Those are bad numbers. Do they indicate that the BiPAP machine was unable to overcome the apneas at the set pressure? Does it mean that the machine encountered these apneas and handled them for me? Bottom line: Is the machine functioning to help me at its current settings?

Get available software and use it and see exactly what is happening and when it is happening.

See the sticky at the top of the Announcements section. It it you will find information about where to get the software and how to use it.

Welcome to the forum.

And yes...that many obstructive apneas points to a need for a pressure adjustment. If you have the BiPap...you have some room that is not being used. What you see being reported is the number of events the machine could NOT prevent...we have zero way to know how many it prevented.

Thanks so much for your input, Pugsy. I suspected that the machine was not compensating but could not get answers. Looking into the software you recommended now.