Yet another newbie here.

First of all, I am very grateful for all the advice I have been reading both here and cpap.com.

Without finding these sites I am sure I would not be nearly as informed as I am now.

My sleep study was nearly 2 weeks ago, and I should be going to the DME to pick up my machine and get fitted for a mask any day now.

The study was awful though. They game me Ambien <sp?> to take before going to bed, and even though I had used it once before I had a bad reaction to it. I sweat the entire night, so badly that the tech had to come in twice and blow dry my hair to keep the leads on! On top of that I am a diabetic and forgot to bring my testing supplies, when I got home the next morning my glucose readings were over 400!

Because of all of this I have some concerns that the pressure they have me set at may not be correct. I woke up with a blood shot right eye with some pretty bad pain that I initially thought was from the mask, however my vision was also very poor in that eye for the better part of the day.

Now for the good news:

Thanks to this site, I knew to insist that they not give me a base model machine and from what they tell me I will getting the RemStar M series PRO, with a humidifier. (Once that is confirmed I will be ordering the software and card reader) It may not be APAP, but at least from what I can tell it's a good machine.

Although I haven't gotten a copy of the sleep study or the actual prescription yet (Still working on getting those) I did find out that they have me set for a pressure of 16. (This seems high compared to some of the pressures I have seen listed in other's posts, but I guess everyone is going to be different)

My RDI was 118 before CPAP and only 3.8 with. Is this number as useful as the AHI? I understand that an RDI of 118 is considered severe, but since it takes into account things like snoring that wakes you up, I would think the AHI is a better number to actually go by.

Hi! I'm a very "newbie," too. You are right -- this forum is so helpful and I like the fact that people give one the scoop on things but are upbeat and not negative. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed but know that will pass in time. How about you?

I see my tech for my equipment tomorrow and am trying to gather info before I go into my appointment. This site has helped me greatly.

Best wishes as you travel this new path and keep posting!

Cathy

A pressure of 16cm is high, but can be tolerated. I would see if your doctor would support an auto with cflex or bipap auto with biflex so your pressure can be adjusted automatically based on the type of night you are having. Your other medical conditions can have an impact on you OSA and that's why you need a machine that will adapt to you daily medical situation. A bipap auto can help by giving you a lower exhale pressure from the inhale pressure and this for many folks makes therapy more comfortable.

For you titration pressure of 16cm, if you were for example to set up for a bipap, I would recommend a pressure settings of:
min epap of 14cm and max ipap of 18cm
biflex of 3 and a ramp of 12cm for 30 minutes.
Other folks may have other opinions and they are just as good as mine. The most important thing is to get an auto so you can find you best therapy pressure. I know for sure that no matter where you start you will make some adjustments based on the details you get from the smart card.

Good Luck!!