Very unhappy morning

How do I get my AHI and max pressure? I left a message with dme. I can't believe how many questions I answered on the app. It seems to be stuck in my equipment, mask setup.
Why is the data top secret even from me?

My nose is running profusely and I'm coughing. I woke up at 430 with dry mouth thinking I ran out of water. The machine had used almost no water at all.

I had a hard time. When I put the mask on I had to breath very fast for 20 minutes to get enough air, my heart was palpitating. It was not conducive to dropping off to sleep. I turned it all off and read for a while. I went thru all that again, after 20 min. things were smooth and I slept til 430.

Except for the above symptoms I feel more awake than usual and think the machine is ok. Hoping other doctor will get something with a sensible humidifier, starting pressure. Even used machine if fine.

I don't think it's top secret from you as much as it's just not (yet) clear and possibly needs to be explained (again?) for you to get what's what - I find that being anxious about not understanding it all makes it harder to 'get' and possibly having someone knowledgable about it all to go over it with you could help... sorry I'm not that person, but maybe others might show up (ahem).

nawchem wrote: ↑

Fri May 24, 2024 9:38 am

Why is the data top secret even from me?

The settings and reports are easy to access - https://www.google.com/search?q=change+ ... e&ie=UTF-8

Google resmed elite clinical guide, and you'll get a link to a pdf that has lots of good information. Follow the directions for entering the clinical menu (pp. 15-16), and change your Patient View from simple to advanced. Then you'll be able to see more information on your screen each morning. While you're in the clinical menu, you will also be able to see all your settings.

If you have a laptop or desktop computer, you can use the Oscar software to get a lot more information about what's going on. Do you have an SD card in your machine? If not, get one that is 32 GB or less and download the Oscar software (see below). You may also need to get a cheap SD card reader to plug into your computer.

A different way to see more information is to use Sleep HQ. If you google it, you'll see that you can create a free account.

Thank you all so much.

I'm confused because the product is described as a fixed pressure machine. However, my pressure range is 5-15 in autoset. So the description is off? Or I have the wrong product book?

The clinic already made some changes! Humidity is 4 and EPR is 2.

So to work around the low pressure can I leave the machine turned on for 20 min before I use it? When I use the bathroom should I leave it turned on to keep the pressure higher?

No don’t leave it turned on without you present.

Now that you mention it, if you have a range, you don't have an Elite. Look at the front of the machine to see what it says there.

Lots of people feel they don't get enough air with a pressure of 5. I'd recommend a pressure of 7; I think that will be a lot more comfortable for you. You can change your minimum yourself if you like. Just go into the clinical menu, change the minimum to 7, and push to lock that in. (Again, the manual tells you all about this.)

Check to see if there's a "ramp" set on your machine. The idea of a ramp is that it starts at a very low pressure while you're still awake because some people don't like the higher pressures when they are awake to notice them. Then the pressure gradually rises either to your set minimum or to the needed pressure on an Autoset in about 30 minutes to give you time to fall asleep where you won't notice the higher pressures.

But in reality, a ramp usually starts at 4 cm/H2O and most of us feel like we are suffocating at that low of a setting (we aren't!). So in addition to following Ms. Ermerita's recommendation to raise your minimum pressure to 7, make sure the ramp setting is OFF.

The reason you are experiencing such a dry mouth is that air is escaping through your mouth. There are a few reasons you are breathing through your mouth. The most likely one for now is "air hunger" because the pressure is low, so getting that minimal pressure up a bit might help. And it sounds like your nasal passages are being irritated, a stuffy nose also makes you breathe through your mouth. This can happen for two reasons: 1) too little humidity or 2) too much humidity. It can be hard to find the "sweet spot".

A few things to try for your nose. Get some saline spray and give your nose a good spray and blow to make sure your nasal passages are clear before bed. Try to get some idea if you feel you're getting too much or too little humidty. You can change the humidity settings by ONE notch either up or down and see if it's better or worse. Don't change the settings more than one notch each time--although clearly if it's worse you can go the opposite direction by one and see if it helps.

Try not to make too many changes at once, as it makes it hard to evaluate what's helping and what's not.

The good news is that it sounds like you ARE sleeping. Now you just have to keep tweaking the settings for comfort, bit by bit, until you hit on the right combination. And you are having far less difficulties than many newbies, so pat yourself on the back for doing a good job in spite of the irritations.

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Fri May 24, 2024 12:58 pm

Look at the front of the machine to see what it says there.

From the photos on cpap.com, it looks like ResMed is no longer putting the model name on the front of the 11 models. It seems the only 11 model that is available is the 11 AutoSet. Maybe they got smart and quit producing the inferior models.

nawchem wrote: ↑

Fri May 24, 2024 12:22 pm

However, my pressure range is 5-15 in autoset. So the description is off? Or I have the wrong product book?

The clinic already made some changes! Humidity is 4 and EPR is 2.

With EPR of 2 and min of 5, you are only getting 4 cm on exhale. Too low for most people! I second Emerita's recommendation to turn the minimum to 7. You can leave the EPR at 2. These settings may need to be adjusted upward once we see some charts.

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Fri May 24, 2024 2:08 pm

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Fri May 24, 2024 12:58 pm

Look at the front of the machine to see what it says there.

From the photos on cpap.com, it looks like ResMed is no longer putting the model name on the front of the 11 models. It seems the only 11 model that is available is the 11 AutoSet. Maybe they got smart and quit producing the inferior models.

nawchem wrote: ↑

Fri May 24, 2024 12:22 pm

However, my pressure range is 5-15 in autoset. So the description is off? Or I have the wrong product book?

The clinic already made some changes! Humidity is 4 and EPR is 2.

With EPR of 2 and min of 5, you are only getting 4 cm on exhale. Too low for most people! I second Emerita's recommendation to turn the minimum to 7. You can leave the EPR at 2. These settings may need to be adjusted upward once we see some charts.

Resumed says there’s an 11 Autoset, CPAP, and Elite. But I wish they’d continue putting the names on the front!

nawchem wrote: ↑

Fri May 24, 2024 9:38 am

When I put the mask on I had to breath very fast for 20 minutes to get enough air, my heart was palpitating.

This is Not How CPAP Works. The harder and faster you breathe the less oxygen and more CO2 you breathe. Either breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth (for nasal/pillows masks) until you've calmed down or wait until you've caught your breath before putting on the mask (for full-face).

The system is only designed to exchange oxygen and CO2 at a slow rate. The faster and harder you breathe the less oxygen you get.

nawchem wrote: ↑

Fri May 24, 2024 9:38 am

I had a hard time. When I put the mask on I had to breath very fast for 20 minutes to get enough air, my heart was palpitating. It was not conducive to dropping off to sleep. I turned it all off and read for a while. I went thru all that again, after 20 min. things were smooth and I slept til 430.

Report this to the doctor who prescribed the machine. The DME is not supposed to change the pressure settings without the doctor's approval. And as others have said, chances are that you are just not comfortable at 5cm of pressure and would feel better and breath more normally if your starting pressure were a bit higher.

Or, if you want to change the pressure yourself, you can learn how to do that. But you may wind up being fussed at by the DME and/or the doctor when they look at your data at the time they are filing required paperwork for your insurance company to pay for the machine.

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Fri May 24, 2024 10:55 am

nawchem wrote: ↑

Fri May 24, 2024 9:38 am

Why is the data top secret even from me?

The settings and reports are easy to access - https://www.google.com/search?q=change+ ... e&ie=UTF-8

Before the 2nd night the lab called and changed some of my setting. Humidifier set to 4 and and EPR to 2. They said they would get the lab to change my min pressure to 8. It was nearly 5pm and it never got changed. I got into the clinical data but everything was locked up.

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Fri May 24, 2024 11:05 am

Google resmed elite clinical guide, and you'll get a link to a pdf that has lots of good information. Follow the directions for entering the clinical menu (pp. 15-16), and change your Patient View from simple to advanced. Then you'll be able to see more information on your screen each morning. While you're in the clinical menu, you will also be able to see all your settings.

If you have a laptop or desktop computer, you can use the Oscar software to get a lot more information about what's going on. Do you have an SD card in your machine? If not, get one that is 32 GB or less and download the Oscar software (see below). You may also need to get a cheap SD card reader to plug into your computer.

A different way to see more information is to use Sleep HQ. If you google it, you'll see that you can create a free account.

Thank you for this! Somewhere in the machine was a place that said I could download data, they sent it to my email but I didn't know how to open it. I will try to get SleepyHead. The laptop I am using deletes nearly everything when I close it to prevent hacking.

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Fri May 24, 2024 12:58 pm

Now that you mention it, if you have a range, you don't have an Elite. Look at the front of the machine to see what it says there.

Lots of people feel they don't get enough air with a pressure of 5. I'd recommend a pressure of 7; I think that will be a lot more comfortable for you. You can change your minimum yourself if you like. Just go into the clinical menu, change the minimum to 7, and push to lock that in. (Again, the manual tells you all about this.)

The lab said they would make my min pressure 8 (haven't changed it yet), but that means they have to lower the max. They aren't making much sense to me.

The whole top of the machine is covered with the DME sticker. I plan to visit the lab on Tuesday and ask what model I have.