Help Please

My insurance will not cover a sleep study or cpap machine so after many years of sleep apnea, I finally bought a 420e. I also bought the software for it. I have done all the settings on my own. I have been using it for about 3 weeks and feel much better. I have a few questions. I am having 2 to 3 cardiac oscillations a night and still snoring quite a bit. Is this normal? Do I need to change my settings?

They are now set at:
min. pressure:4,
starting pressure:6,
max. pressure:20.

Eleena wrote:I have a few questions. I am having 2 to 3 cardiac oscillations a night and still snoring quite a bit. Is this normal? Do I need to change my settings?

They are now set at:
min. pressure:4,
starting pressure:6,
max. pressure:20.

The range seems a bit wide to me. From your software can you tell what your average pressure is?

My average pressure is 5.8. Thanks for your help.

Don't worry about that small number of apneas with cardiac oscillations - they can happen when you're falling asleep or turning over - you can disregard them. That is quite normal. Not so the snoring - which seems to indicate that for some of the time the pressure is too low.

In the synthesis screen, right side, you have a histogram showing you the precentage of time you spend at each pressure. You can also get that data into a text file if you click on the gray button with a right pointing arrow at the bottom right corner. At what pressure do you spend most of your time?

What is the 90% pressure recommended by the machine? (That is the presure at - or below - which you spend 90% of your time). If you bring the minumum pressure, and the bottom of your range closer to the 90% pressure, you may find yourslelf snoring less. The aim of cpap therapy is usually to diminish all events, including snoring.

By the way - if you decide to raise the bottom pressure, your average pressure will change - for purely mathematical reasons. Averages are always very sensitve to the ends of the range - which is why they're not too informative when you look at cpap therapy data.
O.

Eleena wrote:My average pressure is 5.8. Thanks for your help.

Personally I'd try setting my minimum pressure to 6

A minimum pressure to me is any pressure that makes breathing feel normal. You don't want to have to suck on the mask to get enough air. I find for me that is 8cm. Then I set my pressure for my titrated 9.6 or 10cm. If on the APAP I find that 9cm to 12 works very well You don't say which mask you are using, but I have found that also plays an important part in the min. pressure that is comfortable. Happy breathing to you always. jim

[quote="jimbassett"]A minimum pressure to me is any pressure that makes breathing feel normal. You don't want to have to suck on the mask to get enough air. I find for me that is 8cm. Then I set my pressure for my titrated 9.6 or 10cm. If on the APAP I find that 9cm to 12 works very well You don't say which mask you are using, but I have found that also plays an important part in the min. pressure that is comfortable. Happy breathing to you always. jim