APAP Data Help Needed....Pressure Questions

Please forgive the sloppy way I have transcribed these numbers. It has taken me an hour and I cannot make it look better.

My prescription is 9cm. I ran my Remstar Auto in APAP for the first time last night and here are the numbers generated. I had it set for 6cm to 11cm. I would like some input on these numbers. If these numbers were your numbers, what adjustments would you make?:



Pressure-----------------------6---------7---------8-------9------10------11

Minutes
at Pressure-------------------131.5----78.0------88.5----53.5---2.0-----65

% 0f Night---------------------28.3----16.8------19.1-----11.5---9.0----14.0

Flow
Limitation----------------------05.0----0.0--------1.4-------0.0---1.4----0.0

Snore---------------------------10.5----7.7-------13.6-----29.2---7.1----6.5

Non-
Responsive
Apnea/
Hypopnea-----------------------0.0-----0.0---------0.0-----0.0-----0.0----0.0

Obstructive
Apnea----------------------------1.4-----2.3--------2.0------1.1-----0.0----0.0

Hypopnea------------------------3.2-----7.7--------2.0------1.1-----4.3----0.9

AHI-------------------------------4.6----10.0--------4.1------2.2-----4.3----0.9


11cm was my 90% pressure.

The numbers that I look at are on page 4 of the encore software. Under indices, the Ahi is usually the number that is usually looked at for results. If its under 5 or so your good. Also on the page you will see the graph for pressure. How high does it go and for how long? And also your leakage. If its around 25 or so , its good.

I've only had my software for 10 days and I'm definitely no expert. Your Numbers look great to me. I wouldn't change anything just yet. One day is not enough data. If you make changes now, you'll just be chasing your tail.

My Numbers are different every night. My prescribed pressure is 7-14. Some nights I don't go over 11. Other nights I'm maxed out at 14 for half the night. My AHI is 9.5 so far. I think I would need at least a month of data to decide on any changes. I was on straight CPAP pressure of 14 and was having a terrible time with mask leaks and exhaling against the pressure. Convinced the Doc to try APAP and he agreed. I'm doing much better with the APAP, BUT, I'm worried that I may have to increase my max pressure to get my AHI down

Anyway, I think you should leave things as they are until you have more data.

Anonymous wrote: My Numbers are different every night. My prescribed pressure is 7-14. Some nights I don't go over 11. Other nights I'm maxed out at 14 for half the night.

It's interesting to see others have varying pressures. My Encore software is still intransit, but I have noticed the pressure at times when I wake up. I'm prescribed 10, and 9 to 10 is what i normally read on the machine. But I have noticed the random 14, and last night I woke with it on 18.

It would be interesting to know what is causing the changes in our airways to cause the pressure requirement to change so much.

.

I personally think there is a whole host of things that cause swings in pressures. Meds, alcohol, being overtired, stress, sleep position, flu, etc. I have given up thinking I'm gonna have a good AHi every nite. I'm just trying to find right pressure range and be thankful I feel so much more rested during the day. It took me a long time to get past the feeling of waking up in the middle of nite and wanting to rip the mask off. Now it feels much more natural to have on. So hang in there.

Newsgrouper:
I totally agree that you shouldn't make 'tweaking' decisions based on one night's data (can you say "overnight sleep study"??? )

I have tracked my data daily since getting my auto in March. Most pressure adjustments were based on a least a week's worth of data--except one try at lowering my base pressure.

I switched from CPAP at 12.6 to APAP 10-16; within a few days, I knew I needed to bump up both pressures, as my AHI was near 10. Then tried 12-20 for a while, but had more apneas when pressure went above 18--not to mention mask leakage! Gradually brought up my base pressure to a level high enough to reduce most apneas and decreased the upper pressure to 18. I've been at 14-18 for about a month now.

One of the things I have done is to chart my events (flow limits, snores, hypopneas and obstructs) at each pressure level. I'm not sure, but I think Derek's program will do this. (I do mine manually--pulling the data out of the Encore database, and plugging it into a spreadsheet. If you can't access the raw data in the Encore database, you could take it from your daily detailed event reports.) This graph of events vs pressure is what showed me where my pressures need to be.

Let us know how you're doing!

Grant (who'd DIE for an 11cm 90% pressure--or is it, would die AT an 11cm 90% pressure??!!??... )