nocturia not getting better

christinepi wrote:
1. How can I find out what my software is?

2. I have read the clinical manual back and forth several times, and I still don't know how to find the info I need... Like "data capable" and percentile leak rates and all that. If I knew my software, would that give me (and the forum) more info? Maybe a no brainer thing to do would be my DME technician...

Rescan is the software that allows you to read the data that is stored on your S9 and the data card that comes with it. If you go to this post, and you can download it for free, by clicking where it says "Download Resmed Rescan 3.12:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=58065&p=546472#p546472

Data capable means your cpap stores and gives you information about your therapy, eg. AHI, leaks, etc. Your S9 AutoSet is data capable. Go to the the CPAP Wicki (yellow light bulb) at the top of page, and then click on CPAP Definitions on the left hand side of the page.

You can also read about how to interpret your data by searching posts by robysue, such as these very good ones:

viewtopic/t58580/First-night-report.html

viewtopic/t58580/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=51 ... 60#p551260

I agree, you have to get actively involved in your therapy. If you are one of the lucky ones, you have medical professionals who are helping you, but sadly many of us don't, and have found our own way, by reading and studying.

I hate to generalize, since people have such varied experiences with CPAP, but my impression is that if nocturia is caused by OSA, and therapy is effective with good AHI, then the improvement should be almost immediate. It was for me, and I have seen similar comments from many others. This is in contrast with other symptoms that resolve more slowly. There is a logical reason that this is so. Nocturia can be caused by dips in oxygen saturation that occur during an incident of apnea. With the pause in breathing, blood oxygen drops, starting a chain of events that culminates in a full bladder. The small arteries that send blood to the various parts of the lung constrict in order to force blood into all areas of the lungs for greater oxygenation. This constriction creates an elevation in blood pressure on the right side of the heart. Blood returning to the heart from the rest of the body encounters resistance to flow, stimulating stretch receptors in the right atrium. These cause the release of a diuretic hormone signaling the kidneys to produce urine. (See the article Slartybartfast cited above.) The apparent purpose is to dump fluid in order to reduce congestion in the cardiovascular system. Because it is a short-term consequence of reductions in oxygen saturation, preventing apnea stops this kind of nocturia right away.

If I were getting generally good results from CPAP but continued to get up several times a night to pee, I would suspect a cause other than sleep apnea rather than hoping for gradual improvement over the course of weeks or months. This would especially be the case if I felt urgency without actually producing a high volume of urine each trip to the bathroom.