need help.

Having high AHI still.. went to E.N.T. he didn't seem to know very much, so I feel on my own. This forum Pugsy in particular, has really been more knowledgeable than my doc, thanks Pugsy. I put my SD card into my computer and the Sleepyhead software did it's thing. I just had a hard time copying the data to a file that I can use to display on this forum. So I will do my best. This is just for last night. I can't seem to copy and paste the chart that covers the last 8 days, nor can I save it correctly to my picture files... sigh...

System One 550P
RemStar Auto with A-Flex
Date Sleep Wake Hours
10/27/2011 22:41 06:26 07:45:26
AHI 18.31
Hypopnea 2.96
Obstructive 13.92
Clear Airway 1.42
RERA 2.84
FlowLimit 0.00
Vsnore 0.00
PB/CSR 0.00%
Min Avg 90% Max
Pressure 4.00 9.74 10.00 10.00
Leaks 21.00 32.94 34.00 65.00
Snore 0.00 1.17 4.00 17.00
SessionID Date Start End
00000025 10/27/2011 22:41 06:26
Reporting from Wed Oct 19 2011 to Thu Oct 27 2011
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you click on the chart it will take you to photobucket and you can enlarge it so to see it better.

Now I am off to adjust my settings on the cpap machine. Doc said to go two degrees higher and see if that is better or two degrees lower.. I asked him about putting it on auto from say 8 which is two degrees lower than my 10 and max it at 12 and he said he knows nothing about auto machine.. I was so surprised. So on my own, if it wasn't for you people I would really be in trouble.

Your minimum pressure is too low. You are spending all your time at 10.

I think your idea of 8 min and 12 max is a good idea. 7 min might be enough but I have my doubts.
Maybe even 8 min and 14 max...see how high it wants to go. It won't go where it doesn't think it needs to go and your leak isn't showing enough to falsely drive the maximum.

I was thinking that too.. I just changed it and going to go back and put max at 14.. thanks Pugsy you are THE BEST!

cindjo717 wrote: Doc said to go two degrees higher and see if that is better or two degrees lower.. I asked him about putting it on auto from say 8 which is two degrees lower than my 10 and max it at 12 and he said he knows nothing about auto machine..

And he is probably making 6 figures.....Gotta love it.

In all fairness he is an E.N.T. He knows much about sinus, throats and ears, but they all have their specialties now. I bet I need a sleep doctor, is there such a thing? This doctor said," my Mom has a c-pap, years ago they were huge boxes, now her's is the size of a shoebox." He said, he could not give me an answer when I asked if putting it on auto would be better than straight cpap of 10, which is what I had. He had no idea about auto and told me to call the DME.. Who needs the DME when I have you guys!!! Thank the Lord I found this place!

cindjo717 wrote:In all fairness he is an E.N.T. He knows much about sinus, throats and ears, but they all have their specialties now. I bet I need a sleep doctor, is there such a thing? This doctor said," my Mom has a c-pap, years ago they were huge boxes, now her's is the size of a shoebox." He said, he could not give me an answer when I asked if putting it on auto would be better than straight cpap of 10, which is what I had. He had no idea about auto and told me to call the DME.. Who needs the DME when I have you guys!!! Thank the Lord I found this place!

My sleep study was done by a pulmonologist who is board certified with specialty in sleep medicine. Look for someone with those credentials. What part of the country do you live in?

Oh now that sounds more like what I need. I live in Upstate N.Y. Pawling area.

I did a quick search for sleep medical docs in the Pawling area and got only one: http://www.healthgrades.com/physician/d ... aziz-x5mvf He is a pulmonary doc with a sleep medicine specialty. That is what my doc is, here in FL, too. Ask around and see if anyone knows this doctor. If you have any friends that are nurses, doctors, or work in the local hospital, ask them what his reputation is. That site seems to give him very good ratings, but it is hard to know who did those.... might be his office staff and family, for all you know.

At this point unless something odd comes up or you develop some problems, there is no real urgent need for a sleep doctor. For plain jane run of the mill OSA without complications..there really isn't a whole lot that you can't manage yourself. Unless you would just feel better having a sleep specialist doctor, which is as good of a reason as any.

To be honest I want to try and manage it myself. BUT if my API still reads the same then I think I will have to go the extra mile. I really hope that it doesn't come to that. Thanks for the link! I think that doc is very closeby!

Pugsy wrote:At this point unless something odd comes up or you develop some problems, there is no real urgent need for a sleep doctor. For plain jane run of the mill OSA without complications..there really isn't a whole lot that you can't manage yourself. Unless you would just feel better having a sleep specialist doctor, which is as good of a reason as any.

Exactly. Perfectly said, Pugsy.

And your advice to raise the minimum pressure is right too, imho.

Welcome to the forum, cindjo.