Leaks

chunkyfrog wrote:It's good to ask questions if something bothers you. The only dumb question is the one that's never asked.
My machine only reports excess leak; if I have over 24, I need to work on it.
Mostly, my leaks are way below that, so it's only a problem if it gets noisy, and wakes somebody up.
Respironics machines report total leak--I am not familiar with the numbers, good or bad.

My PR machine reports % of Large Leaks. There's no mention of total leak.

old dude wrote: My PR machine reports % of Large Leaks. There's no mention of total leak.

The machine's LCD screen reports % of time in large leak. That's all.
To get total leak in L/min numbers you need to use the software and yes, your machine does indeed report it..you just need to look t the software reports.

pikov22 wrote:Aw, pugsy! Come on! You're telling me about large leaks and I don't know how to tell a large leak from a small leak. That's all I'm saying.

How about reading the SleepyHead tutorial I spent a lot of time composing??
Then if something needs clarification ask a specific question.
viewtopic/t88983/Pugsys-PointersSleepyH ... nding.html
I am pretty sure I covered large leak in the tutorial with examples but maybe you missed it.
Sorry I am such a grump but geez....people ask the same questions over and over and over again. I am tired, hot, stressed out and not in the mood for people who won't take the time to at least try to read up on something before asking questions that have been asked thousands of times here on the forum.
There's a search function for the forum...I know it sucks but can't someone sometime at least make an effort to read.

pikov22 wrote:There is quite a bit of concern expressed here about leaks. However, if they do not translate to higher AHI/RDI numbers to to feeling worse when awake, should we be less concerned?

Just askin'.

You can have a nice low AHI which may not be accurate if the machine can't properly record events because of large leaks. It's important to look at the leak graphs on your software to see what's really happening.

I do see where pikov is going with this and it is a fair question for sure. If no tangible symptoms are evident, should a person be worried about their leaks?

Most people are not concerned with efficacy outside of perceived benefit. If they wake up feeling refreshed and no one complains about their snoring, everything must be copacetic.

Adding to what the experts have posted so far, the main concern most have with leakage is that it makes them feel like they are not resting very well. Little leaks, those between 5 and 15 liters per minute are the worst. They are hard to detect, but are enough to evacuate much needed moisture from your circuit. This results in flow limation from your upper airway reacting to the drier air. CO2 can build up, you could end up mouth breathing or just feel like your sleep was nonrestorative.

Hope that helps.

chunkyfrog wrote:It's good to ask questions if something bothers you. The only dumb question is the one that's never asked.

Thanks, Chunky. I didn't think my question was dumb.

Pugsy wrote:

pikov22 wrote:Aw, pugsy! Come on! You're telling me about large leaks and I don't know how to tell a large leak from a small leak. That's all I'm saying.

How about reading the SleepyHead tutorial I spent a lot of time composing??
Then if something needs clarification ask a specific question.
viewtopic/t88983/Pugsys-PointersSleepyH ... nding.html
I am pretty sure I covered large leak in the tutorial with examples but maybe you missed it.

Great! I wouldn't think to look for answers to the questions I raised in a tutorial about a piece of software!

Pugsy wrote:Sorry I am such a grump but geez....people ask the same questions over and over and over again. I am tired, hot, stressed out and not in the mood for people who won't take the time to at least try to read up on something before asking questions that have been asked thousands of times here on the forum. There's a search function for the forum...I know it sucks but can't someone sometime at least make an effort to read.

Apology accepted. We are having nearly Fall-like weather here in NJ. Daytime temps in the low 70s, dewpoints in the 40s and 50s!
I used the search function. "Sucks" doesn't do it justice. It's practically useless. I got 115 pages of references to "large leaks". No way was I going to wade through all of those!

I have a suggestion. PhraseExpress is a free program that you can program to insert any amount of text when you type a key word. Foe example, you could have LGELEAKS trigger the link to the tutorial above. i.e. you type LGELEAKS and PhraseExpress will replace it with "The answer can be found here: viewtopic/t88983/Pugsys-PointersSleepyH ... nding.html"

SleepWellCPAP wrote:I do see where pikov is going with this and it is a fair question for sure. If no tangible symptoms are evident, should a person be worried about their leaks?

Most people are not concerned with efficacy outside of perceived benefit. If they wake up feeling refreshed and no one complains about their snoring, everything must be copacetic.

Adding to what the experts have posted so far, the main concern most have with leakage is that it makes them feel like they are not resting very well. Little leaks, those between 5 and 15 liters per minute are the worst. They are hard to detect, but are enough to evacuate much needed moisture from your circuit. This results in flow limation from your upper airway reacting to the drier air. CO2 can build up, you could end up mouth breathing or just feel like your sleep was nonrestorative.

Hope that helps.

That explains something I've always wondered about. When Mike has a night with small but steady leaks most of night in the 10-15 lpm range but not anywhere near the 24 red line, he feels tired the next day, but if he stays nice and low below 5 lpm, even with 1 or 2 short large spikes(turning over), he feels good. I thought as long as you stay below the dreaded 24 lpm red line, small leaks shouldn't affect sleep but now I know!