i need some immediate help please just some guidance

I just checked my machine and the options for units of measurement are hPa or cm. Can you check your machine using the clinician's menu and check what unit of measure is being used by your machine? I am in the US and we use cm., but you may be elsewhere and a setting of 16 that I use may not be the same 16 you use, if the units of measurement are different.

sammy1954 wrote:Thanks Julie

okay so stay at continuous try 10 cm and dump the ramp I can do that ....but I DO NOT HAVE A SLEEP DR anymore and its a wait of 3 yrs so I am on my own I think I can dump the ramp try 10 but i don't think that will handle the apneas do you ?


whats wrong with auto?
is it not a good idea?

It can be problematic for some people.
And, if you're not downloading your data into some software to see what's happening, you're "flying blind".


Den

.

sammy1954 wrote:sorry those card readers are not available where i live.going to have to wing it

sd card readers are available anywhere on planet earth with a wee bit of effort.

you say you're on 'earth'. so you should be able to find one, try aliexpress, they ship most everywhere on that 'earth' place, and they're cheap.

sammy1954 wrote: here it is ...weigh 300lbs,,,,belly fat most ,,,,wake up hyperventilating every day
yes weight loss would help ,but i can't lose it overnight.

I know that this isn't what you were asking but I always try to help people with anything I can. Please look into the ketogenic way of eating. It may seem crazy but it is amazing.

I hope you find all the information and help you need!

sammy1954 wrote: when i did have the 5 hr study i stopped breathing 24 times in an hour so i had 24 apneas in one hr ,i doubt the machine on auto can handle that .but gotta try like i said.
ty

Many of us with severe obstructive apnea have higher apnea numbers than 24. I think mine was 49. With treatment with the A10, Autoset range of 10-20, my AHI (apnea events) is now between 1 and 2 per hour.

Are your apneas considered obstructive or central apneas? Treatment is different if you have mostly central apneas.

MarylandCPAPer wrote:I just checked my machine and the options for units of measurement are hPa or cm. Can you check your machine using the clinician's menu and check what unit of measure is being used by your machine? I am in the US and we use cm., but you may be elsewhere and a setting of 16 that I use may not be the same 16 you use, if the units of measurement are different.

http://www.conversion-website.com/press ... water.html

16cmh2o, 15.69064 hPa.

palerider wrote:

MarylandCPAPer wrote:I just checked my machine and the options for units of measurement are hPa or cm. Can you check your machine using the clinician's menu and check what unit of measure is being used by your machine? I am in the US and we use cm., but you may be elsewhere and a setting of 16 that I use may not be the same 16 you use, if the units of measurement are different.

http://www.conversion-website.com/press ... water.html

16cmh2o, 15.69064 hPa.

Ok, so we are basically talking about the same amount of pressure, but in no case are you getting POUNDS of pressure. So, no need to check the machine for the units of measure being used if the numbers are that close.

In the absence of software availability right now....there is data available on the machine's LCD screen.
Not as comprehensive as the software reports but it will at least get someone pointed in the right direction.

Explained in the Provider manual that was linked to in one of the above responses.
For the AirSense machine....Essentials Plus will make the data available on the machine's LCD screen.

I have no idea if they are central or the other ? how would i know ? dr didn't say .

anyway going to take your advice google ketogenic eating.as well
it is the same here as anywhere for pressure wilder the card reader go from there.

ty all very kind of you

sammy1954 wrote: atleast i will get 20 pounds of pressure during an apnea or whatever i need ....i hope 6 is high enough for the low pressure I have googled what i can and found very little ,I am most pissed about losing the teeth ,dry mouth at 16 pounds is reasonable and my mask fit ? wellI am dealing with that ,I have new masks and spent a lot of money and darn but i would buy a bipap if i thought it would help.
ok Im going to to try 5 min ramp -6 for low and 20 for high ,also when i did have the 5 hr study i stopped breathing 24 times in an hour so i had 24 apneas in one hr ,i doubt the machine on auto can handle that .but gotta try like i said.
ty

Is the pressure setting a constant 16 or is your machine set to a pressure range (i.e. minimum and maximum pressure settings are diferent). It sounds like you are on a ramp that starts at 4 and a constant pressure of 16. If that is the case, then you are not going to get above 16 when you have an apnea. For that to happen, you would need to have a range of pressures set that allows you to go higher than 16 if you need it.

It sounds like you tolerate 16 cm. just fine, although that would be a very high pressure to start with for most of us. If that is the case, and you think 16 is not high enough, you could set the machine to a range of something like I have, which is 10-20 with no ramp. Others here may advise differently and we are all making guesses based on absolutely no data until you are able to install Rescan or Sleepyhead software and get an SD card reader, which I believe plugs into a USB port. I don't know for sure. I have a Windows computer with a built in SD card slot, so don't use a separate SD card reader. In any case, SD card readers are readily available for a minimal cost most places on earth, the Sleepyhead and Rescan software are easily downloaded onto your computer, and the SD card would be put in the card reader so that you could access the data on your machine. When you get the card reader, ALWAYS remember to lock the SD card before putting it into the card reader so you don't lose the data on the SD card.

I'm trying that ,at 16 i have severe sleep apnea thats for sure .so I tolerated it and now will try the auto no ramp will wait for the reader ,,,see what happens I live in whithorse northern canada.

Sammy - either I wasn't clear or there was a misunderstanding - I didn't mean you should stay at 10 in Cpap mode, but go into Apap mode on the machine and use 10 as the low setting and leave the higher one 'open' (it will go to 20 if necessary), then see how often your machine goes to high pressures and what they'd be.

On the A10 machine, there must be a maximum pressure setting, so that would be 20, the highest the A10 would go. "OPEN" is not an option on an A10 machine.

Sammy, in case you don't know it, the A10 Autoset machine you have is considered the newest and one of the top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art Autoset CPAP machines. If your condition was "simply" severe obstructive sleep apnea of 25 AHI, you have one of the best machines on earth available to treat it. The A10 machine has lots of options and settings that can help both with comfort and with treatment.

In your initial post, you listed health problems other than sleep apnea. The A10 machine may not help with all of them. The other conditions may not require a sleep specialist. Perhaps a general practitioner doctor or a specialist such as a pulmonologist may be able to help with them. I hope you are able to see a physician sooner than 3 years if your other conditions are complicating the success of your treatment for sleep apnea.

Let us know how you feel after you've used the revised settings. We are concerned about you and want to help you.

My humble advice would be to get copies of your sleep study and your prescription. They are your medical records and you are entitled to them. Then you will know exactly why the doctor prescribed and the sleep study will tell you why.

For most of us with severe apnea, we end up with the lower pressure set at what the doctor prescribed based on the sleep study results and the upper limit left at 20. In my case, that means my machine is set to automode 13-20.

Now there can be other issues and complications requiring changes but the above is a good place to start and is the way most doctors would do it if there are not any complicating factors.

You are lucky that you have a good data capable machine. Getting an sdcard reader is really not hard from anywhere in the world - places like amazon and aliexpress.com will ship them anywhere for cheap.

We realize that it can be overwhelming when you are exhausted all the time and not getting good sleep. Take it slowly, one step at a time and you can get through this.

yaconsult wrote:
For most of us with severe apnea, we end up with the lower pressure set at what the doctor prescribed based on the sleep study results and the upper limit left at 20. In my case, that means my machine is set to automode 13-20.

I don't know about anyone else, but that is not how my doctor changed my prescription from a constant pressure to an APAP range. The constant pressure prescribed for me was 13 and I couldn't tolerate 13 at all. When I asked about an APAP range, the dr. changed it to 9-15, then subsequently to 10 to 20,based on sleep study and SD card data.