Help Interpreting Sleepyhead Results

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 02, 2019 11:27 am

Well, good news & bad news ...

The "good news" is I had a good night... AHI 2.0, Leaks 6L/min with p10, usage 7.5 hrs... and most importantly, I had a good knight's sleep!

...the "bad news" is I forgot to put my SD card back in the machine!!!

You know what they say... pics or it didn't happen!

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 02, 2019 11:27 am

I guess that was bound to happen. - I'm sure that will happen again, but I definitely need to be more careful! - Btw, is their any way to capture any useful information other than what the Resmed screen shows???

Take the card out of the reader as soon as the data is imported into sleepyhead, then you'll have a reminder sitting there, to put it back in the machine.

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 03, 2019 1:34 pm

I did bump my min pressure to 14 and left max at 20; pressure lines seemed to have leveled out a bit. Should I keep it like this for a while?

That's what I'd recommend.

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 03, 2019 1:34 pm

Okay, so last night's results look pretty good to me. AHI 1.53; Large leaks 2.7%; happened after 7 a.m. - if not for that, I'd have zero!

I did bump my min pressure to 14 and left max at 20; pressure lines seemed to have leveled out a bit. Should I keep it like this for a while?

once again, m'lord, you are lookin' good, as the kids say today.

you DO know how to highlight that section on the graph which will show just the zero, right? having found that out, i use it quite often when i see a report i don't like. it "kids" me into thinking i'm doing all right!

and yeah, stay with these settings for awhile, just to let your body get used to it.

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 03, 2019 2:31 pm

! - - But just in case, how do you zero them out? - You know when the AHI says 8.x or something and you really want to feel good about your score.

Thanks for your feedback! I hope your treatment is going well too!

well, it's kinda silly, but here goes. the first is the regular screen shot. like this-
now you can plainly see i had a night of 8 hrs and 47 min which yielded an ahi of 0.91. it plainly says so. but, if i zoom in and take a chunk of that time-
i show a chunk of time of 5 hrs and 22 min where i was at 0 ahi. it shows it right at the bottom of the events flag strip.

yeah, it's silly. i wish i could've found a better example too. i know if had charts where the first 4 hours are at like 1.57 and then the rest of the night was zero.

anyway, i'm easily amused. keeps my courage up.

as to my own treatment? having a bit of a road block. am preparing a message offline and will post soon so i can elicit some comments.

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2019 11:53 am

My understanding is that for the Resmed 10 Airsense Autoset, SH only shows the "excess leakage", that is anything over and above 24 l/min; is that correct?

No what's reported is leakage, not 'excess' leakage, the Resmed machines calculate leak over and above the base vent rate, and report that. They use a lot of advanced math to calculate what the base vent rate is on the mask based on your breathing, the pauses, etc. then they report leaks above that level.

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2019 11:53 am

So, if the leak chart shows 15 l/min is that really 39 l/min? At what level would the leak be deemed to be a "large leak"? Or is it also a function of time?

No, it's really 15lpm, over whatever your mask should normally be venting at, the amount of air coming out of the vents when you've got a good seal. Over 24lpm is a large leak on a Resmed.

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2019 11:53 am

Is there any way to determine what the total leakage is using Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset; will it show anywhere if your leak rate is less than 24 l/min?

Do you want 'total leaks', that's what's reported, or are you looking for total flow through the tube? you'd have to add in your masks vent rate at whatever pressure you're at. Why do you want to know?

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2019 12:39 pm

So, based on your answer, unless I misunderstood you, the leaks showing in the "leaks rate" graph will show all leaks...if it shows less than 24 l/min, then Resmed is set-up to handle that.

24lpm or less, and the machine is happy.

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2019 12:39 pm

The 2nd reason I was curious about knowing my total leaks is to determine if my p10 is venting as it should be..whatever that rate would be...??? Thanks again palerider for all your help!

My totally unscientific method of checking the p10 venting is to wrap my hand around the hose, right below the mask itself, so I can feel the air coming out, normally, the air is cool, when I exhale, it is warm, till that exhalation is cleared, then it's cool again.

As long as it's back to cool before, or about the time I inhale again... I figure it's good.

You would need a Respironics machine if you wanted to see total leak (mask expected vent rate which varies with pressures used plus any excess leak).

If you just want to make sure the P10 vent holes are open...unhook it from the long hose...put it on....put the bottom of the short hose into the palm of your hand so that the hose is blocked.....breathe normally....take your other hand and put it up next to the vent holes...you should be just barely able to feel some air moving out of the holes.
If the holes are blocked you will get quite uncomfortable in a relatively short period of time.
I have worn the P10 for as long as 30 minutes breathing only through the vent holes when I lost power to the machine....it's a little bit of work but it can be done and it won't hurt you.

You been reading that thread about the vent holes getting blocked and people rebreathing CO2O????
Getting scared a bit????

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2019 12:50 pm

I have worn the P10 for as long as 30 minutes breathing only through the vent holes when I lost power to the machine....

If it's hooked to the machine, the hose isn't blocked, and you might be getting some oxygen through there, too.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2019 12:50 pm

You been reading that thread about the vent holes getting blocked and people rebreathing CO2O????
Getting scared a bit????

That psychiatrist has spooked a few people both here and on AB.

He should brush on his placebo effect.

Maybe he's a scarechiatrist.

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2019 5:25 pm

Btw, how do you happen to know where I've been on the forum...

Sometimes the crystal ball works pretty good....sometimes it doesn't.

I your case I just sort of put 2 and 2 together with the questions you were asking....

I can't remember the last time I cleaned my P10...and it sure isn't done very often...but I went and tested what I told you to do just to make sure it would work...and of course it did.
In all my years of using the P10 and my lazy ways of not cleaning much of anything,...I have never had the vent holes get clogged up and I have always used maximum humidity. I have no idea how or why a handful of others have had this problem pop up.

Of course now the P10 has just been officially retired....I have a new best friend in the mask department...the Bleep/DreamPort.
The P10 is now delegated to short naps or for times when I have a drippy snotty nose and the adhesive on the Bleep is likely to have a problem with copious amounts of nasal drainage.

[quote=KnightSleeper post_id=1292884 time=1551741905 user_id=90212

Btw, one more question:

Does anyone ever go from ERP of 3 to 2? Does it have any merits? I'm currently at ERP full-time of 3 and pressure of 14-20. Thanks for any ideas on this and for all your help. You guys really are great!!!
[/quote]

well, i HAD posted something, but then, apparently,i didn't hit <submit>. was too lazy to retype but believe me, i was praising hell out of you, sire.

for some strange reason, EPR and i didn't get off to a good start. it was like it worked backwards for me, making breathing MORE difficult. but i finally got used to it and having been using it at 1 for about 6 weeks. then last week, bumped it to 2. dunno if i'll make it to 3 or not.

i have NO idea what it would be to reduce it.

now, where's that damned submit button....

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2019 5:25 pm

And Palerider is like the North Star... always present (with help & good information!)

You're gonna make enemies on the forum with talk like that (though, in my opinion, having those people as enemies means you're doing something right!

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2019 5:25 pm

Btw, one more question:

Does anyone ever go from ERP of 3 to 2? Does it have any merits? I'm currently at ERP full-time of 3 and pressure of 14-20. Thanks for any ideas on this and for all your help. You guys really are great!!!

Well, I went to EPR 6, (or, well, the bilevel equiv of it, PS).

If you wonder, try it... see how it feels to *you*. for the most part, "EPR" (which is a limited bilevel function) is mainly for comfort, giving you a little easier exhale.

zonker wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2019 6:02 pm

now, where's that damned submit button....

*points* right there, under the typing window ....

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2019 10:26 pm

palerider wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2019 7:58 pm

KnightSleeper wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2019 5:25 pm

Btw, one more question:

Does anyone ever go from ERP of 3 to 2? Does it have any merits? I'm currently at ERP full-time of 3 and pressure of 14-20. Thanks for any ideas on this and for all your help. You guys really are great!!!

Well, I went to EPR 6, (or, well, the bilevel equiv of it, PS).

If you wonder, try it... see how it feels to *you*. for the most part, "EPR" (which is a limited bilevel function) is mainly for comfort, giving you a little easier exhale.

Thanks palerider! - I may try doing EPR on "Ramp Only tonight"; btw, I turned Ramp off about a week ago or so, but I'll turn-on a timed-ramp tonight... I'm just hoping to get better results. I'll let you know how things go! Thanks again for your help!

One thing to keep in mind about EPR, it's a Pressure *DROP* from your 'set pressure'... so if you've got a pressure of 14, and EPR 3, that means your effective pressure is 11. whereas with a bilevel, like mine, it doesn't have EPR, it has PS, which is pretty much the exact opposite of EPR, in that it's a pressure *increase* over your set base pressure... it's a different way of saying, and setting, the same thing, a pressure difference between inhale and exhale.

So, in bilevel terms, you'd be at a pressure of 14/11, whereas I'm at 18/12.

So, since EPR is a pressure drop from your set pressure, you're going to go from starting at 11 exhale 14 inhale to just 14... and that higher pressure will help keep your airway open more.