First Night!

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Wed Jan 05, 2022 3:29 pm

Yes, I am aware of the pressure number issues as reported by the machine. Resmed seems determined to give me as little information as possible - even though I have access to the 'secret' clinical menu. So yes, you are right: I am reading off the machine and it just says "Pressure 11.2." I searched for the P95 and 'average' (mean? median? mode?) values, but they are not provided.

My appointment with the sleep tech is on 1/20. Two weeks seems a long time away, given that I am already using my CPAP all through the night every night and making changes to the settings (with your help). Am tempted to bump the appointment up so I can access the figures I need to make more adjustments. Of course, I could also download OSCAR; I've been putting that off in the interest of getting up and running, sleeping through the night with the machine, getting the mask issue settled, etc., but I think now is the time for OSCAR.

I did change the start pressure to 7 and the auto-ramp to 7-20. Would also like to bring down the higher number.

I very much look forward to your review of the N30.

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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Wed Jan 05, 2022 3:53 pm

Well, I downloaded OSCAR successfully but now realize the program cannot access my data files because apparently my AirSense 11 does not have an SD card. :roll:

Have been reading around; some say OSCAR needs a card with less than 32GB. Is that true? Will this card work? https://smile.amazon.com/Sandisk-32GB-C ... 120&sr=8-5

And, once I get the SD card into the machine, how do I get the files to my computer? Will my WiFi automatically pick up on the machine as a 'device' and ask me if I want to load the data to my computer?

Sorry for leaning on you so hard. I am exhausted...

...which brings me to exhaustion. Normally, I hold by proper sleep hygiene: sleep only at night from a set bedtime to a set wake-up time. But I am exhausted and trying to play sleep catch up. Do you think napping would be a mistake?
Last edited by BuckarooBanzai on Wed Jan 05, 2022 4:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Pugsy
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Re: First Night!

Post by Pugsy » Wed Jan 05, 2022 4:04 pm

ResMed always reports the 95% number on the LCD screen of the machine.
95% numbers are always defined as "at or below" that number for 95% of the night.
Leak and pressure numbers on the LCD screen on ResMed machines....always 95% numbers.
You can't get averages without using available software.

Don't worry about reducing that max number unless you start having a problem with higher pressures.
The machine won't go anywhere it doesn't think you need to go.
If it never goes above 15...doesn't matter if you set the max to 15 or 18 or 20 or heck even 100 if we could set it at 100.
The max never comes into play unless you reach it.

There's no urgent need to reduce it unless you are having problems like aerophagia or a large number of centrals and the pressure is the cause of the centrals.
The max number isn't any sort of factor in machine's auto response. Meaning it doesn't respond differently depending on max setting.

Any generic SD card 32 GB or less will work. 64 GB cards can be made to work with some reformatting but that's just extra expense and extra work ...no sense in it.
Actually a 2 GB SD card will work just fine but they are hard to find and quite pricey for what you get.
I got a 16 GB Sandisk card at WalMart....works just fine. It's way more than I need in terms of storage but it was much cheaper than any 2 GB card I could find.
Ramp is nothing more than a gradual increase from the minimum ramp starting point to the set minimum pressure.
There really isn't an "auto ramp 7 to 20" setting. The correct terminology is minimum of 7 and max of 20 for pressure settings. Ramp settings are like the minimum of 4 and whatever time frame you choose. Ramp will start the pressure at 4 and take however long you set it to get up to the 7 cm...and the 20 is never a factor in ramp.
The 20 is just the highest the machine can go once ramp is over with and you are asleep and the airway starts to try to collapse. You probably won't ever go near 20.

I hate to nit pick but you might as well learn the correct terminology right now....it will avoid confusion later. :lol:

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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Wed Jan 05, 2022 5:34 pm

Pressure range is set from 7 to 20.
Start pressure is 7.
Ramp is set to auto.

So, I assume the ramp will start at 7 and, after the machine detects me sleeping, will slowly move up to my therapeutic pressure. But how does one know one's therapeutic pressure? My machine came with (apparently) generic out-of-the-box settings. I know the "pressure" reading on my machine every day - which is apparently P95 = 11.2. I seem to recall that number is the same every day, or pretty much every day. (Hard to say, though, because the machine only gives me a "pressure" reading for the previous night, and never lets me go back to see past figures.

Is it possible the therapeutic pressure will be set when the sleep tech meets with me for the first time in two weeks?

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Pugsy
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Re: First Night!

Post by Pugsy » Wed Jan 05, 2022 6:10 pm

BuckarooBanzai wrote:
Wed Jan 05, 2022 5:34 pm
Pressure range is set from 7 to 20.
Start pressure is 7.
Ramp is set to auto.

So, I assume the ramp will start at 7 and, after the machine detects me sleeping,
The ramp will start at 7 cm ONLY if you have changed the starting pressure for ramp from 4 to 7. Did you do that?
You have to go into the setup menu area to change the ramp starting pressure and it's a totally different setting than the 7 cm minimum (or your past 6)

Auto ramp....it starts at whatever pressure the ramp starting pressure is set to...and the default from factory setting is 4 cm so unless you change the ramp setting...it's going to start at 4 cm and how the "auto" thing for ramp works is that it will either increase the pressure to the minimum of 7 setting when it thinks you are asleep or after 30 minutes...whichever comes first. The "auto" thing for ramp just means it automatically disengages the ramp feature if it thinks you are asleep.

Regular ramp (not auto ramp) does a gradual increase from the 4 cm starting pressure up to your minimum pressure setting during a time frame you select up to 45 minutes.

Both regular ramp and auto ramp start at the default of 4 cm unless someone goes in and actually changes that starting ramp pressure.

So your auto adjusting pressure settings are the 7 to 20...it's called auto mode...not auto ramp. 2 different things called "auto".
BuckarooBanzai wrote:
Wed Jan 05, 2022 5:34 pm
Is it possible the therapeutic pressure will be set when the sleep tech meets with me for the first time in two weeks?
Have no idea what the sleep tech will do. Sorry. Anything is possible I suppose but usually Kaiser lets people stick with the auto mode settings as long as the patient is doing well and not having problems.

Did you ever get your machine set up for MyAir online data viewing?

You won't have any detailed data available for nights used until you get a SD card in the machine.

_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: Mask Bleep Eclipse https://bleepsleep.com/the-eclipse/
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.

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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Wed Jan 05, 2022 11:29 pm

Pugsy, I swear to you, once ramp is set to auto, there is no way to change the ramp start pressure from within that submenu. Changing the main (overall) start pressure causes the ramp to start at the new start pressure. I have gone over and over these menus: I never changed nor had the option to change the ramp start pressure from within the ramp menu. All I did was, I changed the main start pressure from 4 to 6. From then on, every time I started the CPAP machine, it started me at 6. Now, every time I get into bed, I lie there and watch that little 6 with the bouncing blue balls underneath until I close my eyes.

Yes, I set up the myAir app first thing, so I now have a week's worth of data - but they don't provide much data. Unless perhaps there is a secret clinical submenu there, too?

Do you know? Now, all I want to do is sleep, day and night. I am absolutely exhausted in every way. I must be suffering from some form of residual sleep deprivation.

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Miss Emerita
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Re: First Night!

Post by Miss Emerita » Wed Jan 05, 2022 11:59 pm

About getting the data into Oscar — if you don’t have an SD slot in your computer, you’ll need a card reader that will plug into a USB port. They’re inexpensive and easy to find e.g. on Amazon.
Oscar software is available at https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/

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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Thu Jan 06, 2022 2:48 am

Thanks, Miss E!

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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Thu Jan 06, 2022 7:51 pm

So, I still sleep in shifts but I sleep really well. In fact, I go right to sleep.

The sleep shifts (3 hours here, 3 hours there) I attribute to my pre-CPAP sleep pattern. Meaning, prior to CPAP, I was sleeping at night and taking a long (3 hour or so) nap every afternoon because I was so exhausted, and now it seems I am merely carrying that pattern forward. I do think that, given better sleep hygiene and more rest, I will eventually settle down to a standard night sleep schedule.

Am holding off on OSCAR at this point because I think I've got enough on my newbie plate to handle right now. The MyAir app doesn't provide a lot of information, but it provides enough for now.

MyAir ratings from 12/30 to the present, in order: 66, 79, 93, 90, 73, 76, 93, 96. Looks pretty good, to me, for just my very first eight nights.

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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Thu Jan 13, 2022 9:27 am

Received my AirFit P10 late yesterday. I cannot believe how comfortable it is! In fact, I slept so well, I wondered whether the machine was working correctly. Numbers were good.

Thought of Pugsy and her tape-nasal mask. Now I know why you are willing to tape yourself up every night, Pugsy.

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Pugsy
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Re: First Night!

Post by Pugsy » Thu Jan 13, 2022 9:59 am

BuckarooBanzai wrote:
Thu Jan 13, 2022 9:27 am
Thought of Pugsy and her tape-nasal mask. Now I know why you are willing to tape yourself up every night, Pugsy.
To be fair I haven't taped my mouth since about 3 months after I started cpap therapy back in 2009. I quickly learned to develop a habit to keep my mouth shut (for the most part anyway) so I wouldn't have to worry about mouth leaks.

As far as the Bleep involved taping to my nose...which BTW is actually very simple in that step.
I have always hated the headgear. From day one with cpap therapy in May 2009. I have always just hated the dents on my cheeks each morning from straps and they last until the afternoon. I tried everything I could do to limit the dents...mask strap covers, etc but I am one of those people who will get dents from the least little thing. Even laying my cheek on a long wrinkle in the pillowcase will give me a "scar" across my cheek. Just unlucky.
From pretty much day one of my cpap therapy I was always saying to my husband..."wish I could figure out some way to tape the mask to my nose"....and then someone read my mind and did it.

The P10 is probably the best nasal pillow mask I have ever used and I have tried a lot of them...silent, comfy and stable.
Minimal headgear when compared to other nasal pillow masks and if I am going to just have to use something I hate then it has to be as minimal as possible. The P10 runs a real tight second place to the Bleep....at least for meeting my wants and needs. No mask is ever perfect....none of them....but we weigh the pros and cons with each against our own personal preferences, wants and needs and decide what works best for each of us and it all comes with a huge YMMV sticker.

Glad you had a successful night...light at the end of the tunnel.

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Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
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zonker
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Re: First Night!

Post by zonker » Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:55 am

BuckarooBanzai wrote:
Thu Jan 13, 2022 9:27 am
Received my AirFit P10 late yesterday. I cannot believe how comfortable it is! In fact, I slept so well, I wondered whether the machine was working correctly. Numbers were good.

Image

i believe that finding THE mask that works for the individual user is the hardest thing about this therapy.

congrats on finding it so early in your journey!
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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Thu Jan 13, 2022 3:14 pm

Thanks, Pugsy and Zonker!

I was very fortunate to find a great mask fit so early in the game; this success was due to the valuable opinions and advice I received on this website. Thank you, everyone, for helping me reach this point! I am grateful.

Aside to Pugsy: If you find that you are easily 'marked' by anything and everything, you might want to consider that you have a circulation issue.

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Pugsy
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Re: First Night!

Post by Pugsy » Thu Jan 13, 2022 3:26 pm

BuckarooBanzai wrote:
Thu Jan 13, 2022 3:14 pm
Aside to Pugsy: If you find that you are easily 'marked' by anything and everything, you might want to consider that you have a circulation issue.
Yeah...I know. Funny thing is only my cheeks and under my eyes seem to be my main problem issue area and I have had the same thing for decades even when I was a spring chicken. I have always tended to get bags under my eyes a little to easily as well.
My daughter has same problem. Even today I tend to get a bigger bag under the right eye than under the left and that's because I sleep on my right side primarily. Gravity and fluid just like to screw with me. :lol: :lol:
Mother Nature and family genes I guess.

Legs don't swell...fingers don't swell or anything like that.

_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: Mask Bleep Eclipse https://bleepsleep.com/the-eclipse/
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.

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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Thu Jan 13, 2022 9:22 pm

Very glad to hear your legs don't 'dimple' and such, Pugsy. I got a little worried about you.

Two questions about using a nasal or pillow mask (don't laugh too hard):

1. What about yawning? Last night, I found myself yawning after I got into bed and was hooked up. Was very uncomfortable yawning with the machine going, LOL.

2. A few times, my lips parted just a tad during the night. I wasn't mouth breathing. It was more like my jaw just fell a bit, possibly because I was propped up a bit on pillows? Anyhow. You can imagine what happened. Whoosh!

Are there any tips for nasal and pillow users?