Newbie Wondering How I'm Doing

I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea in September with an AHI of 90.

I waited for what felt like a long time for my DME supplier to come through, and bought an AirMini in November to get by. After more broken promises and delays, I gave up and bought an Airsense 10 AutoSet which I have been using for two weeks. I'm using the P10 nasal mask which I don't seem to have any trouble wearing.

The ResMed MyAir and AirMini software doesn't seem to provide much useful data, not that I would know what to look for. One obvious concern is leak rate, which varies from 10/20 to 17/20. I'm a fairly active stomach sleeper, so I wouldn't be surprised if the mask is moving around a bit. Should I be concerned about the leaks, and could they be obscuring events that the software is missing?

FWIW, this is one of the worst case graphs (one of my lower scores).

Any advice would be appreciated.

What do you mean it's one of the 'worst' (one of your lowest scores)? The lower the AHI, the better we consider scores to be... or am I missing something?

Except for the leak rate, it looks great.

Sorry, yes this is one of my lowest scores (higher AHI).

randye80 wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 01, 2022 4:41 pm

I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea in September with an AHI of 90.

To a sub 1 AHI

Host a party and go dancing in the streets if this is a typical night.

The leaks are at manageable level

Pugsy wrote: if it were me and I was sleeping good and feeling good during the day then I wouldn't worry about the time in large leak as long as I didn't start seeing massive prolonged periods over 35 L/min spent in large leak territory.

Pugsy wrote: Actually up to around 35 L/min the machine does a decent enough job compensating for leak in terms of responding and recording so I really never do more than raise an eyebrow until I see more than 35 L/min leak and it's extremely prolonged.
Short periods of large leak that don't wake me up I ignore.

GrumpyHere wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 01, 2022 9:42 pm

randye80 wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 01, 2022 4:41 pm

I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea in September with an AHI of 90.

To a sub 1 AHI

Host a party and go dancing in the streets if this is a typical night.

The leaks are at manageable level

Pugsy wrote: if it were me and I was sleeping good and feeling good during the day then I wouldn't worry about the time in large leak as long as I didn't start seeing massive prolonged periods over 35 L/min spent in large leak territory.

Pugsy wrote: Actually up to around 35 L/min the machine does a decent enough job compensating for leak in terms of responding and recording so I really never do more than raise an eyebrow until I see more than 35 L/min leak and it's extremely prolonged.
Short periods of large leak that don't wake me up I ignore.

Dancing and partying seem like strange advise coming from someone called Grumpy, but that is my exact sentiment.

Yes, my average AHI is indeed below 1, and my max. is below 2.

And thank you so much for the quote from Pugsy! My 95th percentile leak rate is 28 L/min., so I'm not very concerned. The only negative at all is the bags I get under my eyes (even worse than normal) using the AirSense. Probably because the new P10 headgear is more substantial than what came with the AirMini.

Thanks again!

randye80 wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 02, 2022 12:55 pm

The only negative at all is the bags I get under my eyes (even worse than normal).

Bags, worse than usual, under the eyes is because mask straps or headgear restrict fluid dispersal in the skin of the face/cheeks. Been there and done that myself.

Padacheek strap pads
https://www.padacheek.com/
will help with any dents and some of the fluid build up in those bags but the best thing for bag removal is a mask without straps at all.
Check out the Bleep mask in my signature line.

Thanks Pugsy!

I am using the PadACheeks based on your advice, and they are really comfortable. I may try the Bleeps (one I work through all of the extra N10 headgears and pillows I just stocked up on).

I had a strange issue last night.

I always use SmartStart, manual shut off. I used the machine from 11:45 pm to 6:45 am, I woke up after 3:00 am and noticed that the CPAP was not running. I had to use the button on top to get it started again. The heated hose felt cold and I discovered that I had partially unplugged the ClimateLineAir hose from the electrical connectors (hose was still attached). I plugged the hose on completely and went back to sleep, and everything seemed normal, except the hose didn't feel warm.

Would unplugging the heating connectors cause the AirSense to shut off? Is there a chance that I damaged anything?

Screenshot below.

randye80 wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 08, 2022 2:51 pm

Would unplugging the heating connectors cause the AirSense to shut off?

According to this ResMed page it could:

Why is my machine shutting off at night?
There are a number of reasons why your machine may be shutting off at night, read the more common possibilities.
A number of things could be responsible - here are the most common:

...

If you are using a heated tube, ensure that the heating element is inserted into the correct area.
https://www.resmed.com.au/knowledge-hub ... f-at-night

randye80 wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 08, 2022 2:51 pm

Is there a chance that I damaged anything?

Unlikely.

I think what may have happened is that with the machine if it doesn't sense a hose attached it will shut itself off after a period of time. I have had this happen when I am trying to just air out a machine outside and I want it to run for 2 or 3 hours. If I don't stick a hose on it then it doesn't run very long...even with SmartStart turned off.

I doubt you damaged anything with it just coming loose.
Now that said...if the hose air continues to not feel as warm as it should you might want to consider at least testing the hose air temp if you can (digital cooking thermometer works) or trying a new hose.
These heated hoses can crap out and we not know why. You know how anything electronic is....sometimes they last forever and sometimes they only last a week.

Sometimes the machine will shut off when there are REALLY big leaks going on.
The worst your leak happened to be around 38 L/min and I don't think that is big enough for the machine to turn off.
I have had worse leaks and my machine not turn off.

I think what happened was the connection worked loose and the machine said "where's my hose" and turned itself off.

Thanks Granny & Pugsy!