CPAP leak rate

No one has been able to answer my question pertaining to CPAP leak. Maybe someone here can help. I have a resmed auto sense 10. My air app tells me what the leak was. My question is is that leak number #1 the worse leak of the night? #2 the average of all the leaks during the night? #3 was the last leak registered before the machine was shut off for the end of the night? #4 something else in not thinking of? I would like to know due to if I changed the position of the mask and stopped the leak did I fix the problem or not if it was the last registered leak before shutting it off. Thanks

The leak number reported either on the LCD screen on the machine or the MyAir website is what we call a 95% number.

All that means is for 95% of the night you were AT OR BELOW that number.
It is NOT and overall average number.
It is NOT the max number.
If you want to see the max leak number you would have to use available software like OSCAR...which does show the 95% number as well as median average and the max.
OSCAR https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... stallation
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... rpretation

If you really want to investigate leaks...use the software...95% numbers don't mean a whole lot. They are easily skewed to the high side with just a brief period of larger leak.

cbigone1800 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 10, 2022 9:33 am

I have a resmed auto sense 10.

looking for answers works better if you use the right terms, you have a "Resmed Airsense 10 AutoSet.

cbigone1800 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 10, 2022 9:33 am

My air app tells me what the leak was.

Not really, it tries to summarize a night of variations into a number.
Say you drove across country, you'd have to stop any number of times, sometime you might be stuck in traffic, sometimes you might be greatly exceeding the speed limit and getting luck outrunning cops (think Cannonball Run)... So at the end someone says "your speed was 73"... what does that even mean? nothing really.

cbigone1800 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 10, 2022 9:33 am

My question is is that leak number #1 the worse leak of the night? #2 the average of all the leaks during the night? #3 was the last leak registered before the machine was shut off for the end of the night? #4 something else in not thinking of? I would like to know due to if I changed the position of the mask and stopped the leak did I fix the problem or not if it was the last registered leak before shutting it off. Thanks

The best answer is "Get OSCAR" and see what your leak performance (and everything else) really was.

In my Air Sense 10 Auto-Set machine, even though I have no obvious times when the mask could have gross leaks, my leak numbers are now between 66 and 80. My machine is 4 years old. There was a period of time about 6 months ago when it was showing a leak of 110 pretty regularly. I visited a sleep therapist type at Apria who tested my machine, found nothing wrong. He said that he couldn't imagine leak numbers so high unless the hose was disconnected for a long time (which is never the case). Note: If I have to take it off I immediately press the on/off button to go into standby mode. He also said that with leak numbers so high, my apnea values were not reliable. BTW: They were typically between anything from 1 to about values in the teens/hour (AHI), with an occassional number like 30. MY questions are:

1. Can anyone comment on whether the AHI numbers are invalid because of high leaks?

2. Should I send the machine in for service (off warranty of 3 years)?

3.Can anyone comment on experience with costs to diagnose a machine (or fix one if possible)?

4. Or just wait out until Feb 2023 when it will be 5 years and I'm entitled to a new machine on my Insurance?

5. Does anyone else experience high leak numbers yet have good AHI values?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Can you cut and paste this note into your own thread re "In network supplier" and stick to that thread - you've invaded someone else's here and it's confusing to all, plus you'll get better responses when people can follow all of your story to help you better.

Julie wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 06, 2022 5:08 am

Can you cut and paste this note into your own thread re "In network supplier" and stick to that thread - you've invaded someone else's here and it's confusing to all, plus you'll get better responses when people can follow all of your story to help you better.

+1

cpaptrouper wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 05, 2022 10:39 pm

1. Can anyone comment on whether the AHI numbers are invalid because of high leaks?

cpaptrouper wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 05, 2022 10:39 pm

He also said that with leak numbers so high, my apnea values were not reliable.

cpaptrouper wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 05, 2022 10:39 pm

it was showing a leak of 110 pretty regularly.

If you are consistently seeing leak numbers in excess of 50 L/min then the AHI numbers aren't reliable because we don't know if the numbers are low because nothing happened or because the machine couldn't sense anything going on due to the excessive leakage.
Do you use the software available so you can see the actual leak graphs to know what the baseline leak might be?
OSCAR https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... stallation
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... rpretation

viewtopic/t158560/How-to-post-images-for-review.html

It's impossible to offer advice more that guessing without seeing the actual detailed reports.

I only read the data (essentials--PLUS) on the LCD screen.
No myair silliness for me!
Unless the red frowny face appears, the numbers don't mean anything to me.
The red face tells me my headgear has "had it,"
and I need to swap it out for a clean one or a new one.