New to CPAP with questions

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
WiseGuy
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2022 7:49 am

New to CPAP with questions

Post by WiseGuy » Mon Sep 26, 2022 8:24 am

Hi there!

I'm Bob, 36M and new to CPAP. I had an incident about a month ago where my heart went into AFIB (very scary). Come to find out, the doctor wanted a sleep study completed as he suspected I had sleep apnea. I had a sleep study completed and it was discovered that I have very severe obstructive sleep apnea. My AHI was 112. I've been on the machine now for a couple weeks. It's taken some getting used to but it's getting a bit easier. I downloaded the OSCAR program to help track my sleep and to see if the machine is effective. Can anyone assist with the first few photos and help me understand what they mean?

Thank you!

https://imgur.com/a/AR60XV5
Last edited by WiseGuy on Mon Sep 26, 2022 3:35 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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robysue1
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Location: Buffalo, NY

Re: New to CPAP with questions

Post by robysue1 » Mon Sep 26, 2022 8:29 am

WiseGuy,

Welcome to the forum as you begin your adventures in the Land of the Hoseheads.

You ask
WiseGuy wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 8:24 am
I had a sleep study completed and it was discovered that I have very severe obstructive sleep apnea. My AHI was 112. I've been on the machine now for a couple weeks. It's taken some getting used to but it's getting a bit easier. I downloaded the OSCAR program to help track my sleep and to see if the machine is effective. Can anyone assist with the first few photos and help me understand what they mean?
Post your data and we'll be happy to teach you what you want to know about interpreting it.

Ask your questions about anything you're still struggling with as you are learning how to sleep with the friendly alien monster on your face at night, and people will help you figure out strategies to try to get over those humps.
Joined as robysue on 9/18/10. Forgot my password & the email I used was on a machine that has long since died & gone to computer heaven.

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lynninnj
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Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2022 8:56 am

Re: New to CPAP with questions

Post by lynninnj » Mon Sep 26, 2022 8:55 am

WiseGuy wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 8:24 am
Hi there!

I'm Bob, 36M and new to CPAP. I had an incident about a month ago where my heart went into AFIB (very scary). Come to find out, the doctor wanted a sleep study completed as he suspected I had sleep apnea. I had a sleep study completed and it was discovered that I have very severe obstructive sleep apnea. My AHI was 112. I've been on the machine now for a couple weeks. It's taken some getting used to but it's getting a bit easier. I downloaded the OSCAR program to help track my sleep and to see if the machine is effective. Can anyone assist with the first few photos and help me understand what they mean?

Thank you!

*trying to figure out how to upload the pictures now lol
I have a hard time with posting photos from Oscar and find sleephq.com to make it super easy if you wanted to try that instead. https://youtu.be/YJojSMC4zQc

_________________
Machine: AirSense 11 Autoset
Mask: ResMed AirFit N30 Nasal CPAP Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: Newbie who loves her machine!
Beware the schoolyard bullies, mean girls, and fragile male egos. Move along if you can’t be kind.

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palerider
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Re: New to CPAP with questions

Post by palerider » Mon Sep 26, 2022 9:18 am

WiseGuy wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 8:24 am
*trying to figure out how to upload the pictures now lol
It's actually pretty simple, there's a little setup, but once you get that, generally all you need is one screenshot per day:


wiki/index.php/Oscar:organize

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Get OSCAR

Accounts to put on the foe list: dataq1, clownbell, gearchange, lynninnj, mper!?, DreamDiver, Geer1, almostadoctor, sleepgeek, ajack, stom, mogy, D.H., They often post misleading, timewasting stuff.

WiseGuy
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Re: New to CPAP with questions

Post by WiseGuy » Mon Sep 26, 2022 9:37 am

Ok I got a few pictures uploaded and put them in my original message. Sorry for the poor quality, when I get home I'll try to upload a new pictures.

What exactly do those mean?

Thank you!!!

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Miss Emerita
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Re: New to CPAP with questions

Post by Miss Emerita » Mon Sep 26, 2022 11:08 am

Hello! Instead of taking photos, take screenshots. Please post a Daily chart instead of the summary statistics. Include the left panel in the screenshot, along with these graphs:

Events
Flow rate
Pressure
Flow limitations
Leaks
Snores.
Oscar software is available at https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/


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robysue1
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Re: New to CPAP with questions

Post by robysue1 » Mon Sep 26, 2022 3:59 pm

WiseGuy wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 3:36 pm
https://imgur.com/a/AR60XV5

How's this?
Much better. You can also use a button by BBCode over at imgur to generate a working link to the image. Hit the green copy button at imgur when you're looking at the image and then paste it into the cpaptalk.com edit window, and your image will appear directly in the thread.

Your summary data looks good: Your overall AHI is nice and low. And the summary data indicates that the leaks don't seem to be much of a problem.

Now can you look at the daily data and post that? Of all the graphs, the ones we're most interested in are Flow Rate, Pressure, and Leak. And they tell us a lot more about what's going on than just the summary data does.
Joined as robysue on 9/18/10. Forgot my password & the email I used was on a machine that has long since died & gone to computer heaven.

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ChicagoGranny
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Re: New to CPAP with questions

Post by ChicagoGranny » Wed Sep 28, 2022 5:07 pm

WiseGuy wrote:
Wed Sep 28, 2022 4:40 pm
https://sleephq.com/public/3c6d73a2-f06 ... af738360dd

How’s this? Thank you!
You have some long periods of high leak. This can cause the machine to lose the therapeutic pressure. Also, the reporting of Events might not be correct. Did you sense any leaks? Were they disturbing your sleep? Find your mask on youtube and carefully watch some videos on fitting and adjusting. The leaks should be brought under control.

Do you wake up with dry mouth? If you are using a nasal mask, the mouth must stay closed to maintain the proper pressure.

How are you feeling? Energetic? Any excess sleepiness during the day?

Welcome! Please stick to this one thread until everything is under control. Members will easily be able to see your history.

WiseGuy
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Re: New to CPAP with questions

Post by WiseGuy » Wed Sep 28, 2022 7:21 pm

I felt really good during the day and evening. I’ve noticed I’ve had more energy throughout the day since I started using the machine. I absolutely cannot do the full face mask as it was to restrictive. I even struggle with the nasal pillow type that I use but I am getting use to it.

I tend to be a side sleeper and when my face is on the pillow, it does tend to move the mask and I can hear/feel the leak. I usually just adjust it or my position and it’s good.

My initial AHI was 112 which is insane…

I’m going to include a few other nights below to compare.

https://sleephq.com/public/e39281b1-282 ... b25220f6c9

https://sleephq.com/public/e07d9562-37a ... 3c153eae69

https://sleephq.com/public/51bb9b7b-49f ... 7e9916d6a3

https://sleephq.com/public/76d5567a-a2b ... b93983523c

Thoughts? Thanks!!

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ChicagoGranny
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Re: New to CPAP with questions

Post by ChicagoGranny » Thu Sep 29, 2022 8:06 am

TL;DR.

1. What are those long periods of no usage some nights?

2. Leaks are a problem. Do you place your head on the edge of your bed pillow so that the nasal pillows "hang" over and are not touching the bed pillow? Are you using good hose management practices so that the hose does not pull on the mask as you move?

3. You are running at a fairly high pressure. Many of us wear a foam cervical collar which keeps the chin up and the neck in the best position for airway patency. The collars can reduce the pressure requirements. They might also help with leaks by stabilizing the head/neck.

4. "Do you wake up with dry mouth?" You didn't answer this question.

5.
WiseGuy wrote:
Wed Sep 28, 2022 7:21 pm
I absolutely cannot do the full face mask as it was to restrictive. I even struggle with the nasal pillow type that I use but I am getting use to it.
It's probably hard to believe at this point, but you may eventually enjoy the feeling once your subconscious gets to learn it means good sleep.

WiseGuy
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Re: New to CPAP with questions

Post by WiseGuy » Sat Oct 01, 2022 8:54 am

1. What are those long periods of no usage some nights?------------I take it off in my sleep often. I also have my youngest kid come in our room wanting to discuss lord knows what. She was looking for her sandal at 4am the other night......

2. Leaks are a problem. Do you place your head on the edge of your bed pillow so that the nasal pillows "hang" over and are not touching the bed pillow? Are you using good hose management practices so that the hose does not pull on the mask as you move?------------I have my machine on the nightstand next to me, the hose doesn't seem to get in the way as the mask I have has the hose on the top of my head.

3. You are running at a fairly high pressure. Many of us wear a foam cervical collar which keeps the chin up and the neck in the best position for airway patency. The collars can reduce the pressure requirements. They might also help with leaks by stabilizing the head/neck.--------I'll have a look!

4. "Do you wake up with dry mouth?" You didn't answer this question.--------Sometimes I do, yes. I actually feel like I slept very well last night, had the mask on for just over 7 hours straight. I'll upload the stats later on today!

Thank you!

lynninnj
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Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2022 8:56 am

Re: New to CPAP with questions

Post by lynninnj » Sat Oct 01, 2022 9:04 am

WiseGuy wrote:
Sat Oct 01, 2022 8:54 am
1. What are those long periods of no usage some nights?------------I take it off in my sleep often. I also have my youngest kid come in our room wanting to discuss lord knows what. She was looking for her sandal at 4am the other night......

2. Leaks are a problem. Do you place your head on the edge of your bed pillow so that the nasal pillows "hang" over and are not touching the bed pillow? Are you using good hose management practices so that the hose does not pull on the mask as you move?------------I have my machine on the nightstand next to me, the hose doesn't seem to get in the way as the mask I have has the hose on the top of my head.

3. You are running at a fairly high pressure. Many of us wear a foam cervical collar which keeps the chin up and the neck in the best position for airway patency. The collars can reduce the pressure requirements. They might also help with leaks by stabilizing the head/neck.--------I'll have a look!

4. "Do you wake up with dry mouth?" You didn't answer this question.--------Sometimes I do, yes. I actually feel like I slept very well last night, had the mask on for just over 7 hours straight. I'll upload the stats later on today!

Thank you!
I use the N30 from Resmed which has a similar cushion. They appear to be similar wrt what actually touches the face. I use lansinoh lanolin around my nose at night before I put on the mask and it helps form a seal. Use it sparingly as too much=weak seal.

Adjusting the mask once you lay down will help work out where the leaks are at. I dont know if you can cover the hose over top of your head to block the air and blow out through your nose at the same time. This will help you find the leaks. I sometimes have to tuck in an edge of the mask since it is so soft and sometimes moves around off my nose. I re-test/rearrange the mask after every bathroom break/wakeup or even if I just roll over.

Your youngest sounds like an absolute sweetie that you probably can't say no to. :)

HTH

_________________
Machine: AirSense 11 Autoset
Mask: ResMed AirFit N30 Nasal CPAP Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: Newbie who loves her machine!
Beware the schoolyard bullies, mean girls, and fragile male egos. Move along if you can’t be kind.

WiseGuy
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2022 7:49 am

Re: New to CPAP with questions

Post by WiseGuy » Sat Oct 01, 2022 7:02 pm

She’s pretty incredible!

I felt pretty good today and felt well rested this morning. Here’s my results from last night. Thoughts?

https://sleephq.com/public/b1692760-f79 ... ee51aac037