Hello from a new user!

I did a sleep study in a lab many years ago at my wife's prompting, and was told I had positional sleep apnea, but didn't need a CPAP if I slept on my side. I had been fine since then by putting a really big binder clip on the back of my underwear when I go to bed. If I rolled over on my back while sleeping, it woke me enough to get back on my side. Very effective and cheap!

I had a very minor stroke in August of 2024 though, and that scared me enough to get serious about my T2D and my diet. I've been pretty much low-carb and sugar-free since then, and I lost 30 pounds without really trying. The best part though is that I can now sleep on my back without snoring or having apnea breathing stops as long as my pillow is relatively flat.

I mentioned to my doctor in December that I didn't think I had sleep apnea anymore, and he wanted another sleep study to confirm. This one took place at home with a ring that I wore while sleeping for two nights and that worked with an app I had to put on my phone. I couldn't get to sleep until about 3:30 AM the first night, then found out in the morning that the app had shut the study down at 3:47 AM. I slept much better the second night, but again the app shut the study down at 3:47 AM.

The sleep study reported to my doctor that I had "minor sleep apnea". I told my doctor that the sleep study and its results were both BS. Two weeks later an APAP machine showed up on my front porch.

Well, since I've got the machine, I might as well try it out. I've always heard that they can greatly improve your sleep quality. I'm very adaptable, and after fiddling with the mask fit for an hour or so, I slept like a baby the first night. I've had just one bad night with it since then that I solved by just taking it off, but other than that, we're getting along just fine going into my second week with it.

Thoughts and comments? I hope to be a regular contributor to your forum, and I'm happy that I found y'all.

Welcome! It sounds to me as though your sleep test did not have an adequate number of channels. More here:

https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiolog ... ep-testing

Did you get a copy of the sleep study report? If so, could you post a scan of it? You might want to blank out your personal information.

It'd be useful to see some data from you machine. Can you download Oscar (free software)? More here:

https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/

What are your minimum and maximum pressures on your machine?

If you want to press further, I'd suggest you ask your doctor for another in-lab sleep test; failing that, ask for a better home sleep test.

Thank you for your interest and questions. Here are a few answers that I can provide today. .

"It sounds to me as though your sleep test did not have an adequate number of of channels. "

I read the article at the link you posted. Very interesting! As best I could tell, the ring that was furnished for the sleep test that diagnosed me with "mild sleep apnea" could only monitor my pulse and blood oxygen. I seriously doubt that it could monitor my breathing.

"Did you get a copy of the sleep study report?"

I'll have to check my portal ot my doctor's office to see if they posted it there. I don't have access to it right now.

"It'd be useful to see some data from you machine."

I'll have to check into Oscar. The software that my machine is linked to on my phone is React Health Plus. Here are some results from last night, followed by my Monthly Average so far. Note that I've only had the machine for the last 10 nights, which I'm pretty sure is skewing some of the averages.
Usage Time - 8:47, 5:54
Average Leak - 1.2, 1.6
AHI - 3.1, 3.7
Pressure - 6.4, 6.8
P95 - 11.5, 11.9
CAI - 0.3, 0.6
The machine is on Auto Mode.
It has a heated reservoir, but not a heated hose.

"What are your minimum and maximum pressures on your machine?"

I don't know these figures yet, but will let you know if I can find them.

It'd be great if you could use Oscar. I'm reluctant to suggest changes to your settings without more data.

Your AHI isn't horrible, but with PAP treatment a good goal is below 2, and a very good goal is below 1. Then again, if you're sleeping soundly and feeling rested during the day, I'd say you're doing pretty well!

I downloaded Oscar on my laptop, but couldn't get it to read the data on the chip from my machine. I downloaded the data to my laptop, but Oscar couldn't read it from there either.

I am becoming disenchanted with the nasal mask that came with my headgear. It covers my entire nose. Some nights it works fine, but other nights it somehow blocks both inhaling and exhaling unless I pull it down to my upper lip. I also have to use a mouth-closing strap with it to keep me from breathing through my mouth, but that isn't working very well either.

I'm thinking about seeing if I can get a full face mask for this headgear that covers both my nose and mouth, but I'm not sure how that would work with my mustache and short beard. I can't be the only user with this problem.