another 1st night post

flylow · Post by **flylow** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 7:53 am

My long wait has ended and I had my first night's home therapy after receiving my m series cflex with humidification (purchased through cpap.com). Realistically viewed, it was a success but did have a few bumps. I don't think I slept the best but I don't think it was a disaster either. I know I can tolerate it and things will improve as I adjust/adapt.

I feel asleep relatively quickly but awoke an hour later not feeling very happy. I turned off the machine and removed the mask for a few minutes. Started up again and started the ramp but after a few minutes was unhappy that there was not enough air, so I shutdown again and adjusted the starting pressure from 4 to 6. From what I have seen here, I should have done that from the start. 6 was much better for the ramp start and I settled down. It did take me a while to fall off to sleep but I did finish the night without much problem.

The few issues I had was simply adjusting to the movement limitations or differences in wearing the mask. I also had to fuss with the mask a few times to get it to sit right and not blast my eyes. It wasn't difficult but did disturb the sleep on multiple ocassions. I have the mask that was provided for the titration study (Respironics gel I think).

Other comments: I had C-flex set at 3 but in playing with it, I couldn't tell the difference between 3 and 1. Honestly it doesn't seem like it does anything to me. I had the humidifier set to 2 and the mask was a bit wet but not horrible. Ultimately I may turn it down to 1 but for now I will leave it at 2 since I am on the recovering side from a bout of bronchitis and resulting asthmatic reaction. I am still trying to move out residual phelgm. Having to cough and move phelgm with a cpap mask is not fun however and that disturbed my sleep more than it would have otherwise. Overall, I do feel rested so that is definitely a good sign.

No idea on the statistics yet. I need to obtain the software.

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): cpap mask, humidifier, C-FLEX, cflex, Titration, Ramp

drummergirl410 · Post by **drummergirl410** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:13 am

Not a bad first night!

I hope the brohchitis will subside for you soon! Then you will be able to get the full effect of the CPAP. Although the humidifier might help in the process of clearning the phlegm. Hang with it and keep making those little adjustments to the ramp, mask, etc. After some trial and error you will suddenly find you've got it right! You'll know when you reach that point and it's a really good feeling!

Best wishes!

flylow · Post by **flylow** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 7:39 pm

one more levaquin pill to go and the phelgm will slowly dissipate over time. I need to keep up the Advair, flonase, and mucinex for a while.

I didn't have more energy today and I am struggling to stay up as I peruse the postings. The wife reports no snoring. She got up before me this morning and was actually studying me closely as she couldn't tell whether I was breathing. I told her to listen to the cyclical noises of the machine and if I wasn't breathing, it would be a steady state noise.

Bamalady~ · Post by **Bamalady~** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:03 pm

Hi Flylow-

It sounds as if you had a fair night. Good for you. When I first got my equipment, the mask wound up on the floor half way through the night. Now, almost 2 years later, I wouldn't be without it.

I hope your chest/lungs clear up soon. The warm moist air will most likely help with that problem.

It takes awhile sometimes to come by that extra energy, but keep at it and I'm sure you will.

Good luck!

robbieh · Post by **robbieh** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:07 pm

Congrats on a reasonably good first night! It really will get easier though sometimes you will wonder about that. Keep coming in here for support and help with any problems or questions. This is an excellent resource and helps people stick with their treatment.

flylow · Post by **flylow** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 7:28 pm

Last night was better than the first but I did wake up a fair amount. My wife reports some light snoring in the morning. I made it through both nights entirely on cpap.

1st night stats:

AHI=9.4, leak 27, cpap=9

2nd night

AHI=8.1, leak 20, cpap=9

Originally, the sleep doctor recommended 10 as my pressure but in discussion while reviewing the titration data, we decided that 9 was as good as 10 so that was the initial cpap pressure. I am going to try 10 tonight.

It is strange that as I am settling down to sleep and my mind wanders, or could it be dreams, that I am aware of "forgetting" to breathe. At least that is what it seems like to me. My study revealed no central events so my mind must be picking up AH type events. I guess I will see if this gets better at the higher pressure.

Do these machines include events during the ramping period? How do they record events such as lifting the mask to reseat or sticking a finger in the mask to scratch your nose?

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): Titration, CPAP, AHI

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 8:29 pm

flylow,

Congrattulations on the improvement. Your stats look like mine did when I began (6 weeks or so ago). My initial night AHI was between 12 and 13. After 1 week it was 4 and now hovers between 1.5 and 2.5. Hope the same trend holds for you.

I believe the machines do not record events during ramping. As far as events like lifting the mask, etc, I see mine as spikes in the leak data. I don't know about the Respironics, but with the ResMeds, everything is reported as median and 95 percentile (the dampens/eliminates the effects of short duration leaks).

Good Luck