Help reading VPAP III data

Well it is 5 a.m., I made those changes last night. I woke up a couple times a night and checked the numbers on the machine because I was so concerned. At 4:30 this morning, I leaned over the the bed and looked and my girlfriend woke up and she said "SO?".

I pated her on the leg ( I know better than to try to talk when a 30 mile per hour wind is shooting through my nose) so I just stuck my thumb in the air.

AHI 5.7
AI 1.9

I really don't know how to thank you. I really don't. I am new here, but I found this place because I was literally at wits end. It took me close to a year to get this machine and OSA was tearing my life apart. I was so excited to finally get the bipap, but after almost two months of feeling just as lousy, then having my fears confirmed when I posted the numbers here and seeing the responses, my heart sank. Out of money, I didn't know what I was going to do.

The changes you gave me seemed so small that I really thought I wouldn't see much difference, but when I woke up and read the numbers, I felt like Christmas, I couldn't sleep anymore because I wanted to get up and tell someone.

I know I'm not out of the woods yet, but to go from the 50's down to this in one night. I'm floored. I thank you, my fiance thanks you, and my family thanks you.

I hope that other people who are going through frustration read this, after two sleep studies, missed work, and over $5,000 to get nothing but a torture device that I have to fill with water every night, to someone half a world away taking the time to help me out (and of course the other people who told me to hang in there - which you made me want to do), I feel like there really is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Begin Oscars speech.

Thanks Casiesea for checking in to see if I had been helped, thanks to the owners of this forum for providing a place for people like me to come for help when they feel like they are being blown off by the medical industry, ozij for being frank enough to freak me out enough to really start digging, and of course thanks the most to DSM for re-configuring my machine.

OK I think thats long enough. Today is going to be a good day.

That's wonderful.

dsm wrote:Point being, we can tune this box better than most others on the market & based on data

O.

It is isnt it?

HelpMeSleep,

That is far better than I would have expected after 1 night.

The main thing the changes were attempting were to reduce that ipap/epap gap as I have learned the hard way that a big gap will cause more problems that anything so dropping ipap from 19 to 18 was 1) to help reduce the gap & 2) was convinced the benefit to you as a sleeper would outweigh any probability that lowering the ipap by 1 would raise your AIs.

You may want to experimnet by dropping the ipap by 0.4 in a night or two.

Cheers DSM

Again, am really surprised at how much your AHI changed in 1 night - it may be also related to your excitement/expectation - we may still need to do some fine tuning. Also there may be some issues in the position you sleep in.
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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): AHI

I am trying hard to be realistic about it. I cant wait for this day to be over so I can go to bed and see if the number stay consistent. Ads far as sleeping, yes. I am the worst at everything, I have PTSD (so many ailments for a 36 year old) so I take ambien, which really doesnt do too much for me, I think the apnea is also to blame for sleeplessness so Im hoping I will be able to get off the ambien soon. Anyway, I have a habit of rolling onto my back, this causes a leak but I just adjust the mask and sleep on my side. I might try the tennis ball in the shirt thing. I try to sleep on my side at the edge of the bed with the mask off the pillow and the machine on the floor.

I am a total mouth breather so I tried the swift ii but the chinstrap thing is no good. I also have really small tubes, my throat is small, my ears are small they get so plugged the doctor cant see my drums, constant infections when I was a kid, absess behind the tonsils, strep, ear infections, yuck. Still have my tonsils tho.

I have known about the apnea for years, I dated a nurse 12 years ago and she told me I had it, but I didnt understand it, since then a couple girlfriends have had to use earplugs, and the long term ones suddenly became very heavy sleepers.

The reason I went if for a study was a random visit to a new doctor, he looked in my mouth and said "WHoa! You have really bad apnea did you know this?" and he wrote the referral. He was a fascinating man and told me that he and some colleagues were working on a study that shows that sleep apnea is often the root or the actual problem, just misdiagnosed. He talked about ADD and depression, basically everything that I have gone through my entire life that has caused me to fail out of college, lose relationships, become an introvert.

I dont even remember where I was going with this. Can you tell I am excited? Yes I want to get the numbers down to exactly where they should be, decide on a mask, etc. I am definitely having better luck with the hybrid, the swift developed leaks in the side almost immediately i think because of the pressure being so high, the med supply place told me that didnt surprise them, thanks for warning me. I cant use the full face mask I got at the study because it caused me to break out all over the place where the head supports touched me ( I will get all the terms down eventually). Also it a medium and I think its too small but the large was too large, I dont really know. I bought the Hybrid from a dealer on craigslist, I got it cheap so I thought I would be ripped off, but it came with everything, the DVD etc, the only problem was that it only came with one sized mask (over the mouth part) and I thought it came with a couple sizes, luckily I think it fits. Everything is coming out of pocket so I dont have the luxury of buying a bunch of masks. OK let me end this here, this post was WAYY too long. Sorry.

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): swift

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): swift

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): swift

HelpMeSleep,

In your last PM you mentioned wanting to learn about SpO2.

Here is a link to what is a normal SpO2 night's data - my SpO2 average is about 1 to 2 points lower than my wife. She seems better able to carry oxygen in her blood.

Two examples of good SpO2 readings. The SpO2 data was extracted from an Ohmeda 3740 PO & added to the Vpap III data in these charts ...
http://www.internetage.com/cpapdata/menu_0810.html
http://www.internetage.com/cpapdata/menu_0826.html

SpO2 represents the absorption of oxygen into the haemoglobin in our blood as this oxygen is needed to fuel the muscles and also to help in repairs on the body (which is always being repaired). Poor circulation & poor absorbtion of oxygen through the lungs lowers the SpO2 level in the body & that will create fatigue & tiredness - something cpappers should all know well.

http://www.neann.com/spo2.htm

I bought a recording SpO2 because I was doubting the effectiveness of my original Cpap then Auto. Later I managed to obtain a Bilevel but it had no nightly data that could be downloaded which was why I then got a Vpap III.

I consider the Vpap III data to be particularly helpful. The Bipap Bilevels also (all but the S/T model) provide excellent nightly data. The Puritan Bennett Bilevels (other than the PB330) models also provide good nightly data. I have no idea why the PB330 doesn't other than it was originally a clinical ventilator & is fitted with loads of audible alarms.

In the above chart, I worked hard to align the SpO2 & pulse data with the Vpap respiration data & that was very helpful in pinpointing details down to within minutes. At home I am able to expand those charts a lot more than shown in the link - they are just screen grabs made to fit in a web page.

For a normal Cpapper, SpO2 is the real guide as to what is happening. You cannot feel good if your SpO2 is down. Without SpO2 data, you can at times think you feel good but the SpO2 chart can tell a different story.

There have been times in the past year where I decided I didn't need cpap any more & stopped using it (had got my weight right down low) then I would do a nights SpO2 monitoring to check it & get rudely reminded that I really did need cpap as I would end up with too many desats when not using my machine (desaturations = dropping below 88% SpO2 reading - bad bad).

I do have some charts with desats in but haven't got round to putting them on the web site. Will try to do that this weekend.

DSM

Fascinating, and this can all be tracked using the software yu have mentioned? I checked my super laptop and it looks like I have all the necessary ports, so I will get a null modem cable and get to work.

Although I think there were some issues with my sleep study, the place wasreally nice and while i was waiting for my ride home, the tech showed me the setup they used and my results attached to the video of me sleep etc. I do remember him talking about the oxygen levels in my blood. He said it was low but not the lowest he has seen and that it would improve once I started on my bipap machine. I am going to say I think he said 80%.

I really wish that I could continue to use them as a resource. The facility was great, very comfortable rooms, modern, plasma tvs in each room, the staff was really nice, it was purely a money issue. My study was $2600, of which they knocked $2000 off because they knew I didnt have insurance, they just asked me to spread the word. I have since gotten insurance but they specifially asked me in my interview if I had previously been diagnosed with sleep apnea. The insurance really sucks so far.

HelpMeBreath wrote:Fascinating, and this can all be tracked using the software yu have mentioned? I checked my super laptop and it looks like I have all the necessary ports, so I will get a null modem cable and get to work.

<snip>

HelpMeSleep,

The Spo2 data in the 3rd image on the 2 charts was separate and from an Ohmeda 3740 PO that I bought on eBay for about $150 - very nice machine. They were used in hospitals & it runs off mains plus has a built in gel-cell battery that will keep it running without power. Nellcor N200, N375 N400 are also good but more expensive. Several folk here have the Nellcor models.

My advice to anyone buying an old PO machine on ebay is *always* buy it with the probe extension cable *and* the probe itself as often they will cost more than you paid for the PO unit. One of those 'gotchas'.

DSM

REPLY TO A PM from HelpMeSleep:

The data is pretty much what my charts showed *except* for the SpO2 data. That I got from a separate PO machine.

You download the data from the Vpap III the next day & save it in a file (you need to use a new name each day so you don't overwrite the old file).

When downloaded you can open the file & look at the data. It will show

AHI AI HI
Leak
Breathing rate
Tidal flow & air volume.

Thats all you need apart from the SpO2 - the ResScan software does support an extra unit that piggybacks on a Vpap III called a Reslink - it has an SpO2 that runs into it & that then includes SpO2 Snore Index pulse etc: BUT the Reslinks are expensive (like about $600).

I found it cheaper to buy the old Ohmeda 3740 PO unit.

Cheers

Doug

I am so happy that you are getting the help u need! Sounds like you are going to be feeling awesome very soon!

dsm,
I wonder which of Puritan Bennett's bi-level machines you know that provide good nightly data. The Goodknight 425, does not.

O.

[quote="ozij"]dsm,
I wonder which of Puritan Bennett's bi-level machines you know that provide good nightly data. The Goodknight 425, does not.

O.

None of the above. It only reports breathing cycles and their relation to pressure. It doesn't report apneas (or hypopneas or flow limitations) either.

If you have an updated version of SL3 you can see its reports on the demo files.

O.

Good morning team. I wanted to give an update on the numbers this morning. Last night was actually the first night that I didnt have to reset the machine. I was restless and had more leaks that usual but I didnt tighten the mask as much as usual. I also noticed that when awake and asleep i tend to hold my breath when I do things, like stand up, or flip over in bed or whatever, I dont know if this makes the machine think I stopped breathing but it did cause me to fight with it a little. Here are the winning lottery numbers for today

Leak .36/L
VT 450-650
Resp Rate 10-13
MV 5.4 - 8.4
AHI 6.3
AI 2.8

I am tired but not dead tired. I hope these numbers look OK.

Thats looking pretty good - all the numbers seem fine. Am happy for you to stay with current settings for about 2 more nights then we can tune a bit more, Your AI # is damned good considering what it was. You need a few nights to get used t the change.

Cheers

DSM