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Waking up suddenly or often may have nothing to do with xPAP therapy. In my sleep study, half of my arousals were "spontaneous" -- not attributable to apnea or leg movements or whatever else they look for.

It's looking like one of my medications have been waking me up! I had read about studies showing that the drug Zocor causes sleep disruptions for some people, so I asked my doc to switch from Zocor to Pravachol. (Zocor is fat soluble and crosses the blood-brain barrier, Pravachol is water soluble and stays out of the brain.) I've been taking the Pravachol for about a week and a half now and I'm sleeping better. And my AHI has gone down -- not sure how that happened. I'm hoping this keeps up. I like not waking up a lot during the night!

rooster wrote:

mkirkwag wrote: .......Thanks, Bev. It makes perfect sense...BUT...I have a REMstar® Auto M Series with C-Flex. You can see it without the humidifier right here:
http://remstarautomseries.respironics.com/ That's my buddy with the bright blue lights like the runway of an international airport on my nightstand.

What my smartcard reports is "L/min" which was, last time I reported it, .3. I knocked my mask off a couple of times since, so it's back up to 5.9. ...........

If your leak rate is 0.3 to 5.9 with a Respironics machine you can quit worrying - you are dead.

What do you mean?!? Yes, I get that it's a joke, but that IS my leak rate. This morning it reads 3.0. Remember, I'm hardly using it - a little over 2 hours a night average - last night was my first seven-hour night in memory.

mkirkwag wrote:

rooster wrote:

mkirkwag wrote: .......Thanks, Bev. It makes perfect sense...BUT...I have a REMstar® Auto M Series with C-Flex. You can see it without the humidifier right here:
http://remstarautomseries.respironics.com/ That's my buddy with the bright blue lights like the runway of an international airport on my nightstand.

What my smartcard reports is "L/min" which was, last time I reported it, .3. I knocked my mask off a couple of times since, so it's back up to 5.9. ...........

If your leak rate is 0.3 to 5.9 with a Respironics machine you can quit worrying - you are dead.

What do you mean?!? Yes, I get that it's a joke, but that IS my leak rate. This morning it reads 3.0. Remember, I'm hardly using it - a little over 2 hours a night average - last night was my first seven-hour night in memory.

3.0 or 0.3?

O.

Okay, guys, he knows what kind of machine he has and he knows what the screen says. I went to look at my screen, which I never do anymore since I have the software which I download and examine every day, and guess what?!!! My screen says that my leak rate is 6.9.

My actual l/m is around 40 for my average pressure of 14, yet my screen says 6.9. So, do we have defective machines?

Bev

You mentioned reading from a smart card. Does that mean that you have the Viewer? Is that where you are getting your leak figures? Or is it from the screen? What Rooster means is that if your actual leak rate was as low as you said, you would have suffocated before waking up. Your masks exhaust rate is higher than that even if you have no leaks at all. I'm thinking that you are reading that information from your LCD screen, and as I mentioned in above post, something is wrong there.

Does anyone else with an "M" machine have readings like this?

B

OutaSync wrote:Okay, guys, he knows what kind of machine he has and he knows what the screen says. I went to look at my screen, which I never do anymore since I have the software which I download and examine every day, and guess what?!!! My screen says that my leak rate is 6.9.

My actual l/m is around 40 for my average pressure of 14, yet my screen says 6.9. So, do we have defective machines?

Bev

Maybe that's another one of the "M" (for MAGIC and MYSTERY) Series secrets.

Are the "missing two days/nights" detailed data a "defect", too?

Den

kteague - all my sympathies for what you've gone through. It feels like being tortured, doesn't it? You may be right about the drugs. I'm hesitant, because I've had some reactions. I tried Rozerem (mimics melatonin), which worked for awhile, but then had the opposite effect. I thought I was nuts until I met others with the same response. I tried Excedrin PM and had such a ridiculously overblown response that I vowed not to try any of the hypnotics if an antihistimine could affect me so profoundly. I've used Trazadone in the past, but it left me sleepy during the day - I didn't have a mask then, though, so it might be worth a try.

looking4zzzz - the Bed Fan seems like a "cool" idea, doesn't it? I'm thinking about it. What I really want is some magic thing that will keep the *sheets* cool- like a Chillow for the whole bed! I think the memory foam pad is my problem with heat and don't know if the bed fan would help that or not. Might try it.

About the leak rate - yes, it did go down to 0.3. It's at 3.0 now. I see what you mean. I had assumed that what the machine reported (my understanding is that report feature is via the smart card - I could be wrong) on the LCD (which is what I'm reading) is the leak, minus the exhaust, but now that you mention it, the only way it could report a leak rate would be with a pressure measurement - it couldn't differentiate between the two. Perhaps there's an algorithm that subtracts and expected exhaust rate from the overall loss of pressure? But you're saying that others' readings don't match mine...I'll see if I can find anything on Respironics about it.

Nothing in the manual about leak rate. I couldn't find anything in the docs for the Swift, either (doesn't mean it's not there, but I couldn't find it).

I remembered something else - apparently my machine started flashing it's blue lights about 3 am and continued for hours. According to the manual, that indicates "device failure," though it's supposed to stop after 6 minutes. I just went and tried it - it's working fine. Kind of odd.

Can anyone tell me what FO SQ settings are? I pushed buttons. Typical Mac user. Now I have no idea where it was when I started. My excuse is that I thought I was advancing screens, not changing settings. Can't find THAT in the manual, either. I should probably be putting this in a new thread.

mkirkwag wrote:Nothing in the manual about leak rate. I couldn't find anything in the docs for the Swift, either (doesn't mean it's not there, but I couldn't find it).

I remembered something else - apparently my machine started flashing it's blue lights about 3 am and continued for hours. According to the manual, that indicates "device failure," though it's supposed to stop after 6 minutes. I just went and tried it - it's working fine. Kind of odd.

Can anyone tell me what FO SQ settings are? I pushed buttons. Typical Mac user. Now I have no idea where it was when I started. My excuse is that I thought I was advancing screens, not changing settings. Can't find THAT in the manual, either. I should probably be putting this in a new thread.

Excerpt from the Encore Pro "Help" menu:

"FOSQ is the Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire that helps to determine if a patient’s life-style is improving along with their therapy."

Your flashing lights MIGHT be an indication that the humidifier is not seated properly. (among other things)

Den

Wulfman wrote:
Excerpt from the Encore Pro "Help" menu:

"FOSQ is the Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire that helps to determine if a patient’s life-style is improving along with their therapy."

Your flashing lights MIGHT be an indication that the humidifier is not seated properly. (among other things)

Den

THAT'S weird. Why would it have settings? Maybe it's an opportunity to feed the answer to each question into the smartcard for reading by a doc.

Thanks, Den. I'll check the humidifier. I didn't think the door would close if it wasn't seated properly, so I probably am not all that careful.

mkirkwag wrote:I remembered something else - apparently my machine started flashing it's blue lights about 3 am and continued for hours. According to the manual, that indicates "device failure," though it's supposed to stop after 6 minutes. I just went and tried it - it's working fine. Kind of odd.

I have trouble finding things in printed manuals and have learned to use online manuals whenever possible, because an electronic search is so much easier and more reliable. CPAP Australia provides links to PDF versions of most user manuals. When you locate and open the manual for your machine, it would be a good idea to add the address to your Favorites list for future online searches. Here's the link:
http://www.cpapaustralia.com.au/articles.php?article=29

I assume you have a Respironics/REMstar cpap. When there's a problem, their blue lights flash in different patterns, and the patterns mean different things. Your user manual should include a section on troubleshooting, and it should explain the patterns and have instructions about the different things that can trigger the flashing lights. If you get flashing blue lights again, note which pattern is being used (it also will beep a pattern of sound) and note whatever message is displayed on the screen (there are a number of messages it might display). Then locate the appropriate light pattern and display message in the troubleshooting section of your manual, and follow the instructions.

mkirkwag wrote:Can anyone tell me what FO SQ settings are? I pushed buttons. Typical Mac user. Now I have no idea where it was when I started. My excuse is that I thought I was advancing screens, not changing settings. Can't find THAT in the manual, either. I should probably be putting this in a new thread.

mkirkwag wrote:Why would it have settings? Maybe it's an opportunity to feed the answer to each question into the smartcard for reading by a doc.

You're right... they aren't settings, so you didn't change anything. This explanation should apply to any Respironics/REMstar machine with the FOSQ feature: In short, FOSQ is an available method of answering the "Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire" (FOSQ). It's not the questionnaire itself; the multiple-choice questionnaire will come from your doc if/when he/she wants you to complete it. When you choose one of the possible answers (0,1,2,3 or 4) to each of the questions, it stores the answer on your Smart Card, and your doc can download your answers from it. You can ignore the FOSQ feature unless/until your doc gives you a questionnaire.

mkirkwag wrote:Nothing in the manual about leak rate. I couldn't find anything in the docs for the Swift, either (doesn't mean it's not there, but I couldn't find it).

Please understand that what I'm about to say is NOT criticism or coming from anger. I'm just trying to help.

The leak rate information you need would be in the manual for your mask, not your machine, and I'd gladly try to find the information you need if you're unable to. I like to help, I enjoy research, and I've had a fair amount of success. But there are different Swift masks, and I don't know which one you have. Please do not protest that it's listed in this thread. It may be; but the thread is 4 pages long, it has 55 posts, and I don't have the time or inclination to read through all of that, searching for something that could easily be added to your profile. This is why people have repeatedly asked that your equipment details be added to your profile. They aren't trying to control you or make you do things "their" way; they're just asking for the tools they need in order to help you. One time when asked to add it to your profile, you said this:

mkirkwag wrote:it's something about communicating personal information directly to people who are writing back as opposed to blasting it out there for thousands of strangers. Not that those strangers care - it just bugs me. Sorry to be frustrating - it's just my pathology

I would completely agree with you if we were talking about telephone numbers or residence addresses; but the "personal information" that you're talking about is CPAP equipment. First, why would someone knowing what kind of equipment you use be a threat to you? Second, when you include that information in an individual post, as you have, it's as available there for everybody to read as it would be in your profile. The truest things you said were that no one would care and that saying things like "it just bugs me" and "it's just my pathology" is frustrating.

By not adding your equipment info to your profile, it forces people to do a lot of extra work and spend lots of unnecessary time -- if they're willing and have the extra time -- just to determine which equipment is involved. And that's before they even start working on the actual question. These are the very people who are trying to help you. Why would you not want to make their job as easy as possible? If you keep refusing, people are going to stop trying to help. Is that what you want? Are you being intentionally inconsiderate for a reason that escapes me?

Considerate people who need assistance do anything that would make the helpers' work as easy as possible and require the least amount of their time. I'm certain if you'd do that one simple thing, you wouldn't get these tension-filled messages that benefit no one. But as Rooster said, it's your choice. Please make an effort to get along, reconsider your choice, and add your equipment details to your profile. It's in your own best interest.

Marsha