First night with data - more Q than A.

Hi All,

So after two months using the M series Plus set at 8, my medium comfortgel nasal mask, and feeling great, I tried out my new Auto Aflex machine last night. I have it set with a range of 7-20 and do not have the card reader and software yet (it's on order).

I started the night with my new swift LT (which was adjusted tight enough to just overcome leaking at . Well I could tell something was wrong - Even when I was half-asleep, I could tell the pressure went up and the mask wasnt sealing right, so I tightened it some. I awoke at 2AM soaked in sweat - something that used to happen EVERY night BEFORE CPAP, but not EVER while ON cpap. Clearly something was really wrong. I looked at the machine and the pressure was at 17. Yikes!

So I put my trusty comfortgel nasal mask back on, putting the swift LT to the side, cinched the mask down, restarted the machine, and went to sleep until 7AM. I could tell during the night that I had a leak or two. I assumed from higher pressure. I felt fine in the morning - no sweat soaked shirt. Much more normal experience.

numbers
AH 5.4
90% 14
leak 20.5

I assume these numbers stink, but I have no experience in interpreting them. Some questions:
Is there some 'floor' value from the normal mask venting?
AH5.4 - in my sleep study without cpap I was 74.5 - but this numebr looks high on cpap, yes?
90% -14.....14????? Is this because of the swift LT experience??

I am not panicking. I will stick to my trusty mask for the next couple of nights, and I should get my card reader/software in the next day or so, and will take a closer look at the data then. Is there a good link that explains how to read the data?

One more questions (sorry) - is the end of the inhalation different from Aflex and Cflex? It does seem to 'drop off' a touch right at the end of the inhalation. Is this a feature? The whole feel does seem a little more.... adaptive.

None of those numbers are bad. Your AHI is a little high but you did have the issue with the LT so it is probably from that. Below 10 is considered "normal", although most people on CPAP try to get it down to less than 5. So even with your issue, you did pretty well. The 90% at 14 just means that the machine needed to use a pressure of 14 to stop 90% of your apneas. It doesn't indicate any issue. Now that number is a lot higher than the 8 you were using before but it could be higher because of the issue with the LT and/or your pressure of 8 on the Plus could have still been too little.

The leak rate seems reasonable. You would need to take a look at the chart that came with your Comfortgel to see what the leak rate should be at a pressure of 14. The 20.5 seems to be a reasonable number though. Of course everything is a bit muddled for last night because of the issue with the LT but your numbers aren't bad.

An AHI of under 5 is considered normal. Anything over 5 is unacceptable. Many of us get much lower than 5 on a regular basis.
One night is not enough time to see if it's really working for you or not. Wait a few more nights and see if your numbers look any better.

Brenda

As Brenda said, you can't interpret anything from one night ... especially if you change masks in the middle of the night.

It was likely the leaks that caused the pressure to increase which in trun caused more leaks. First things first, get the leaks under control ... then start analyzing data to optimize pressure settings.