pudnnpy, I hope you don't mind my copying your first post to make it be a topic of its own instead of having it being lost in another thread.pudnnpy wrote: Posted by pudnnpy on Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:42 am in another thread:
I am very new at this. All this information is very much appreciated, even if a bit overwhelming at this time. I may be asking dumb questions, but here goes anyway.
I would love to know how you arrive at the sleep data you're listing. Is this information directly from your doctor? My machine has a place for a card that my doctor uses to check my progress, but as far as I know I can't access any data from it. And, unfortunely, my insurance will only cover one more visit to the clinic. How would I be able to access any new data in the future?
My doctor tells me that I have a deviated septum. I've looked this up & see that there is a relatively simple operation for this. Does anyone else have a deviated septum causing sleep apnea? If so & if you had the operation did it help any?
Thanks for bearing with me.
What is the full name of your machine, as written on top of the machine? More often than not, the home health supplies store that gave you your machine will not give you a machine that records the kind of sleep data you've been seeing people talk about on this message board.
For example, if your machine is a Respironics Plus or a ResMed Escape or Escape II or any Fisher & Paykel CPAP, those machines record only "hours of use" (compliance) onto the card stuck in them. Slightly more expensive models by those same manufacturers do record AHI -- apnea/hypopnea index -- a number that tells you the average per hour of apneas and/or hypopneas that sneaked through despite treatment. Also you'd get to see leak information -- lets you figure out if the leaks are excessive, which can mean your mask is leaking too much, or (if not wearing a "Full Face" mask to cover nose and mouth together) you might be mouth breathing and having treatment air escape out the mouth instead of going down to keep the throat open. There can be a lot of useful information on the card, IF the machine is a model that can record more than just hours of use.
Here's a link to the models that record what we, on the message board, often refer to as "full data", as well as machines that don't record the kind of information you're asking about:
My list of machines that record "full data" (AHI and leak info) and those that don't -- as of October 2008:
viewtopic.php?p=307168#p307168
Click "reply" to this thread when you determine the full name of your machine, and let us know. People will be glad to offer you suggestions and help when they know what model machine you're using. If you want to post a completely different kind of question, it's a good idea to click the "Post a new topic" button.
Many of us buy software to download data from the machine's card ourselves.
It depends on the brand/model as to how you can access the data from your machine and what software to get, to read the card.
But you need to know first if the machine is even capable of recording anything worth seeing on the card. You already know if you're using the machine or not, so "hours of use" recorded on the card (which is all that the most basic models can do) is of no use to you. The only use for that is for the DME to do a download to prove to insurance/Medicare that someone is really using the machine for at least "minimum" compliance (usually considered to be at least 4 hours a night, five nights a week) so that insurance/Medicare will keep paying rental on the machine.
Sleep apnea is usually a problem with the muscles in back of throat, back of tongue during sleep. I doubt if a deviated septum can cause sleep apnea. Correcting some kinds of nasal problems (reducing enlarged turbinates, for example, or dealing with sinus issues) can sometimes make it easier to use CPAP treatment -- easier to get sufficient air through the nose. But if the throat is collapsing during sleep, correcting a deviated septum isn't going to do anything for the apnea problem itself, I wouldn't think.
I'm not a doctor, though. Just my opinion.
Welcome to the board, pudnnpy.
