edit: here are my latest screen shots, leaks r better!

With a lot of help from a very special person, I managed to get these suckers up finally!
I hope they show up okay, if not my apologies because Im a computer idiot.
Since the graphs scroll, I tried to print all the different views as I scrolled them.

This is from the night before last, its the second time I have seen any of the graphs. The night before that I had
no obstructives, just ten little centrals and an unknown. They were spread out during the night. My ahi was of course
very low too, like 1.8 that night.

So here is night before last, my ahi is very low! Im very happy about that!
The break is when I woke up, but this time, I was so friggen tired, I managed to go back
to sleep in the morning, which was so nice!

I am so clueless I dont know what questions to ask, except, do they look good?
If something needs to improve, what is it, and how should I do that?
My pressure is 5 to 15.

EDIT.. OOPS MY PRESSURE IS 5-19!!!
Im trying to figure out what my best range should really be.
(I dont feel that great when Im sleeping or when I wake up)
I am a light sleeper, if that makes any difference.
I even stuck in my sleep study, because I see people ask questions about that, like leg movements etc.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Also I would like to share this free program, if you are looking at your rescan graphs and want a screen shot,
all you do is press PRINT SCREEN on your keyboard after you download it! You can email it, save it, mess with,
redact your personal information.. its great!

http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/






















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My sleep study from february

Patient: 53 year old female
Patients estimate of sleep latency 120 minutes, patients estimate of sleep duration 2 hours.. Patient reported quality and quantity of sleep same as usual.
Epworth score: 0
Sleep data:
time in bed 6.1 hrs
total sleep time: 66.5 minutes
stage one sleep 2.0 minutes 3.0%
stage two sleep 60.5 minutes 91%
stage three sleep 4.0 minutes 6%
Rem 0.0 minutes 0.0%
WASO (wake time after sleep onset) 174.5 minutes or 2.9 hours
sleep latency 125.5 minutes or 2.09 hours to get to sleep
Sleep effienciency 18.1 %

Respirtory events:
Central 4, obstructive 28, mixed 0, hypopnea 16
total number of events 48
maximum seconds 29.5

oximetry data: desaturation events index 33.4 lowest SA02 81%
arousal data: total number of arousals 86
leg movement arousals 0.0
snoring arousals 0.0
arousal index 77.6/hr
spontaneous arousals 41
respiratory arousals 45, respiratory arousal index 40. 6 /hr

Comments: Respiratory events were obstructive with AHI of 43.3. Baseline oxygen saturation normal, oxygen desaturation index was 33.4/hr severely increased. Desaturation events were intermittant. Sleep structure and quality was fragmented due to respiratory events.. Conclusion: severe sleep apnea based on limited sleep time.

If that was me, I would raise my minimum pressure a bit. I might even try running in CPAP mode at 12 cm for a week to see if my leak line got flatter and my AHI got lower. Your leak is mostly within acceptable range for most of the night, so it should not be a cause of worry at all, or anything. But a flatter leak line might let you sleep better.

You are doing well, all in all, and have all the tools to do a little tweaking just to see if a flatter leak line and constant pressure might make things even better. For a self-described "computer idiot," you should be very proud of yourself on many levels, Elena.

Looks to me like you're having some serious leak issues.......

My recommendation would be to set it in CPAP mode at a pressure of 10. It says you have EPR set to Off, so I won't make any recommendations there......unless you find that you NEED to use it......then maybe at a setting of "1".
Try that for maybe a week and see what things look like.


Den

Wulfman wrote:Looks to me like you're having some serious leak issues.......

My recommendation would be to set it in CPAP mode at a pressure of 10. It says you have EPR set to Off, so I won't make any recommendations there......unless you find that you NEED to use it......then maybe at a setting of "1".
Try that for maybe a week and see what things look like.


Den

I have been wanting to try a different pressure, maybe a contant. I did use the epr one night, I loved it, but my aha shot up to almost five,
so I wont use that, maybe at one if I have to.. Okay, some tweeking is in order, thank you so much!!!!

*************************************************************

who wrote:If that was me, I would raise my minimum pressure a bit. I might even try running in CPAP mode at 12 cm for a week to see if my leak line got flatter and my AHI got lower. Your leak is mostly within acceptable range for most of the night, so it should not be a cause of worry at all, or anything. But a flatter leak line might let you sleep better.

You are doing well, all in all, and have all the tools to do a little tweaking just to see if a flatter leak line and constant pressure might make things even better. For a self-described "computer idiot," you should be very proud of yourself on many levels, Elena.

****************************************
oh I have to fix those leaks!
aha, I see raising the pressure might be the ticket here, thanks! I have been wanting to try cpap mode to see how I would do, Im so excited, thanks!
And as for getting these suckers up here, I have to tell you, that I could not have done it without someone taking a LOT OF time and effort, but she
said even a newbie could do it! I hope all the newbies who are computer idiots like me can get theirs up here too. Without you guys I would have quit
a LONG time ago! Bless all your lil ole hearts!

Elena, congratulations on figuring out the software, and how to post images! You're on your way to becoming a geek.

Looking at your data, I think your leaks are too constant, and occasionally too high. Over 24 liters/minute, ResMed fails to compensate for leaks, and the data is questionable. I know you've struggled with masks, but I think this is the main barrier to your getting effective therapy. It's a circle--you get a leak (mask or mouth), the pressure goes up, you get a even bigger leak, etc. I find that even though the machine can compensate, the leak still disturbs my sleep, and arousals can result in more Centrals, when you move from one sleep stage to another. Or, perhaps the higher pressure is causing Centrals.

I think you mentioned that you have a good sleep doc, so perhaps when she goes over your data, she may have some suggestions for you. Please let us know.

If it were me, I would go to straight cpap, and adjust the mask the best I can at that pressure. If the pressure doesn't vary during the night, perhaps the leaks would be better controlled. Your obstructive apneas seem to be pretty well controlled with the range your are using, so zoom in to 1 or 5 minutes on your Detailed Graph (bottom one) and see what the pressure was immediately before each obstructive apnea, to get an idea of what your pressure should be.

Normally, I would say try your 95 centile of 11.2, but your leaks leaks may have affected that number.

how do you get the screenshots into your reply?

KatieW wrote:Elena, congratulations on figuring out the software, and how to post images! You're on your way to becoming a geek.

Looking at your data, I think your leaks are too constant, and occasionally too high. Over 24 liters/minute, ResMed fails to compensate for leaks, and the data is questionable. I know you've struggled with masks, but I think this is the main barrier to your getting effective therapy. It's a circle--you get a leak (mask or mouth), the pressure goes up, you get a even bigger leak, etc. I find that even though the machine can compensate, the leak still disturbs my sleep, and arousals can result in more Centrals, when you move from one sleep stage to another. Or, perhaps the higher pressure is causing Centrals.

I think you mentioned that you have a good sleep doc, so perhaps when she goes over your data, she may have some suggestions for you. Please let us know.

If it were me, I would go to straight cpap, and adjust the mask the best I can at that pressure. If the pressure doesn't vary during the night, perhaps the leaks would be better controlled. Your obstructive apneas seem to be pretty well controlled with the range your are using, so zoom in to 1 or 5 minutes on your Detailed Graph (bottom one) and see what the pressure was immediately before each obstructive apnea, to get an idea of what your pressure should be.

Normally, I would say try your 95 centile of 11.2, but your leaks leaks may have affected that number.

THANK YOU KATIE! I guess I will get better information when I get the leaks situated and I can really zone in on my pressure.. thank you for
all these sugguestions.. and I am one of the lucky ones who's doctor will do ANYTHING to help me. She is the one who got me the s9, and she is the
one who said I could be in charge of the data and print and bring it to her.

asleep@thewheel wrote:how do you get the screenshots into your reply?

Oh goodness, this is the blind leading the blind darling!
Well, I registered at photobucket..
http://photobucket.com/
(see the screen shot link at the top of my page, I used that to take the screen shots)
then I saved the screenshot images in my photo file, then I went to photo bucket and downloaded them, then
I took the urls from there, put them in the reply field here, and clicked THE img icon there on the top of the field..

my alter persona is Mr. Magoo
so the blind leading the blind is fitting.

thank oyu.

Now you made me choke I laughed so hard!


Listen if I can do this, and we are talking about someone who has never stuck a disc in a computer for anything, anybody can do it!

I had no idea I could stick an sd card in that little doo hicky thing, it could have been a wheat thin holder for all I knew!

OMG, look I can do it! I did it again! here is last night's graph!
Oh will wonders ever cease?
Anyone see the lightbulb over my head????
p.s. I made a boo boo on my first post, my pressure is not 5 - 15 its 5 - 19 eek!

I've been using my machine for about 4 months now. It is a CPAP ResMed Machine.

How do I pull the graphical data out of it?

I only figured out how to see the data on the screen (the tech at the sleep clinic refused to show me even this - job security I guess).

Do I need to pull the data card and plug it in to my computer? What software would I need to look at the data?

Hello there!

This is so funny, I have no idea what IM doing, but lets wing it!

Now I shall pretend to be one of the helpful apneans!



What model machine do you have exactly?

EDIT.. OKAY, I JUST SENT YOU A PM WITH THE DOWNLOAD INFO FOR RESCAN..

elena88 wrote:...
oh I have to fix those leaks! ...

That is what my leak line looked like on nights when I suddenly started mouth breathing using a nasal pillow mask, but that's just me. Your experience may be altogether different.

I'm not an expert, but "if" you were mouth breathing I wonder if any amount of pressure would help with such high leaks? Have you tried experimenting with taping or chin strap or a full face mask?


r

Rebecca R wrote:

elena88 wrote:...
oh I have to fix those leaks! ...

That is what my leak line looked like on nights when I suddenly started mouth breathing using a nasal pillow mask, but that's just me. Your experience may be altogether different.

I'm not an expert, but "if" you were mouth breathing I wonder if any amount of pressure would help with such high leaks? Have you tried experimenting with taping or chin strap or a full face mask?


r

I tape my mouth, and put a tiny slit in the middle about a quarter inch so I can cough without blowing the tape off.
I have tried full face masks and hybrids, I have a protruding bone on my cheeks next to my nose which makes all of them leak,
even the DME said I was his biggest challange, and said no matter what, we would end up with the fitlife. That didnt work either
I do love my nose pillows though!

Have you tried a Hyrbid?