Newbie - TONS of questions after 2 nights, HELP!!!

Jayjonbeach wrote: Yes I agree completely that given my chances that I fell into the low to moderate group and that no titration was done, starting at 7-8 made perfect sense. What did not was not having a titration and then NOT telling me how to do it myself! Without the forum and some guidance I would still be snoring at 7! The damn "Technician" who gave me this loaner machine did not even tell me about the EPR or what is was for!

And I agree completely with that.

O.

Welcome to the forum Jayjonbeach. You should be able to see your leak rate with your machine and what is it? If your leaks are not under control this can cause your other numbers to be higher. I think you may need to look at other mask options to find the right one for you and there are many to choose from. I would give your pressure range some time before changing it and then when you finally do find the right pressure number you could set it on straight cpap with that number. Some people have problems using the auto as the pressure changes disturb their sleep. I leave mine in auto mode as the pressure changes don't bother me. Good luck, you're off to a great start.

rosie

Jayjon, you're doing a great job with lots of info and a steep learning curve. Not being Canadian, I'm not exactly sure how y'all's healthcare system works, but other Canadian posters have indicated that to be able to obtain an auto machine one must meet certain requirements. I think one of those is a prescribed pressure of 10 or higher, and there may well be others. Knowing that, cpap.com might be a better bet because they'll sell you an auto machine with a script for any cpap. This would be out-of-pocket for you, but if you value your time and effort, or have a low frustration level for stupid providers, it might be worth it.

So the journey continues with several more deveopments today. See here for one of them: viewtopic/t54691/Chest-pains--Just-got- ... eeded.html

Last night was pretty good overall with numbers to match. I got up once at 5am which is not unusual at all for me, then up at my usual time around 7 for work. The sleep until 5 was quite sound with NO leaks, 5-7 was not as good as I had some trouble sleeping and there was a very small leak up by my eye that I think I got rid of mostly (to answer a question in a post above me so far my leaks have been minimal usual 0.04 and once went to 0.1). At 5am I checked my AHI and it was only 6 with AI being 1.2 which is the lowest yet! Here are my numbers upon waking:

Av pressure: 12
AHI: 7.5
AI: 1.9
Leaks: 0.06 (the lowest I have seen is 0.04 which is what it was at 5am)

So these are the lowest numbers yet and in the morning I felt pretty good overall but not as good as Sunday where I really felt rested. I did sleep longer on Saturday night and was more relaxed as I did not have to work so I think all these little things play a part too. I ate a late lunch as usual and thought that I would not crash and burn as I felt a little better than normal, nope. 2:30/3:00 came and wow I got really tired and stayed that way for the rest of the day/night.

So I can confirm what is in the post above me, to get APAP you have to have a prescription AND meet some bluddy requirements. Great, thanks again fu**ing government for limited my options and potentially screwing up my health AGAIN. I have booked an appointment with the Sleep doctor and I plan on guilting her into giving me the S9 Autoset and not just the Elite model since she never did a bluddy titration on me and sent me home with a guestimate pressure which appears to be way off.

Can someone comment on what all the requirements are for the S9?

Looking at the pressures so far it appear 9 to 12 seems to be a good range for me but it is still early to tell.

I did figure out the quick disconnect on the Quattro too which is SO much better than any other way of disconnecting. You just gently grab the clear elbow with one hand and the dark grey connector with the other and pull on the grey connector and it comes right off. Not sure if this is the way it is intended and I wonder if I keep doing it if it will wear it out over time as it just had little groves in the plastic to hold it on and stop it from leaking.

I also found out I can purchase an oximeter for $240.00 new from Medigas. Renting one was 150 per month and instead of just a finger probe like the one they sell, they give you the full getup with heart rate and more like an ER would use. How do you hook up the finger probe to the S9 or S8, anyone know?

It seems I am experiencing more GAS than usual, I think it was worse on CPAP too as it seems on CPAP the constant pressure is more noticable for some reason. Even on APAP though I have more gas, will this subside over time?

I wonder how much YOGA would help people with OSA, I'm thinking A LOT. I have been paying much more attention to my breathing and last night while falling asleep I noticed myself stoppping breathing a few times and it woke me up. I was on my back (I NEVER SLEEP ON MY BACK, IT DOESN"T WORK I STOP BREATHING OR SNORE AND BOTH WAKE ME UP, ALWAYS HAS, I sleep on my side only and always) as I just lay on my back to get tired ONLY then turn on my side and I think my breathing is not very strong and does not have a good developed pattern and rythm about it hence my issues I guess.

Anyway there is my rant/update and questions for the night.

brazospearl wrote:Jayjon, you're doing a great job with lots of info and a steep learning curve. Not being Canadian, I'm not exactly sure how y'all's healthcare system works, but other Canadian posters have indicated that to be able to obtain an auto machine one must meet certain requirements. I think one of those is a prescribed pressure of 10 or higher, and there may well be others. Knowing that, cpap.com might be a better bet because they'll sell you an auto machine with a script for any cpap. This would be out-of-pocket for you, but if you value your time and effort, or have a low frustration level for stupid providers, it might be worth it.

I got an auto set machine from my DME... my Rx says "CPAP 8, Titration 7-16, Humidifier as needed."

It's my understanding that for most Canadian Hosers, coverage and the type of machine that one gets are two totally separate issues. The type of machine depends on what the prescribing doctor writes (my Mom has a F&P straight up CPAP machine, while I have an APAP) and the amount of coverage depends on one's income (the Province of BC will cover the cost if one is on limited income/social assistance and can prove that there are no family unit funds available to cover the purchase cost) and how good one's extended health insurance benefits are (I have Pacific Blue Cross and am expecting them to cover me at 100%, seeing as I met my deductible last year).