I;ve finally joined up!

Hi Everyone, after following this forum for the last few weeks, i have finally got around to joining up. This forum has been a huge help to me, in helping fastrack my recovery. I was diagnosed with OSA on June 20 this year, and my AHI was 33 events per hour. I commenced CPAP treatment on June 30, so my treatment is now 60 days in. My average AHI over the 60 day period has been 2.5. During the trial period, I found that APAP is the better treatment for me.

My initial sleep study on June 20 was conducted in hospital, via referral from my sleep specialist, who then proceeded to communicate my results to me.

My ongoing treatment is being managed by a local pharmacy in my area, that specialises in providing sleep apnea assistance. Every Friday I sit down with the pharmacist and review my results for the week. I'm not sure whether pharmacies in other countries in the world, provide sleep apnea assistance, so I am extremely grateful, that I have this option available to me.

The only real issue I've had with getting used to the APAP system, is that sometimes when I put the mask on, I feel compelled to breathe "consciously", instead of just continuing to breathe "sub-consciously" like we normally do. When this happens I just have to concentrate on slowing my breathing down,
and within a few minutes I'm breathing sub-concsiously again.

Welcome aboard! Glad you joined the group! Keep us posted how your treatment goes.

Jeff

Welcome, Mammal! You are so lucky to have a handy DME who works with you! Many of us don't have that luxury, and we are now completely jealous.

If you're having trouble breathing easily at the beginning of the night it could be you need to adjust the pressure or the exhale relief. Or, you're still just adjusting. If you could fill in your equipment in your profile it will make it easier for us to give opinions. And ask us anything, we're here to help.

If the ramp feature on your machine is used (most of us stop using it very early on - don't need it) it's generally set to begin at a very low number (like 4-5) and it's impossible to breathe at that setting, which might be why you have trouble starting out. Ask your pharmacist to raise the pressure, or else, turn off the ramp altogether and just get going at your prescribed pressure - no big deal unless it's a very high (over 12-15) setting.

Thanks for your advice.

I never considered that I may be starting at too low a pressure. Currently I start at 4, and the machine self-adjusts as required. My average pressure for the first 60 days has been 10.1. I will speak to my pharmacist on Friday, about this issue.

What does "DME" stand for?

Last nite's sleep was interesting. I went to bed at 10.30pm and couldn't get to sleep, so I got up and spent an hour surfing the forum. I then went back to bed and finally got to sleep. I woke up at 3.00am and watched tv for half an hour, before getting back to sleep. I woke up at 8.00am feeling very ordinary, as if I had had a unrefreshing nites sleep. Yet I recorded my lowest nightly AHI of 1.1 !

Mammal wrote:I never considered that I may be starting at too low a pressure. Currently I start at 4, and the machine self-adjusts as required. My average pressure for the first 60 days has been 10.1. I will speak to my pharmacist on Friday, about this issue.

Hi,

The start pressure of 4 is probably the issue. Few people are comfortable breathing at less than 7 or 8. Ask your pharmacist about moving the bottom number up. If you are running at 10 most of the time, you want to start pretty close to that level. If you have an event, the machine has to move the pressure upwards. If it has to travel too far, it could take too long, and it could miss the opportunity to suppress that event. A rule of thumb that you often see suggested here is setting the lower pressure 2 cm below your typical pressure, and the high side 3 cm above your typical pressure. Then check to see if you are maxing out, and if so, set the upper number a bit higher.

Mammal wrote:What does "DME" stand for?

DME is durable medical equipment. The term is used to refer to a company that supplies your medical equipment. I found that I can often buy the equipment on-line for less than what my insurance co-pays are, so I am not using a DME. In your case, it sounds like you found a gem.

-john-