Encore Viewer 2.0 software -- download anywhere>?

Thanks again for spending your time looking for me. It is a kindness that you don’t see very often.
Fortunately there is no “plus” in the name of the bipap machine. I do have the special Mako Infineer DT3500.
I have a complicated situation with bad insurance right now. My apnea is mixed central and obstructive and it isn’t certain if or how much the bipap will help. That is why I am trying to go the “free” route - nothing lost if it doesn’t work and I will get a new machine (in the future with different insurance) if it does. So far it has been about a month and I haven’t noticed anything other than the difficulty of trying to sleep with a mask on.
I’m not sure if an older version of basic would be worth trying or not. From what I am gathering (and this is my theory) Respironics at one time was it’s own entity. At some point Phillips either merged or took over Respironics to form Phillips Respironics. None of the people that I spoke to at Phillips Respironics had worked there long enough to be familiar with the M series, but I got the impression that Phillips Respironics will not offer any type of support for any equipment that was made under just the Respironics name. I don’t know whether the earlier version of Basic was made by Respironics or Phillips Respironics, but I believe that it would make a difference.
I have read on another apnea forum where someone suggested that the M Series machines stored their data in a binary format that was then converted to XML for report viewing. Perhaps Basic and Pro do not do this conversion?
By the way, I have never posted on a forum before. If I am doing something wrong or providing too much information please feel freely to let me know.
I wish you luck with your old computer. I also have an old Dell that will fire up only once in a blue moon.
Hope that your horses are O.K.!

Hey Dave....horses are fine thank you. It was someone who wants me to try a new product to help with digestion and I would have to hand feed it as they wouldn't take it from him. My boys are over 20 now and while they are in good shape I do what I can to keep them healthy.

No luck with the old dead computer but this has prompted me to do something that I have been putting off which is pull the hard drive and hook it up to my current computer and see what is on it. I just haven't had it on the front burner. Give me a little bit and I will see if I can get that done.

Here's a serious problem though even if we can get the data off the M series BiPap...your situation is complicated by your mention of complex sleep apnea. The M series models didn't ever flag centrals. It only flagged OAs and hyponeas. Now there was some discussion that any centrals got dumped into the hyponea basket but I never could get anyone to confirm that fact.

You do have the AHI on the LCD screen available....it will show OAs and hypnea index and give you some information. Did you turn on that feature?

As for forum etiquette thing...might have been better to have this discussion in your own thread but it's not that big of a deal and I am not going to worry about it. I don't think anyone who might be able to help is still active on the forum and that would be the main advantage to having your own thread...get your problem out in front of everyone because not everyone bothers to read old Encore threads.

Would you mind telling me a little more about your sleep study results? What was the actual AHI breakdown...how complicated is the complex sleep apnea? Any chance your DME buddy has a System One or ResMed S9 sitting on the shelf that you could try?
I am a bit concerned that event the M series BiPap isn't the right machine for you but to know for sure we really need a machine that will flag centrals and the M series won't do it. So there's no way to know if it is even helping or not.

I do have the AHI available on the screen. I must admit that I am a good bit ignorant when it comes to all of this apnea stuff. Although I’m still a PA I spent my career in surgery and have been retired for several years now so I have been learning as I go here.
My history with apnea arose because of super high blood pressure that can’t be controlled with the handfuls of pills that I am on. My doc ordered an overnight pulse ox that showed hundreds of hypoxias. That led to the sleep study that was done six weeks ago at a sleep center. I found it to be an awful experience where I slept for only 139.5 minutes (fragmented) the whole night. My report indicates 1OA, 1CA, and 11 hypopnea for an AHI of 5.6/hr. (I have had several spinal surgeries which may be contributing to the CA) The AHI on the machine for a 30 day average is only 2.9, but to be honest I am having so many issues with the mask that I only sleep with it 4-5 hours a night. Among other things, I had a reaction to the silicone in the cushion and my skin peeled off causing me to not use it for several days. So, my numbers are skewed.
I am also wearing a pulse ox nightly that keeps track of the hypopneas and it has software that allows me to print graphs that show tons of information about the hypoxias. This info along with the reports that I thought I would obtain from the M Series are to be presented to my pulmonary doc next month.
No chance of getting the System One or ResMed. The old stock is usually sent back -it was just a bit of luck that the M series was left on the shelf.
Thank you for your help and concern as it is appreciated.

For Dave

1 central apnea is no big deal but of course you didn't sleep much but even if we were to extrapolate that to more hours of sleep it still wouldn't be enough to earn the complex sleep apnea diagnosis. You would need at least 5 centrals per hour average to be even considered...a random real central apnea is actually normal. We can have what are called sleep onset central apneas and they are normal and not a big deal unless we have a truckload of them.

You are having a lot of plain ordinary problems with sleep in general just from mask issues if nothing else and until those issues get sorted out you can't really expect to feel any improvement. Even without the OSA diagnosis (and yours is very mild anyway which makes me wonder about UARS in your situation with the BP problems) when we don't sleep well we feel like crap.

My suggestion...go to secondwindcpap.com and look for a gently used machine that is full data and won't cost an arm and a leg.
PR System One or newer....or ResMed S9 or newer model. Don't look at any other brands. Personally I think ResMed is a bit superior but I started out my cpap journey on a Respironics and used it for about 3 years I guess and was happy with it. I finally tried ResMed product and was happier with it for several reasons.

With only 1 central or even 2 or 3....I doubt you need the high end ASV model which was why I ask about the sleep study results. I wanted to rule out needing ASV because it does cost a lot more.
I know free is attractive but if free doesn't give you the data you need then it really isn't a good thing especially when we are worrying about our health.

Google UARS Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome and start reading. Your diagnostic AHI is actually fairly mild but that doesn't mean it isn't enough to cause your problems but when someone has significant health issues along with a not very remarkable diagnostic sleep study then I can't help but wonder about UARS.
Did your sleep study have any mention of arousals...either respiratory related or spontaneous????
UARS is associated with respiratory related arousals.

What meds are you taking for your BP issues? A lot of BP meds can impact sleep quality and cause sleep problems.
Any other meds being taken??

Respironics software ...any version...historically just plain sucks. I have had people with the DreamStation machine get the "invalid data" message using Encore Pro and I have them send me a copy of their SD card and I get the same message when I run it through my Encore program. It's just crappy software. It really only offers one data point that I miss that Oscar doesn't and that's an easier way to view flow rate....which is useful sometimes. But the M series machine didn't record flow rate so even if we could get the software up and running it wouldn't help you since it doesn't record it and I suspect that flow rate evaluation is going to be important to you.
The System One or newer or S9 or newer machines...offer flow rate evaluation.

Wow, your wealth of knowledge is impressive. I did not know about the 5 centrals per hour for diagnosis and that reduces my concern a great deal. I cant believe that I never heard of UARS previously. In just the few minutes that I read about it, it really fits my situation (for the most part).

In response to your inquiries: The sleep study showed 78 arousals - 8 were respiratory and the rest were spontaneous or leg movement. I have tried every family of blood pressure medicine available. What I am on are the only ones that didn’t cause serious side effects. They are: clonidine, labetalol, hydralazine, hydrochlorthiazide, and recently my doctor started me on buspirone to see if there is an anxiety component to the BP issue (even though I am not anxious). So far I really did not notice a change in BP or anxiety. I do take a baby aspirin and sometimes a multivitamin if I have cramping. I have prescriptions for anti inflammatories and pain medicine but try not to take them because of reduced kidney function. It is strange, but in 2017 I had no health issues and didn’t even have a PCP. I dislocated my lower spine and required emergency surgery. Several surgeries later I am left with lots of pain and all these other issues that we speak of.

Thank you for your suggestions and for recommending those specific machines. It is very hard to know what to choose when inundated with all of the various equipment that is out there. I think that I am going to have to take your advice and start looking into something else. The M series is mine to keep, so if ever you are able to recover the old software, I would still like to try it.

I am excited to lean more about UARS. It is awesome that you spend your time helping others. My hat is off to you sir!

For Dave...

this below is an example of what you could see on a detailed report from the software if you could get it up and running.
You aren't really missing much.
It's not interactive at all like OSCAR is.
Go here and watch the videos to get an idea what you can do with OSCAR. I know it mentions SleepyHead but OSCAR was built off the SleepyHead product so visually and mechanically things are pretty much the same.

http://freecpapadvice.com/sleepyhead-free-software

Not one of mine but the only one I have handy at the moment. The M Series machine simply didn't gather very many data points like flow rate and centrals and some other stuff. It was a cadillac in its day but its day is long past. It would make a good back up machine or something to take camping because it easily will run off a 12 volt battery but to need to use it for help in sorting out problems it just comes up lacking. Haven't had time to see if I could pull the hard drive and look to see if I have the other software. I had a different problem with my own current laptop to deal with. I may end up needing another computer. Sigh...always something.

Thought I needed a new computer just 4 days ago. Got a 2.5" 500gb SSD from best buy for $60 & all is better than before. Hope that it goes that easily for you.

Thank you thank you for all of the info. I have a lot of learning to do.

You are appreciated.

CallMeDave wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 15, 2021 1:33 pm

Wow, your wealth of knowledge is impressive.

ain't she sumthin'?

which brings me to-

CallMeDave wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 15, 2021 1:33 pm

My hat is off to you sir!

ma'am would be the honorific.

that said it's astonishing how much she knows and how freely she gives it.

we all benefit!