The Daily Blowdown

Looking good Mike, looking good.

Similar thing with me and my APAP. 9 cm minimum lets the clusters sneak in, but 10 cm minimum keeps them away.

BTW I like the buckwheat pillow myself.. Other type of pillows are "too high" for that metal rod in my neck. Puts a little forward torque to head that neck doesn't like. Even if I didn't have OSA I probably would still want to use the buckwheat pillow. While I love the initial "feel" of memory foam with the little dip for the head and support for the neck, it doesn't do well long term. Causes some neck pain and headaches from muscles in neck telling me not to do that. I use the fancy memory foam pillows for looks only with the shams.

For me, it's a feel thing. The buckwheat pillow conforms to my head, while the foam one feels like it's trying to get out of the way LOL.

4/25/2011

AHI 0.9 (!!!)
Leak 0.0

New record low on the AHI, I'm very jazzed about it. I'm happy when it's under 3, so this was a welcome surprise this morning! Nothing too new last night. I had switched to 14cm and no EPR for the night before, so that's still semi-new, but didn't change anything last night.

What I learned: 70 degrees is too low for the ClimateLine humidifier. Woke up with a horribly dry throat. Will go to 75 tonight, which was working well. I only changed the last couple of nights because it has been so humid in the apartment, but I guess that doesn't have a huge effect =)

4/26/2011

AHI 0.5
Leak 0.0

TWO sub 1 AHI nights in a row! Began to limit my sleeping again, now that I'm used to the mask and falling asleep regularly again, I'm heading back to 6 hours a night. I was aiming for 7-8 per night for the first couple of weeks, but while that does help me deal with sleep changes, it can tend to make me groggy in the AM.

What I learned: The mask is starting to "go invisible" before I even fall asleep now. I start to just not notice it after a few minutes.

4/27/2011

AHI 1.8
Leak 0.0

Bit of a rough night. I had a lot of trouble falling asleep, even after taking sleep meds. After getting up, doing some stuff, going back to sleep, I was finally able to nod off. Not sure what the cause was here, as yesterday was a pretty average day. Ah well, AHI was still really low.

What learned: No idea why, but I *definitely* mouth breathe at night. Woke up suddenly this AM from a deep sleep, and there I was, mouth wide open and breathing through it. Looks like the FFM is here to stay

4/28/2011

AHI 2.8

Really rough night. Maintenance insomnia all night long, couldn't sleep for more than an hour at a shot. This happens to me once in a while, so I don't think it has anything to do with the therapy.

What I learned: a 15 minute ramp up is my sweet spot. With that ramp, I don't notice the pressure, but I get up to 14cm quickly enough to be at full pressure before I fall asleep.

4/29/2011

AHI 1.8
Leak 0.0

Alright, I think I need to slack off on the sleep limiting. I was heading to 6 hours/night, but I hit "off" instead of "snooze" this AM and zonked out for another 2 hours.

What I learned: I feel much better before coffee this AM. I think 7 hours should be my tier for now.

4/30/2011

AHI 2.8
Leak 0.0

Horrible night. Nothing to do with the machine, I'm just in a maintenance insomnia cycle. Usually they only last a few days, so I should be good after last night for about another two or three months. Got about 4 hours of sleep =(

What I learned: I can REALLY feel it when I have a bad night now.

5/1/2011

AHI unknown

First night with the zzz-PAP and it went great. While it doesn't give detail data, I felt the same when waking up as I did with the S9 I normally use. Tonight I am back on the S9, as I will be getting ziggy (the zzz-PAP) all packed up =)

What I learned: I kind of like the hose on the front of the machine.

5/2/2011

AHI 2.6
Leak 9.2

Bit of an odd night. I believe the leak was caused by my using the new headgear (I have 2 sets to allow me to wash/dry one while using the other). The new one is Small, the old one is Medium. I *thought* I had it adjusted right, but obviously not LOL.

What I learned: I need the Medium headgear. I do have a backup mask which has the gear on it, so I do have a spare.

5/3/2011

AHI and Leak unknown - on the road

Real-world test of the travel system went pretty well. Had everything set up in about 10 min, start to finish. With the humidifier set to 3, I didn't have a horribly dry mouth like I did during the at-home test. Woke up twice during the night, which is only once more than my "normal."

What I learned: I'm thinking a good chunk of what had me get lousy nights sleep on the road was the OSA. I slept like a rock last night!

That was also an unexpected benefit for me. When traveling it would always take me a couple of days to get "adjusted" to my new surroundings. Traveling with xPAP seems to allow me to get better quality sleep, so the adjustment process is greatly reduced.

Now, if I could train the machine to do my work, I could just send it and spend my time at home...

HoseCrusher wrote:
Now, if I could train the machine to do my work, I could just send it and spend my time at home...

No way! then they'd pay the machine instead of me!

5/4/2011

AHI 4.6
Leak 9.2

Hmm, strange numbers, not sure what was causing either. I wasn't doing much differently, but it was the first night back after an overnight trip, so maybe that's it. Keeping an eye on the numbers for another couple of days to see if it settles down again.

What I learned: the ResMed H5I humidifier is much easier to fill when compared to the zzz-PAP =)

5/5/2011

AHI 3.0
Leak 0.0

AHI slowly going back down again. The leak dropped back down after a minor strap adjustment to the headgear, I suppose it had stretched a little over time.

What I learned: My body REALLY wants 8 hours of sleep. Going to aim for that for a while.