Last night was night one...

As my user name suggests, I've racked up the credit card on sleep debt. Unfortunately, my sleep doctor couldn't tell me when my apnea started or if I had it for my entire life! (I'm 29). What I do know is that I would wake up in the morning and be a horrible person to be around. Before I had a coffee and a smoke (I know it's bad...trust me, I get it from wife and mother!!!) I would be downright Mr. Hyde.

Last night was the first night on my new CPAP therapy. Now, I'm not going to proclaim it a full success yet but when I woke up in the morning (5 am ish, went to bed around 10 pm) it just felt easier to wake up and get out of bed. Not saying that it's making me want to run a marathon but if down the road I actually start going to the gym with my wife, it would be a very pleasant side effect.

I know that not everyone will have a positive first experience and I might just really be eager to see results but if day one is any sign of things to come, this will definitely be a positive experience!

Usually it's about 50/50 that you'll get a great night on your first night with CPAP, but most folks do see improvement within the first month of use. For me, it was slow and steady and continues to get better 6-months in.

Hang in there, and GREAT to see that your first night went well!

It may be slow and steady for you. But don't be surprised if you take one step forward and two steps back. If you persist, you'll eventually win out. The best thing you can do is to monitor your progress and take charge. I don't know if your machine provides you data, but at the minimum, you need to know your AHI average, your leak rate and probably your 95 percentile on a nightly basis. If you don't monitor these things, you may not be receiving the proper therapy and will hinder your improvement and progress. Managing your leaks, and finding a comfortable mask is the key to sucess.

Best wishes, Sheriff

Look at it this way.. day one was a good one! Hopefully day two and so on will be better then the day before.

Remember the half full glass!!

Sounds like you're off to a good start!

I've found there are two important ingredients to success with XPAP - patience and attitude. For many it takes a lot of time (and a long time) and many exchanges to find a mask that works for the individual. A positive attitude is vital because if you get mad and say it sucks and won't work for you - then nothing will improve. Yes, it DOES SUCK, but being prepared to experiment until it works means you have a much better chance of waking up every morning.

Cheers,
xena

First night for me too! I didn't seem to have trouble sleeping but after being up for about 5 hours I don't feel much different. The real test will be this afternoon to see if I get sleepy like I usually do.

I see you have the new Pro with AUTO IQ. I just saw a podcast by Philips on it the other day. Would you please keep us posted on how you like it and how you are using the machine. It sounds very interesting.
Sounds like you're off to a good start if you used the machine all night the first night.

I will. The DME provider said the Auto IQ would keep me (hopefully) from having to go back for another sleep study if I feel I'm not getting good results. Right now I'm searching for software to use with the machine. I'm not sure if Onkor or SleepyHead will work with it. The built-in results didn't show anything this morning but I think it needs 7 days to give them.

BigDenMD wrote:Right now I'm searching for software to use with the machine. I'm not sure if Onkor or SleepyHead will work with it. The built-in results didn't show anything this morning but I think it needs 7 days to give them.

If it doesn't show anything on the LCD screen in the 7 day average....then likely this feature is turned off so you can't see it. There should be a number for last night...doesn't have to wait for 7 days...or at least it shouldn't. The Auto IQ is brand new. May need to get into the clinical set up to turn it on so you can see it.
Here is how to get to clinical set up.
http://www.apneaboard.com/PR-System-One ... -Setup.htm

Onkor, SleepyHead and Encore Viewer 2.0 or Encore Pro 2.4 all should be compatible.
Send me a private message if you want additional information on Pro 2.4
Examples of reports are shown here.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=64906&st=0&sk=t&sd= ... re+options

SleepyHead is available here
http://sourceforge.net/projects/sleepyhead/

I hope the DME explained to you exactly the different functions of the machine. Yes it's designed to keep you out of the sleep lab for a titration, but part of that is because one night in the sleep lab only gives a snapshot of your sleeping habits. This thing can help you determine your pressure during all the different stages and positions of your nights sleep over 30 days. I raises the pressure in 1 cm increments up or down up/down 3 cm. (As best as I can remember).
I understand it also has an AUTO function, but I'm not sure for how many days you can use that, of course you could keep resetting the machine I could probably dig up the URL for the podcast if you're interested. It really explains the different functions. The drawback is that it's not a clinicians manual (I don't know if that's readily available yet).
I think the machine was developed because of the increasing popularity of home sleep studies. An added (and perhaps not accidental, but Philips could not say this) is the benefit to the home user who is titrating his/her own pressure. It seems like a really great machine in that respect.
I also like that it's a feature on the new PRO models, not a separate machine.
Didn't mean to hijack your thread. You are just the first person I've noticed on this machine.

Thanks Pugsy! I didn't have a lot of time to look at it as I was getting ready for work. I'll take another look tonight. I was kind of surprised that I couldn't get at least some information. And I'll have a look at the software.

Mary Z, the DME provider did say it was new. He gave me the impression that it was a one time thing (I might be wrong) and it would be something to use if I wasn't seeing a benefit.

Actually, I was just happy that I didn't have to argue with him to get a decent machine versus a brick!! I was prepared though! I printed postings from here and MaskArrayed to arm my self.