\o/ Yay, Happy new PAP Owner

Hello all,
I've been dealing with sleepiness issues for years with a particular habit of falling asleep at work in the afternoon. After some friends pointed out that they were diagnosed with apnea and had similar (though more severe) symptoms, I decided to head into my GP and whine about sleeping. In addition to hashimoto's thyroiditis, they decided to refer me to a sleep center.

Three months and two studies later, the sleep center is busy, I brought home a 560 Auto (PR One). After initial sadness about the lack of Sleepyhead support (so far), the kinda Pugsy set me up with some software that would allow viewing of my data. The first night was difficult as the Pilairo (nasal pillow) has a short headband and likes to snuggle itself right up into your sinuses. After some advice from a friend I loosened it and now am having significantly less issues with my poor nose. The doctor set it to flow from 8-14, with the sleep study results returning that they needed 10 at a minimum to handle my OSIs and complex apneas.
Night 1:

After the first night I bumped up the minimum pressure to 10 (as that was the advice from the sleep center) and here we are a few days later:


So far so good. I decided to (after lurking and reading here for awhile) leave it alone for now and let my doctor have a look next month to decide what to do next. The interesting thing is on the flow graphs, I can see arousals happening every 20-30 minutes. My sleep doctor recommended a Zeo to try tracking those for awhile, so I'm considering picking that up and syncing the data up in Sleepyhead (whenever it gets updated for x60 machines).

I will say that I do not feel energized as I had hoped in the mornings, but I do not feel exhausted in the afternoons anymore. The change so far has been subtle. Thanks everyone for all of your collected advice and information. It has been highly helpful.

Loiosh wrote:The change so far has been subtle. Thanks everyone for all of your collected advice and information. It has been highly helpful.

Hi Loiosh,

Welcome...you have a great attitude. That3'll take you a long way with this treatment. You are doing great...a subtle change/improvement is still an improvement. Give it time!
-tino

Loiosh wrote:The doctor set it to flow from 8-14, with the sleep study results returning that they needed 10 at a minimum to handle my OSIs and complex apneas.

Hi,

I think you have a good plan...run for a while and see where things settle out. I am concerned that you are having centrals and used the term "complex apnea". Complex apnea is often treated with a little smarter machine such as a BiPAP or an ASV. I am wondering if the sleep clinic knew that, but are trying to do the low cost solution with the APAP and see whether or not you complain.

How about running for about 10 days, then post back some data from a full night of sleep. If you are still having centrals, then I'd go see your doctor and see what they have to say. I suspect the possibility that you need higher pressure to knock down the snores and hypos, but you are already at too high of a pressure and are getting centrals that are pressure induced. That is where a BiPAP comes in handy with a higher pressure on inhale to stent open your airway, and a lower pressure on exhale to prevent the centrals.

I also see a lot of the events are RERA. Those typically are not treated by an APAP. Rather, those generally don't cause pressure changes in an APAP, so you typically need a higher fixed pressure to treat them. That would sometimes be a CPAP machine, but with your complex stuff, that falls into BiPAP territory again.

The typical games that get played is that both clinics and insurance companies will stick you with an entry level machine, and then let you live with it unless you fail. If you fail, then they will consider a BiPAP. I hate those kinds of games, but if you don't start feeling better, and that is they game you need to play, then you might want to consider a "strategic failure".

-john-

that a lot of AHI. you may need to get your mask to seal better and your feel better.

neverbetter wrote:that a lot of AHI. you may need to get your mask to seal better and your feel better.

First night was bad at too low a pressure. My AHI since then has been under 2


That's with the first night taken out. The amusing thing is you can still see some events, but it's certainly better than it used to be (waveform for last night)


It's kinda funny to look at that and see where I start to have problems (2:53-2:55 or so) and then slip back into better sleep again. I have no idea what's going on at those times.