CPAPtalk.com

Did you have a formal sleep study at a sleep lab that seemed to know what they were doing?

archangle wrote: The Philips Respironics (PRS1) Pro, Pro with AutoIQ, or Auto have airflow waveforms. The ResMed S9 Elite and AutoSet have airflow waveforms.

Thanks very much archangle for taking the time to write such a detailed post. I think my supplier carries ResMed units and so probably carries those models – just checked and found out that they carry the ResMed S9. http://www.cpapottawa.com/products/resmed-cpap-devices/ Not sure if they have the S9 Elite but I’m going to ask them tomorrow.

archangle wrote: The Auto versions are preferable because they can be set to work exactly like the manual CPAP versions if needed, but also offer auto pressure.

Great tip because I definitely want automatic pressure. I tried the other kind of CPAP at the supplier and I found that the pressure alternating between low and high was very uncomfortable.

archangle wrote: the option of a heated hose

From what I’ve read a heated hose is a key feature. I assume the S9 Elite has a heated hose?

Thanks very much for all the information!

purple wrote:Did you have a formal sleep study at a sleep lab that seemed to know what they were doing?

Yeah I had two with very competent technicians who took their time setting up all the sensors, etc. The problem I had was that during the first study I had gone hiking earlier that day and ended up being really hungry (no food was allowed in the lab) which kept me from sleeping hardly at all - only 1.5 hours of abnormal prone sleep. They didn't get much conclusive information from that session.

Because the sleep doctor I'm dealing with understood what had happened, she went ahead and ordered a second sleep study to optimize the pressure on a CPAP machine for me so that I could take a trial. Again I ran into bad luck though. I brought my nightly medication for that night and some T2s for a migraine but they got wet and partially melted in my bag. I had to eat the 'paste' meds and they really upsed my stomach which again prevented me from getting a good night's sleep. Fortunately in the end I was able to sleep deeply for 1.5 hours and they optimized my pressure at 8. I used the same Mirage FX Nasal Mask during the study that I'm using now. In the second exam they found that I had an AHI of 3.7 and a RDI of 32.

I've been on CPAP therapy for about 3 months. The brain fog comes and goes for me. Some days I have energy and can focus, other days not so much.

If your DME does not have the model you need/want. I highly recommend Inspiration Medics on Kirkwood. I'm on my 3rd trial machine and about 6 masks. My RT reviews my data daily and I hear from her at least once a week. She sends a report to my dr before each appt.

http://www.inspirationmedic.com/

SleeplessInOttawa wrote:From what I’ve read a heated hose is a key feature. I assume the S9 Elite has a heated hose?

I don't use a heated hose myself. I've never felt the need for one. If you don't need too much humidity and don't keep your room too cool, you may not need one. For some people it's a big deal.

No matter which S9 or PRS1 you get, it doesn't necessarily come with a heated hose.

All S9's will work with a heated hose.

For PRS1 machines, 60 series are the only ones that have the heated hose option. PRS1 model 60 machines have two different humidifier options. Some humidifiers will work with the heated hose, but they do sell PRS1 60 series humidifiers that won't work with a heated hose.

In Ottawa, (esp with the winter that is being predicted) I would definitely get a heated hose.

archangle wrote: All S9's will work with a heated hose.

For PRS1 machines, 60 series are the only ones that have the heated hose option. PRS1 model 60 machines have two different humidifier options. Some humidifiers will work with the heated hose, but they do sell PRS1 60 series humidifiers that won't work with a heated hose.

Thanks for the clarification. I think I will need a heated hose most likely because of the climate here.

JO'M wrote:I've been on CPAP therapy for about 3 months. The brain fog comes and goes for me. Some days I have energy and can focus, other days not so much.

If your DME does not have the model you need/want. I highly recommend Inspiration Medics on Kirkwood. I'm on my 3rd trial machine and about 6 masks. My RT reviews my data daily and I hear from her at least once a week. She sends a report to my dr before each appt.

http://www.inspirationmedic.com/

Thanks for the tip! If I can't get the model I want from my current DME then I will definitely try Inspiration Medics.

Hmmm, so your brain fog comes and goes... I hope mine will eventually go away. This morning I feel slightly less brain fog - but emphasis on the slightly.

SIO, I wish you the best of luck in sorting things out for yourself. My own experience was no brain fog before treatment, and increasingly worsening brain fog and irritability after treatment. This was over many weeks and everything reported optimal treatment: data on my machine, follow-up study to confirm initial findings, dr's evaluation, and so on. Got so bad I was in danger of losing my job and important relationships. It would be nice to have figured out what was going on.

I'll be interested to see how your journey goes.

secret agent girl wrote:SIO, I wish you the best of luck in sorting things out for yourself. My own experience was no brain fog before treatment, and increasingly worsening brain fog and irritability after treatment. This was over many weeks and everything reported optimal treatment: data on my machine, follow-up study to confirm initial findings, dr's evaluation, and so on. Got so bad I was in danger of losing my job and important relationships. It would be nice to have figured out what was going on.

Did you eventually get unfogged? How long did it take?

I use a ResMed S9. Just make sure it doesn't say ESCAPE on it. The Escape models don't provide any therapeutic data.

JO'M wrote:In Ottawa, (esp with the winter that is being predicted) I would definitely get a heated hose.

I never used one in Montreal and I had my room cold. I have a pink camo polar fleece hose cover. I haven't needed one in Edmonton either.

secret agent girl wrote:SIO, I wish you the best of luck in sorting things out for yourself. My own experience was no brain fog before treatment, and increasingly worsening brain fog and irritability after treatment. This was over many weeks and everything reported optimal treatment: data on my machine, follow-up study to confirm initial findings, dr's evaluation, and so on. Got so bad I was in danger of losing my job and important relationships. It would be nice to have figured out what was going on.

I'll be interested to see how your journey goes.

Wow, that sounds rough. Also curious to know if you got unfogged. Today I was slightly less foggy...so maybe I'll eventually break out of it.

Sounds like you never found out what the problem was.

I'm also curious about what exactly I can do with the data from the S9 Elite, although I know it's probably a silly question. For example, I can change the pressure and humidity levels, which is pretty much it isn't it? I could also change my mask, but so far I'm not showing any leaks when the data from my ICON was downloaded at the retailer.

So is the wealth of data from the S9 Elite primarily used to optimize pressure? (I feel like I've got humidity more or less set because at 3/7 it was too high and I got a runny nose and at 2/7 it seems perfect. That only gives me room to drop down to 1/7.)

Just trying to understand what I can actually do with the data to improve my sleep beyond tweaking the pressure. However, since pressure seems to be the key to the city of restful sleep, maybe that's enough.

BlackSpinner wrote: I never used one in Montreal and I had my room cold. I have a pink camo polar fleece hose cover. I haven't needed one in Edmonton either.

Maybe it isn't necessary then - one less component to worry about.