Data from PB420e -- Any ideas?

Hello all,

A little background....after almost 3 months of not so hot DME care and no good response to either a CPAP or BIPAP....my hubby returned his machine to the DME and we bought a PB420E from Cpap.com along with the Silverlining Software. Our doctor (PCP), was as disappointed with our DME as we were (his first experience with this particular DME), so he gladly wrote the script for the APAP and is also sending hubby to see a Pulmonary sleep MD for further eval.

Titrated pressure was 17...yes, 17 AHI was 85 (DX was Severe Obstructive sleep apnea) with a suggestion of CPAP trial at 17...the report also indicated that he may not tolerate 17 very well on straight CPAP and if not, they would recommend a trial of APAP. After the first week or so he knew he could not tolerate 17 on CPAP and we asked the DME for an APAP, reminding them that the sleep lab had given that recommendation in their report. But---surprise, surprise--DME told us APAP's were not covered (we didn't know any better at that time and have since have become very educated, primarily because of this board), then he (DME) swapped him to a trial on a much more expensive BiPAP--set at 6 and 17. But....that didn't really help either...he didn't have any better sleep with the machine and it acted up a few times... shutting itself off and running oddly. So, after many sleepless nights and DME frustration , we took the route many of you do, returned the rental Bi-pap and decided to buy our own machine and software so we could monitor his progress and provide our PCP with reports etc., (DME never gave him anything)...

Although it's only been 3-nights, he actually thinks he truly feels a little better. For the first time in months (more like years), he was able to sleep 6 hours straight each night, whereas prior he was only sleeping 4-5 and waking several times to ramp again etc.,-- this alone was a significant improvement and he only did one ramp at the beginning of each night...something that he never was able to do before. This morning we downloaded his first data from the machine to check his results....this is what we have:

Analysis duration: 18h13m (3 Nights)
Pressures: Low 0.6 Average 6.2 High 10.1
Advised pressure for 90% - 9

Apneas: 9 Index 0.5
Apnea w/ Cardiac Oscill: 6 Index 0.3
Hypopneas: 22 Index 1.2
Flow limited Hypopnea 4 Index 0.2
Accoustical Vibrations: 108 Index 6.0
Flow Limitations-Runs: 296 Index 16.5

Machine is set at 5 and 18 with all the other settings at default. Ramp for 25 minutes starting at 5. IFL1 is ON.

I must admit so far, we are very surprised at the results....being that his titrated sleep study pressure was 17....he's not going anywhere near 17, at least, not in the last 3 nights--we certainly intend to monitor this every few days, but the majority of his time (over 75%) was spent between 4 and 6 with less than 5% at 9 and 10 and the balance between 7 and 8---well under 17.

So I'm looking for input from you very experienced users....could it be that his sleep study titration was off that much? We'll continue to leave the settings as are, and continue to see if this pressure trend continues, but we are looking for any suggestions, as well.

Thanks for your help and input....this board has been a great resource and we appreciate you all very much. We read it every day and have found it to be very educational....it's a blessing!

Liisa

Oops wasn't signed in....that was me (Liissa) Mrs. Newbie

..one more note....I've been reading here today and see people who've had problems with the 420e shutting down....we had that problem with the Bi-pap, but hoping we don't experience it with the brand new machine...

...have many people had problems with the 420e??? I'm hoping not.

Liissa

Wow, Liisa,
Those results look great. Only the 0.6 low pressure confuses me. Are you sure of that number - or is it a typo?

If you save the sl3 file, you can click on the bottom button on the far right ot the synthesis screen, and export the results (that is, have the progarm put them in a text file).

As for your question - I guess it can be. Wulfman is a case in point - if my memory doesn't deceive me, he was tirated at 18, and is doing fine on 10.

The most important thing is that your husband is sleeping better and feeling better.

As for machine problems - well, yes, there have been a number of reports, I can think of 3 active posters (Jannelle, Snork1 and myself) who have run into them, and ravel, a rather new poster - but you have to remember that satisified people rarely post their satisfactions, and that even if they do, reproted problems are remembered more than things that go smoothly.

Rested Gal has been very happy with her 420Es (plural, of course, being that this is rested gal ) And so are WillSucceed and loonlvr. And for Snork1, WillSucceed and myself, the 420E was found to fit our breathing patterns better that other machines. It's a good one.

I hope things keep on going well for you - don't worry about the equipment malfuctioning. Worrying won't keep it from happening, and hopefully, it never will.
O.