Got a Two Week ResMed Auto Spirit Loaner - Can I Read It?

Well, my two week loaner period will be up in three days. The first week was a wash as far as keeping the gear on, then waking up every little bit with leaks around my originally assigned large pillows. Narrowed the pressure range from 7 to 13. Ordered small nasal pillows from cpap.com and they were perfect - didn't wake up with leaks. Slept four solid hours.

Pressure = 11.2 (prior cpap was titrated at 10)
AI = 0
HI = 13.8
AHI = 13.8

The machine has yet to read any AI other than 0. I know that's a good thing, but with a zero EVERY night, I'm wondering about its accuracy. Does having a wide discrepancy between the AI and the HI mean anything?
Kathy

I was thinking of lowering my upper pressure part of one night to below what I know is therapeutic and see if it registers any AIs. Since I've slept without it so much anyhow, does anyone have any reservations about this? My sleep apnea was diagnosed moderate, not severe.
Kathy

I think that you are doing just fine. The machine is recording the HI it will record a AI when it gets one. Is the mask selection on the machine matches the mask you wearing?

I have a ResMed Auto Advantage and use Breeze pillows. The tech didn't mention any concerns but I know that doesn't always mean a lot.
Kathy

Kathy-
Your AI=0 means that the machine is doing its job real well. If I were you, I think that I'd just leave it alone and let it do its job. Its finding the pressure that you need and its controlling apneas superbly. The ResMed Spirit and Vantage are GREAT machines. I'd just relax, trust them, and enjoy a good night's sleep.

Chuck

[quote="GoofyUT"]It means that for the two hours that you were using the machine, you averaged 11.7 hypopneas per hour, NO apneas per hour and that resulted in an Apnea-Hypopnea Index of 11.7 which, in your case is ALL hypopneas. This was at a 95% pressure of 9.6 cmH20, which means that 95% of the time, your Spirit was operating at a pressure of 9.6 cmH20 or less. Your leak rate was 0.1L/s, which is acceptable.

I have just stumbled across this forum. I have just been diagnosed with SOSA and have just purchased an S8 Autoset Spirit with a 3i humidifier (which I haven't used yet). I am on my second night of using this with the Swift II nasal pillow system. I didn't think I would be able to cope but surprisingly I have had 2 reasonable nights sleep and feel much better.

I live in the UK and trying to get hold of anything technical for the Resmed is impossible. I stumbled across the Clinicians Menu whilst fiddling with the buttons but was unable to decipher the meaning of the results, so thanks for that. I haven't tried pressing the left and right buttons together but will try tonight when I get home.

How do you arrive at the 95% ??? Are there formulas that can be used or am I just being a numbscull??

Regards, Terry.

Terry-

Welcome to this wild, wacky adventure and to this forum. You'll find LOTS of great and knowledgeable people here who will be more than happy to provide whatever assistance that we can to assist you as you make your way through this journey with us!

Your ResMed S8 AutoSet Spirit is the same machine as the ResMed S8 AutoSet Vantage sold here in the United States, so whatever posts you read here about the Vantage will pertain to your Spirit as well. Note however, that the VAntage's predecessor here in the US was the S7 AutoSet Spirit which is a DIFFERENT (though very similar) machine to the one you have.

Regarding the 95% pressure, the pressure data reported on the LCD screen of your Spirit IS the 95% pressure; that is, the pressure that the machine is operating AT OR BELOW for 95% of the night. And you can select that data for nightly, weekly, monthly, six-monthly or yearly averages.

BTW, pressing and holding the left and right keys will instantly take you to the efficacy and usage data menus, by-passing the need to go to the clinical menu and having to navigate to the data menus.

Hope this helps!

Chuck

This old thread caught me off guard - what a blast from the past! At first glance I thought "What's this?" Must have been resurrected by spam then replied to before the spam post got deleted. Or else how to interpret the numbers is forever a timely topic. New Boy, hope you find the answers you need.
Kathy

kteague wrote:what a blast from the past!

So, since the thread's here, how about an update. (I confess, I didn't keep up with the board much for a number of months. ) How did that loaner work out for you, Kathy? Did it help you resolve some of your issues?

Regards,
Bill

Chuck, Kathy,

Many thanks for your fast replies. Chuck, I see what you are getting at now, thanks. I guess that I don't really need a Clinicians Manual for this APAP as it seems to be a very simple machine to operate. I am not able to purchase the software or the card reader here in the UK either. Would I really find these useful? I am a PC nut. Thanks also for explaining the relationships between the various machines.

Kathy, how are you getting on with your mask? I know it was a long tima ago that you started these posts but my sleep specialist recommended the Swift II Nasal Pillow and I found it very comfortable even though it was alien. I certainly had a reasonable nights sleep and it was still in place in the morning

I know what you mean about the suffocating feeling though, I find that I have to deep breath every few minutes. I will have a look at the min pressure tonight and push it up a little if necessary, although it is set to Auto mode. On the instant check in the morning it was reading 11.8 yesterday and 12.0 today. I've only had it 2 days. I'm guessing I need around 7.0?

Anyway, nice to hear from you guys. Many thanks.

Terry.

[quote="GoofyUT"]Terry-

BTW, pressing and holding the left and right keys will instantly take you to the efficacy and usage data menus, by-passing the need to go to the clinical menu and having to navigate to the data menus.


Chuck,

Got home this evening and immediately tried this. Sure enough the efficiacy menu appears but all entries say NO DATA.

I have used this unit for 2 nights now. I do not have the data card installed but I don't think this is needed for normal use - is it?

I have checked all of the settings and cannot see anything untoward.

Got any ideas??

Regards, Terry.

Terry-

SIMPLE solution to this problem. You MUST interogate the machine BEFORE NOON each day, since it will reset itself to prepare for a new night's data AT NOON. The data isn't erased and will show up on the smart card but not on the LCD screen for the previous night's data. So, just make sure to view the data for a particular night BEFORE NOON of the foillowing day.

Incidentally, the weekly, monthly, six-monthly and yearly averages will display "No data" until each respective period is actually filled with data. So, your weekly average will say "No data" until you've accumulated a week's worth, etc.

Cheers!

Chuck

Chuck,

Many thanks for this. I thought there was a problem with the machine.

I will have to get a smartcard reader and software somehow. I can only find one site that lists these - CPAP.COM - but they are unavailable at the moment.

Resmed UK won't sell these to mere mortals like me, you have to be a registered sleep consultant.

Many thanks again - here's to a third night of beautiful sleep.

Regards, Terry.

An update - thanks for asking. I see that thread was in June of 2006. After that trial on the autopap I decided to not go back to the cpap I had struggled so with. In retrospect, I believe that having a 30 minute ramp at a pressure of 4 was my biggest problem. Since I woke up and stopped it every few minutes and restarted, I had spent months trying to sleep at a pressure of 4. Didn't understand all that then. But I bought a new-to-me autopap from Snoredog (he had moved on to the next latest and greatest), and it came complete with tech support (thanks Snoredog).

The machine has been good to and for me but I have been a wayward child from day one. It took several months for me to stop taking the mask off in my sleep. But the spurts of sleep with apap treatment began a turnaround for me. I'm still a sleepyhead, but no longer a zombie. I think I had to have a degree of restoration so that I wasn't in a stupor to be able to become aware of removing my mask and altering my behavior. I have been able to at least breifly tolerate the Swift, Breeze, UM2 & CL2 (I get by with a little help from my friends). There have been times when I've actually used the mask a few hours each night out of dogged determination. But even then sleep to me just meant not fully awake. Can't blame the masks really. I have rip-roaring PLMD and I dance the night away. My sleep is so fragile that the least little discomfort from the masks and the night was over for me.

BUT, if you read my most recent thread, just this week I'm using a marriage of the Breeze nosepiece with the CL2 headgear that is working for me beyond my expectations. My sleep is still segmented, but is so deep and good that it's like a drug. I keep putting the mask back on for another hit. When I wake up my night's sleep is not ruined - I go right back into that wonderful sleep. I fully expect rapid progress from this time forth. Bout time - started cpap treatment in Sept. 2005. Better late than never.

And thanks to those here who wouldn't let me give up.

Kathy

Thanks for the update Kathy. It's good to hear that you've made progress. Part of the reason I asked was because I had read your latest thread, so I knew there was something missing from the time I'd been on hiatus.

It's just great to hear that you've been able to persevere and get to the point you're at now. I hope that your steady progress continues.

Regards,
Bill