[ARCHIVED THREAD] - CPAP user? Get in here (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 6/24/2015 10:34:58 AM EDT
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Do you use the SleepyHead software? If you don't, and your machine has data recording capabilities, you should. It can show you a wealth of information that you might otherwise not know, to help you optimize your sleep. Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor or in the medical field, blah blah blah.
I just started CPAP therapy 2 nights ago. ResMed A10 Autoset For Her (although I'm a guy…apparently the "for her" version has a few extra modes and monitoring capabilities that the normal version doesn't have) and ResMed P10 nasal pillows. My sleep study awhile ago showed an average AHI of 20.1. On my back it was 57.8  and 16.3 on my side. O2 dropped to 85% at some point. Snoring in all sleep positions. I never could fall asleep during the study for the titration portion so they put me on an auto set machine.
My first night on CPAP was a bit iffy -- just getting used to the thing on my face and having the hose there. Trying to find the best position to keep the pillows from leaking. Didn't sleep much but I did feel a bit better than normal in the morning. Second night was much better. Unfortunately due to some unrelated teeth issues (bruises around the root of one of my teeth due to some alignment issues that make 2 teeth knock against each other) the pillows are giving me some pretty serious teeth pain due to the pressure they're putting on the bottom of my nose and upper lip. Looks like I'm going to switch to a full-face mask. Thankfully my wife said I didn't snore either night, which really makes her happy. 
SleepyHead has about 15 different sets of data that it graphs. LOTS of good stuff. 
I noticed I was having issues with my nasal pillows not sealing well at pressures above ~12, and sure enough, I look at the graph of pressure and the graph of leaks, and it is obvious. 
It's crazy to look at your data and actually see what an apnea event looks like. Here was one from last night just after 1AM. I'm sleeping just fine, regular breathing, then….nothing, for 15 seconds.  You can also see the machine bump up the pressure as it is happening to open the airway to get you breathing again.
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OP, good on you for getting the CPAP. I have been using one for 14 years-I would have been dead by now had I not had the sleep study.
Personally, I care not about tracking my sleep each night. All I care about is the fact that I sleep well each night. There are several threads on GD about apnea. There is some excellent information from a poster who's career is in the "apnea field". Of course, being GD, there are several $%&holes who scoff at those of us who are afflicted with apnea. I buy my supplies from cpap.com online. My doctor gave me a RX that I faxed to them - I don't know the term for the RX, but it is good for 99 years or so. If you have no insurance that covers cpap machiness or supplies, they have good prices and are really nice people. A local drugstore wants $250 for the same nasal mask I can buy online for $65. |
You guys aren't familiar with GD, are you?  Everything is a competition. 
Seriously though, I figured a few people might find the information interesting. My mom had never looked at it and was surprised to see she still has an AHI higher than normal and still has obstructive apnea events pretty regularly. She still had her machine set to CPAP at 12 instead of APAP, so it couldn't ramp up the pressure if she needed it to keep her airway open. More knowledge is a good thing. |
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my problem is that I stop up at night and get nasal congestion. thanks for the info. I had that problem as well - went to several ENTs before I found a good one. Got me off Afrin (which is horrible ) with Oral steroids, 2 sprays and a sinus injection ( ouch!).
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my problem is that I stop up at night and get nasal congestion. thanks for the info. Full face mask is the solution. I suffer nasal congestion issues also and as a result open my mouth when I sleep sometimes...open your mouth with a nasal only "mask" and you lose the pressure that's keeping your throat open. Open your mouth with a full face mask and no difference other than a little dry mouth in the am. |
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Full face mask is the solution. I suffer nasal congestion issues also and as a result open my mouth when I sleep sometimes...open your mouth with a nasal only "mask" and you lose the pressure that's keeping your throat open. Open your mouth with a full face mask and no difference other than a little dry mouth in the am. Quoted:
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my problem is that I stop up at night and get nasal congestion. thanks for the info. Full face mask is the solution. I suffer nasal congestion issues also and as a result open my mouth when I sleep sometimes...open your mouth with a nasal only "mask" and you lose the pressure that's keeping your throat open. Open your mouth with a full face mask and no difference other than a little dry mouth in the am. I had a staph infection in nasal passage never knew ent said bacitracin up nose 3 times a day for 4 weeks cleared it right up :) I just saved you $$$ my ent billed mt insurance $16000.00 |
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Yup been using sleepyhead for a couple years.
Not that sleeping is a competition or anything but being involved in your health care is pretty important. Not just taking the word of some Dr without doing your own research and taking pills for unknown reasons..... |
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Good CPAP website: http://www.cpaptalk.com/CPAP-Sleep-Apnea-Forum.html The hosting company has good prices on equipment and supplies.
Most are very upbeat and proactive, kind of ArfCom-ish. |
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Thanks for the link, gonna check this out. My machine logs to an SD card, but my guy is 90 minutes away, so I've never brought it in to get it downloaded.
I use nasal pillows for the most part. When my allergies act up, I switch to a full face for a week of so till the pollen calms down. |
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I had a staph infection in nasal passage never knew ent said bacitracin up nose 3 times a day for 4 weeks cleared it right up :) I just saved you $$$ my ent billed mt insurance $16000.00 Quoted:
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my problem is that I stop up at night and get nasal congestion. thanks for the info. Full face mask is the solution. I suffer nasal congestion issues also and as a result open my mouth when I sleep sometimes...open your mouth with a nasal only "mask" and you lose the pressure that's keeping your throat open. Open your mouth with a full face mask and no difference other than a little dry mouth in the am. I had a staph infection in nasal passage never knew ent said bacitracin up nose 3 times a day for 4 weeks cleared it right up :) I just saved you $$$ my ent billed mt insurance $16000.00 thanks for the email. I will check into it this week. |
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Quoted: yes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: my problem is that I stop up at night and get nasal congestion. thanks for the info. Are you using the humidifier? yes I always wake up with a horrific dry mouth sometime in the middle of the night. To the point I can't even take a drink but have to just hold the water in my mouth for a min or two first. I had a machine with a humidifier. And that didn't work. So I bought a humidifier and set that so it exhausted right where the CPAP intake was. Still. So I don't use one. |
| I've been using a CPAP for a little over seven years. I recently got a new machine, the ResMed AirSense 10, which is a wickedly cool machine. It can adjust my air pressure, although it's usually right around 12. It has built in cellular and transmits all the data to ResMed every morning. I can then log in and look at the key data for each night sleep. But it's nowhere as detailed as what you have there, it's just basic consumer-oriented information. I use the AirFit 10 nasal pillows too. I love my CPAP, couldn't sleep without it. |
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Full face mask is the solution. I suffer nasal congestion issues also and as a result open my mouth when I sleep sometimes...open your mouth with a nasal only "mask" and you lose the pressure that's keeping your throat open. Open your mouth with a full face mask and no difference other than a little dry mouth in the am. Quoted:
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my problem is that I stop up at night and get nasal congestion. thanks for the info. Full face mask is the solution. I suffer nasal congestion issues also and as a result open my mouth when I sleep sometimes...open your mouth with a nasal only "mask" and you lose the pressure that's keeping your throat open. Open your mouth with a full face mask and no difference other than a little dry mouth in the am. This. I have found that I began sleeping with my tongue pressed to the roof of my mouth. That stops the leaking. I hated mine at first. But the rhythmic breathing and the sound of the incoming and outgoing air is kind of like a sedative itself. |
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I've been using a CPAP for a little over seven years. I recently got a new machine, the ResMed AirSense 10, which is a wickedly cool machine. It can adjust my air pressure, although it's usually right around 12. It has built in cellular and transmits all the data to ResMed every morning. I can then log in and look at the key data for each night sleep. But it's nowhere as detailed as what you have there, it's just basic consumer-oriented information. I use the AirFit 10 nasal pillows too. I love my CPAP, couldn't sleep without it. You and I have the same machine and you can see exactly the same data that I can. Just download the SleepyHead program, install it on your computer, pop the SD card out of your CPAP machine (located on the left side of the machine, if you're looking at the front), put it in your computer, import the data, and look at it. |
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I always wake up with a horrific dry mouth sometime in the middle of the night. To the point I can't even take a drink but have to just hold the water in my mouth for a min or two first. I had a machine with a humidifier. And that didn't work. So I bought a humidifier and set that so it exhausted right where the CPAP intake was. Still. So I don't use one. Quoted:
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my problem is that I stop up at night and get nasal congestion. thanks for the info. Are you using the humidifier? yes I always wake up with a horrific dry mouth sometime in the middle of the night. To the point I can't even take a drink but have to just hold the water in my mouth for a min or two first. I had a machine with a humidifier. And that didn't work. So I bought a humidifier and set that so it exhausted right where the CPAP intake was. Still. So I don't use one. Try biotene mouthwash right before you go to sleep, dosen't completely resolve the dry mouth issue but makes it more tolerable. And to clarify you don't use the humidifier or the CPAP? |
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Quoted: Try biotene mouthwash right before you go to sleep, dosen't completely resolve the dry mouth issue but makes it more tolerable. And to clarify you don't use the humidifier or the CPAP? Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: my problem is that I stop up at night and get nasal congestion. thanks for the info. Are you using the humidifier? yes I always wake up with a horrific dry mouth sometime in the middle of the night. To the point I can't even take a drink but have to just hold the water in my mouth for a min or two first. I had a machine with a humidifier. And that didn't work. So I bought a humidifier and set that so it exhausted right where the CPAP intake was. Still. So I don't use one. Try biotene mouthwash right before you go to sleep, dosen't completely resolve the dry mouth issue but makes it more tolerable. And to clarify you don't use the humidifier or the CPAP? I did use the humidifier CPAP, and that wasn't enough. So I used a room humidifier and directed the output at the humidifier input and it still didn't work. So the CPAP was humidifying humid air and my mouth was still dry. |
, hopefully insurance will pick up most of the cost. OP thanks for the info, I figure any info I pick up along the way will be useful.
Been using one for around 2 years now. Completely changed my life (and my wife's!)... I could be best described as a buzzsaw going through sheet metal... I have looked at the info for the first month or so, thought "cool", but don't ever bother with it now. Not to derail the thread, but how long does a CPAP last? I have the Resmed S9 autoset. |
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There is a new daily one looking for funding on indiegogo and according to them it won't be ready until 2017. I do think it could be an interesting solution for travel purposes so you don't have to carry your machine every where you go. I couldn't imagine using this as a daily replacement for my cpap machine though.
Airing |
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Do any of you guys with autoset machines use them set on a constant pressure? My doc keeps pushing to have it set at a constant 13psi. in lieu of letting it self adjust. I find the constant 13psi to be quite a bit distracting when trying to fall asleep. I use my APAP in APAP mode for that reason. Kind of hard to go to sleep at your 95% rate. There are clinician manuals online if you look. (if you want to change settings on you machine) |
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I've had a CPAP for about 3 years now. I turn off the humidifier in the summer (no AC), otherwise I can actually get water pooling up in a corner of the mask (I'm a side sleeper).
Winter, often have it set low, 1 or 2 for humidity, because "mask drool". I've bought replacement mask cushions (I use a nose&mouth mask) on Amazon for about half the price the local med supplies place sells them for. Headstraps too. Frankly, if I downloaded that software, I wouldn't know what to do with the data-I don't know how to read it or what it means. |
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I've had a CPAP for about 3 years now. I turn off the humidifier in the summer (no AC), otherwise I can actually get water pooling up in a corner of the mask (I'm a side sleeper). Winter, often have it set low, 1 or 2 for humidity, because "mask drool". I've bought replacement mask cushions (I use a nose&mouth mask) on Amazon for about half the price the local med supplies place sells them for. Headstraps too. Frankly, if I downloaded that software, I wouldn't know what to do with the data-I don't know how to read it or what it means. Take 10 minutes and do some reading. Take control of your health, my friend.
You can zoom in on any of the graphs (all zoom in at the same time) and you can compare them all. You can literally see every breath you took all night long, compared to, say...machine pressure and mask leakage. This verified what I was thinking in the middle of the night about my nasal pillows leaking under higher pressure. Most of the graphs are self-explanatory:
There are a few others about tidal volume/vent volume. The chart at the very bottom tells you how many minutes you spent at each pressure setting, and a few other things. |
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... Not to derail the thread, but how long does a CPAP last? I have the Resmed S9 autoset. My first CPAP lasted seven years. Like most failing machines, it didn't just stop. It began putting out lower and lower pressure. Suddenly I found I couldn't sleep. I experienced epic levels of insomnia for three weeks until I could see my sleep doctor. Fortunately they had a new machine waiting for me at my appointment, and that night I started sleeping again. I had my old machine repaired so I will never be without again. |
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Quoted: There is a new daily one looking for funding on indiegogo and according to them it won't be ready until 2017. I do think it could be an interesting solution for travel purposes so you don't have to carry your machine every where you go. I couldn't imagine using this as a daily replacement for my cpap machine though. Airing That July 2017 date is assuming that FDA approves it quickly since it's just a new version of existing technology. If that thing works, only costs $3 a day, and gets approved, it will be a game changer. |
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I always wake up with a horrific dry mouth sometime in the middle of the night. To the point I can't even take a drink but have to just hold the water in my mouth for a min or two first. I had a machine with a humidifier. And that didn't work. So I bought a humidifier and set that so it exhausted right where the CPAP intake was. Still. So I don't use one. You are probably leaking air out your mouth. The constant blast of air through your nose and out your mouth is gonna dry it out no matter how much you humidify the air. This also means you're losing pressure so it's not holding your airway open. You're gonna have to duct tape your mouth closed. |
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I have combination central and obstructive and use a bipap.
I recently had my pressure raised to 18 and that forced my mouth open when I was asleep. Nothing I would try would work and my mouth was bone dry every morning and I was using a whole tank of water a night. I tried the full face mask but they suck. My neighbor is my dentist and his wife was over visiting my wife and she said they both were snoring so they started taping their mouths shut. I called him and he sent me a pic of the tape they sell and I just go to Walmart and buy it and tape my mouth shut and still use my whole nose mask and it seems to be pretty good. I'm still not sleeping great and was having 6 episodes an hour but it is improving. I need to see how much the tape is helping. I only use about half a tank now , but I have it set at 5 Anyone who wakes ups feeling like shit, get you Dr to let you try Providial. It is fucking expensive without insurance, thankfully mine is $0 but before it was approved it was $900 at some places, but it will clear the fog you are living in and let you concentrate on stuff. |
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Quoted: I have combination central and obstructive and use a bipap. I recently had my pressure raised to 18 and that forced my mouth open when I was asleep. Nothing I would try would work and my mouth was bone dry every morning and I was using a whole tank of water a night. I tried the full face mask but they suck. My neighbor is my dentist and his wife was over visiting my wife and she said they both were snoring so they started taping their mouths shut. I called him and he sent me a pic of the tape they sell and I just go to Walmart and buy it and tape my mouth shut and still use my whole nose mask and it seems to be pretty good. I'm still not sleeping great and was having 6 episodes an hour but it is improving. I need to see how much the tape is helping. I only use about half a tank now , but I have it set at 5 Anyone who wakes ups feeling like shit, get you Dr to let you try Providial. It is fucking expensive without insurance, thankfully mine is $0 but before it was approved it was $900 at some places, but it will clear the fog you are living in and let you concentrate on stuff. You mean Provigil? For those who can't afford it, the prodrug to Provigil (it converts to Provigil in the liver) is available without a prescription. It's called adrafinil. |
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You mean Provigil? For those who can't afford it, the prodrug to Provigil (it converts to Provigil in the liver) is available without a prescription. It's called adrafinil. Quoted:
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I have combination central and obstructive and use a bipap. I recently had my pressure raised to 18 and that forced my mouth open when I was asleep. Nothing I would try would work and my mouth was bone dry every morning and I was using a whole tank of water a night. I tried the full face mask but they suck. My neighbor is my dentist and his wife was over visiting my wife and she said they both were snoring so they started taping their mouths shut. I called him and he sent me a pic of the tape they sell and I just go to Walmart and buy it and tape my mouth shut and still use my whole nose mask and it seems to be pretty good. I'm still not sleeping great and was having 6 episodes an hour but it is improving. I need to see how much the tape is helping. I only use about half a tank now , but I have it set at 5 Anyone who wakes ups feeling like shit, get you Dr to let you try Providial. It is fucking expensive without insurance, thankfully mine is $0 but before it was approved it was $900 at some places, but it will clear the fog you are living in and let you concentrate on stuff. You mean Provigil? For those who can't afford it, the prodrug to Provigil (it converts to Provigil in the liver) is available without a prescription. It's called adrafinil. That is great info. I'm not one of those nannys that whines about drug use, but I wouldn't take it without a Dr supervision. I was going twice a week at first to get monitored for blood pressure and dosage adjustments. Then it was once a week for about a month and now I'm going pretty smooth. I had to up one of my bp meds a little after taking it. 
ETAthanks for clearing up the spelling.
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That July 2017 date is assuming that FDA approves it quickly since it's just a new version of existing technology. If that thing works, only costs $3 a day, and gets approved, it will be a game changer. Quoted:
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There is a new daily one looking for funding on indiegogo and according to them it won't be ready until 2017. I do think it could be an interesting solution for travel purposes so you don't have to carry your machine every where you go. I couldn't imagine using this as a daily replacement for my cpap machine though. Airing That July 2017 date is assuming that FDA approves it quickly since it's just a new version of existing technology. If that thing works, only costs $3 a day, and gets approved, it will be a game changer. Which means it will be 2020 before we get a chance to use it. |
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Quoted: Which means it will be 2020 before we get a chance to use it. Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: There is a new daily one looking for funding on indiegogo and according to them it won't be ready until 2017. I do think it could be an interesting solution for travel purposes so you don't have to carry your machine every where you go. I couldn't imagine using this as a daily replacement for my cpap machine though. Airing That July 2017 date is assuming that FDA approves it quickly since it's just a new version of existing technology. If that thing works, only costs $3 a day, and gets approved, it will be a game changer. Which means it will be 2020 before we get a chance to use it. Yeah that's my thinking. I think the inventor "estimated" 2 years to raise more money. |
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Cool - thanks for posting this. I'm on my third week with the exact setup you describe (except for the plain Autoset). I'll check out the software. My wife says I don't snore anymore at all and I'm getting pretty used to the machine. One huge difference is that I used to wake up 3-4 times at night to pee; now that's down to 1; apparently not breathing causes your body to produce an enzyme that in turn makes you need to go. |
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Cool, I hope you get some good info from the software, and that you're feeling better with the machine. You and I started almost exactly the same time.
FYI, spend some time online and get the "clinical manual" PDF file for the machine. If you can't find it PM me and I'll get it to you. It's nice to see how it works and how it detects apneas, and how to 'take control' of the machine so you can set the pressures yourself if you want. I've toyed around with mine a bit; my initial "prescription" was 5-15. I toyed around with it a bit and right now I'm on 8-10.4. 7 or less and I feel like the machine isn't putting out enough air for me to breathe easily, and >11 and my nasal pillows leak. My current setting seems to be doing well to keep my obstructive issues down. I'm feeling a bit better these days. Waking up earlier in the mornings at least, and I don't really feel like I've been hit by a truck when waking up. I do still wake up a few times/night to fix small leaks with the nasal pillows but I guess that's just life. I also have a full face mask I'm going to try, one of these days. **Remember to lock your SD card being putting it in the computer, and unlock it when you put it back in your CPAP machine!!** |
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I had the clinician manual before I got the machine. 
Mine is set to 6-20, with my average nightly value of around 13. My AHI is about 1.5 so far. No leakage from my nasal pillows; maybe you need to try a different size? Regarding the part in bold: I can't say I'm surprised, but I would have been remiss to not mention it.
Nice AHI number. Lowest I've seen so far is 0.9, most of the time I'm in the 1.5-3ish range. Most of that is apparently from "clear airway events" (what it thinks are central apnea events, I believe). I generally have 0-3 obstructive events/night…way better than the 16-58/hour (depending on sleep position) that I had before using the machine. I originally had the pressure set to 5-15 and it said that 95% of the time it stayed under maybe 13 or something, so I started toning it down a bit. I noticed after it brought it down some it didn't negatively effect my numbers so I kept lowering it until the leaks mostly stopped but the pressure was high enough to keep me good. I'm using the medium pillows right now. Both the large and small versions don't work well at all. 
Pretty sure I've started sleeping more on my back as well, which is…different. Before this I was normally a side sleeper but over time it's made my hips and shoulders hurt on occasion. Now they don't hurt anymore but my back feels different. All part of doing something different than what I'm used to, I guess.
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