[CPAP] At 74 years old - I could do with some help please.

[BenDover]

I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea and purchased a new Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset machine. After online researching Sleep Apnea it looks like it may be a long and difficult journey to come to terms with now having to cope and survive with a chronic condition.

I’m at an age ( 74 ) and a recent widower , where its becoming a bit difficult to come to terms with having to alter my life style and way of life due to having been diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. . After the death of my wife I decided to leave England and move to the Philippines . Its becoming difficult to stay in permanent contact with my old English  doctor , so I’m now hoping that joining this forum may give me a glimmer of hope that over time I will be able to start to understand Sleep Apnea and more importantly how to use my new Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset machine to its fullest extent. 

Along with my new Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset machine , I purchased a Resmed Airfit nasal mask 

and I’m now downloading the app called Oscar onto my Mac computer. 

Over the past few evenings while using my Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset machine I feel ( in simple terms ) that the air blowing into my Resmed Airfit nasal mask , feels a bit too strong and its becoming annoying. So far Ive not been able to fully go to sleep while using my Airsense 10 machine. 

 Below are the settings that the English doctor recommended me to use and currently set on my Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset machine -



Mode – Autoset
Max Pressure – 15
Min Pressure 4.0
Mask – Nasal 
Comfort 
Response – Soft
Ramp Time – Off
EPR – On
EPR Type – Full Time
ERP Level – 3
Error Type – Full Time
Tube Temp – Auto
AB Filter – No
Essentials – Plus
SmartStart – On
Language – English
Press Units – cmH20
Temp Units – C

I would really appreciate any advice relating to the air feeling a bit to strong going into my Resmed Airfit nasal mask, along with any other comments  or suggestions to help me cope.

Kind Regards  - Ben

[srlevine1]

Ben,

Welcome to the forum where fellow apniacs are willing to help.

After you install Oscar and publish a few reports, I am sure that you will receive several helpful comments.

You may wish to read the link a http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ganization to familiarize yourself with organizing and posting the charts.

Best wishes.

Steve

[Gideon]

Welcome to the forum.

Truly sorry about your wife, I won't know what I'd do without mine of 50+ years. Yes, another old fart here.

There is one obvious setting I'd like you to change. That is your minimium pressure. Why? Well your EPR is set to 3 and will not fully work until your pressure is 7 so set your min pressure to 7.

The one thing that is different here at Apnea Board is that collectively we very strongly like to see your daily OSCAR data and use that, along with your perceptions, as the basis for suggestions and advice on how to optimize your therapy and comfort.
Even as a brand new user you can attach your OSCAR screenshots so please do so.

[OpalRose]

Welcome to Apnea Board Ben!

I would have to agree with Gideon with changing your minimum pressure to 7, with the EPR set at 3.  Keep the maximum pressure at 15.    

You should feel much more comfortable with these settings, and once you can post a Screenshot from the Daily page in OSCAR, we'll be able to tell if other adjustments need to be made.

http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ganization

Do you need a Clinicians manual?  Order it here:
https://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-p...tup-manual

[Expat31]

Ben, you are absolutely in the right place. Lots of practical common sense advice on this forum. 

Really spot on from Gideon regarding the minimum pressure of  7.

Your Oscar reports are vital. 

There is lots of data in them, but if you can, the 5 key ones to have are, in order of important are:-

Event flags
Flow rate
Pressure
Flow limit
Leak rate

We can get a  pretty good total picture of what is going on from these

Have a good look in the help pages concerning Oscar graphs. Mine of I formation

Old geezer out of the UK  long time ago....

[AndyB]

Hello Ben,

Welcome to the forum! There are many knowledgeable and generous people here who can assist you to understand and effectively treat your apnea. With some trial and error, and a lot of perseverance, you will find what works and is comfortable for you.

I understand where you are now. I'm 77, and I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea 7 years ago. Like you, I knew virtually nothing about apnea back then. The first 2-3 months were challenging, as they are for almost everyone starting out -- finding a comfortable and effective mask, getting used to breathing against air blowing up my nose, etc. all took some time. Put simply, it took time for my body and brain to adjust to this new way of sleeping.

The good news is that after pushing through those first several months, it's very likely that you'll become comfortable with your therapy, you'll learn how to optimize your own treatment, and you'll sleep better than you have in years. That's what happened for me, and that can be your story too.

I will leave to the real experts in the forum suggestions about settings on your machine, but be assured that the iterative process of finding what's right for you will be helped immensely by the assistance and information available here.  I am forever grateful for the help I received years ago when starting my therapy.

Good luck to you!

[Lucid]

Hello, Ben  
It took me a while to adjust.  For the first couple of days I just looked at the machine.    Then I spent a couple of days using it when I was awake and reading.  Then there were one or two days when I tried sleeping with it but took it off.  After about six days I could sleep through the night with it and never again slept without it.  

A lot of what I had thought was just getting old turned out to have been caused by sleep apnea.  (Such as waking up early and being unable to go back to sleep, and some of the aches and pains.)  I wish I'd gotten tested 10 or 15 years ago!

In addition to advice available here, I found it helpful to search on YouTube for my mask and machine.  Watching the video reviews was helpful in seeing how to fit masks and use the machine. There's a lot of information to absorb; I took my time over several months and am still learning.

Welcome, and best wishes for the Holidays and New Year 2023!

[RayBee]

Greetings Ben.

So sorry to hear about your wife's passing. You have my sincere condolences.

If you have a sleep study available, remove all your personal information and post the redacted report here. It will help the experts in figuring out your best course of action. That would be in addition to some OSCAR screen shots mentioned previously.

I think you will find that with optimal settings in your new Resmed machine, that you will soon come to love using it. You may need to do some exploring with various mask brands and types. I think it was rather difficult for me to find the best one for my mug. But some seem to find a great fit right out of the gates.

Merry Christmas to you and all on AB.

[Deborah K.]

  I'm so sorry to hear that your wife has died.  I'm praying that God gives you peace in the midst of your sorrow.

My husband and I both found adjusting to using a pap machine difficult at first.  But we persevered and both of us now consider the machines absolutely necessary for good sleep.  Your sleep will improve and you will feel better from the change.  Give it time.

[BenDover]

Hi Steve 

Thanks for the welcome and link to organizing and posting charts , I’m now going to have a look and follow the advice . 

Ben.

---

Welcome to the forum.

Truly sorry about your wife, I won't know what I'd do without mine of 50+ years.  Yes, another old fart here.

There is one obvious setting I'd like you to change.  That is your minimium pressure.  Why?  Well your EPR is set to 3 and will not fully work until your pressure is 7 so set your min pressure to 7.

The one thing that is different here at Apnea Board is that collectively we very strongly like to see your daily OSCAR data and use that, along with your perceptions, as the basis for suggestions and advice on how to optimize your therapy and comfort.
Even as a brand new user you can attach your OSCAR screenshots so please do so.

 Hi Gideon

Thank you for your kind words and suggestion .

After being diagnosed with Sleep Apnea and before I joined this forum I was thinking to myself I wonder what age range does Sleep Apnea affect the most . 

Ive just installed OSCAR onto my Mac computer and put a SD memory card in my Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset machine , so I have my fingers crossed that I can post my OSCAR results .
.

Ben .