Quackdoctor (Therapy Thread)

[Crimson Nape]

To be preemptive and optimistic at the same time, when you get your new machine, create a new profile in OSCAR and a new SD card. Staying within brands can work, but switching brands can cause odd things to happen in OSCAR.

- Red

[Quackdoctor]

Thanks, good to know that.

[Quackdoctor]

Well I've made a week with my new machine. WOW, what a difference. This ResMed is a pleasure to use, and it works. I'm posting some charts for you guys to analyze.

[Sleeprider]

Forgive me for a little “I told you so”. 
You’ve come a long way from that mess of events you got from the Philips BiPAP AutoSV. 

Now turn off ramp and cut the events again. 

[Quackdoctor]

Another good night.

[Quackdoctor]

I went from doing great to marginal results. The only thing I've noticed is when I exhale, the pressure is higher causing minor leaks in my mask. I'm hoping someone can look at my charts and give me help in getting back on track.

[Sleeprider]

Not very easy to interpret, but there are some strong indications of a positional obstruction, i.e. chin tucking or similar. Hypopnea and UA are highly clustered, and tend to be focused in areas that appear to be arousals. The machine is responding with appropriate countermeasures of increased EPAP and pressure support to try to overcome these obstructions, but fails. I think if you're using a soft cervical collar, it may be softening, or if you are not using one, you may want to try it to stabilize the head and neck position to avoid bending and obstructing the airway. I don't recall if we have discussed these clusters in the past, but there is a wiki for that in my signature links.

[Quackdoctor]

We haven't discussed it but I will look into it. I made a change in pillows last night but haven't yet downloaded my results to Oscar. I know I'm bad about tucking my chin. I haven't yet tried a soft collar but I will get one and give it a try. Thanks for the guidance. I'll try not to be a pest in the future.

[Sleeprider]

Not being a pest. The good news is this can often be fixed once you're aware of it.