[CPAP] NEW USER! OSCAR HELP!

[G. Szabo]

Also, I have attached my data from 10/12 & 10/13 (P10 Mask). I felt pretty great after these nights (first two attachments).

Good evening there, 

You can probably see that last night was not as good as the previous two. It could be the mask, but a single night should not be decisive. It would be best if you gave it a week's trial and then compared it with the old one under the same setting and a similar, about a week average. 

Nevertheless, if the condensation is your priority, the new mask should be your choice. 

I suggest running the comparison with the minimum pressure setting of 8.2 cm because the 7.8 was below your 50% all three nights.

PS: In my experience, the Philips mask has higher resistance, delivering a lower flow rate/pressure under the same setting. This might explain your worst feelings about it. If this is the case, a slightly higher minimum pressure is needed with the new mask.

[avogel333]

Good Morning G. Szabo,

Thank you for the information. It does feel like the Philips mask is delivering a lower flow rate/pressure, so raising my minimum pressure makes a lot of sense to me. I do feel more tired again today, so hopefully, raising the minimum pressure will help with that.

I will give the higher minimum pressure (8.2) a try for the next three nights (10/16, 10/17 & 10/18) and will post my Oscar data on Saturday morning from these nights. I will also post a separate post with my last three nights with the P10 mask so we can compare.

I really appreciate your continued help!

Talk to you soon!

[G. Szabo]

With the new mask, you can increase the pressure even more. You will not experience the adverse effect of pressure when it is lost on the mask's resistance. When deciding about your new mask, consider leaks, comfort, and condensation. Also, ensure that your instrument setting aligns with your hose diameter and mask type.

You might want to try a different Philips headgear size. A too-large one causes leaks.

[avogel333]

Sounds good. As always, great info!

I totally forgot to change the mask settings on the machine so that is a great catch. 

What minimum pressure would your recommend (8.4, 8.6, 8.8, 9.0?) and would I also need to adjust my maximum pressure as well or can I leave that on 12?

And would it be a good idea that I adjust it my .2 each night for the next three nights to find the sweat spot?

I believe the medium headgear that the mask came with fits my head pretty good!

I am also hoping this mask will help with the leaks, but I do hear air leaking around my nose when I got to sleep or wake in the night.

Thank you for all your advice!

[G. Szabo]

What minimum pressure would your recommend (8.4, 8.6, 8.8, 9.0?) and would I also need to adjust my maximum pressure as well or can I leave that on 12?

Difficult to say. I would try 8.6 cm for the minimum and leave the same maximum.

[avogel333]

Sounds good. I will start there!

Thank you for your time!

[avogel333]

Good Evening G. Szabo,

I was going to wait to post until I had more data to share, but I was hoping you could take a look from my data from last.

I turned my min pressure to 8.6 and adjusted the setting on my machine to the correct mask type. 

Please let me know if you would make any adjustments from my presssure. I def felt very tired and groggy today.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[G. Szabo]

Your figures are outstanding. But if you are not feeling well, you can try treatment under constant pressure. Perhaps you feel better with the following settings:
Mode APAP
Min pressure 9.2
Maximum pressure: 9.2
EPR=2

[Phaleronic]

Hello avogel333,

Since you're feeling tired and groggy, let's not change much with pressure, but let's decrease EPR to 1 please, this will lower your min epap pressure by 1cm, it also will help you have more restful sleep as EPR is know to cause issues with inspiration return pressure. Optimally I'd like to see you use no EPR, and see how you feel for a few nights (since you've not ever turned it off). When I was using resmed machines I slept more deeply when I didn't use EPR.

If you feel that exhalation pressure it still to high we can drop min pressure down by 1cm as well.

Please try that for 30 to 45 minutes before bed tonight and relay how it feels.

[avogel333]

Thank you both very much for your help and recommendations. 

I will lower my EPR to 1 tonight and will give it a try before bed to see how it feels.

I will report back in a few with how it feels. It's awesome to have the help and support this site provides! Thank you!