[CPAP] eok361 - Therapy Thread

[eok361]

   
Hi,

 New here to the board. I have recently been viewing videos by lanky lefty and niko. I hadn't known about the Philips recall, since I had bought my system one 560P second party years ago. I was diagnosed with OSA many years ago, but the Dr I initially saw left practice, and I've been without insurance for years. 

Not to on to long...This screenshot shows the last 3 months usage. Once I got the Airsense 10, you can see what immediately happened to the leak rates. 

I'm curious as to what's going on. I first used my same mask I've had for years (Micro Mirage), but panicked at got both an n20 and airfit f20. 

The FF was a disaster. I won't be using that anymore. The N20 seems ok, but it gets an awful amount of leaking as well. The 2 lower days in this period I taped my mouth...which I never had to do before.

The pressure levels were set the same on both machines. 10 to 16 APAP.

After watching the videos from those guys, I am actively trying to get to a solid pressure and go to CPAP.

The AHI is low, but that's a false indicator. The numbers all look ok to me, except for the really bad leak numbers. 

Would the resmed pressure levels be any different than the Philips? Would the OSCAR data know that? I'm assuming it just reads what the machine tells it. 

Thanks for any help. This is frustrating.

[OpalRose]

It might be easier to see the daily page chart.  

Organize it according to this link:
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ganization

Also, read the Mask Primer:
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ask_Primer

[eok361]

Good morning,

I am posting this from a hospital room. I had 2 stents placed in my arteries yesterday, and that made me wonder...

Is it ok to still use therapy at the levels I have been? I haven't seen a physician in years regarding my SA. I've just been moderating it myself. 

I'm just wondering if I should temporarily lower my pressure settings, to allow my cardio-v system time to adjust.

If anyone has any experience with this, I'm all ears (or, eyes).

thanks

[eok361]

doc said in no way should i alter my therapy. that's good to know.

[eok361]

yes, i've gone way too far down the rabbit hole regarding CPAP since i got my new resmed machine, replacing my old philips system one. 

along my internet travels i've seen a few pages linking a couple studies concluding that CPAP isn't nearly effective at treating everything it claims, and has no measurable long-term benefits, to some degree. 

the main paper mentioned is the AHRQ report. 

i'm assuming it's a lightning rod topic in these forums. i tried a search of this forum to find any threads on it, but the search tool didn't find any. 

am i safe in my assumption? i--myself--have been using CPAP for years. i never had issues with compliance, but i do have to admit that since i started, i have developed hypertension, and just this week had to have some stents put in. 

obviously my lifestyle and genetics played the major role in the latter, and probably the former as well. 

i do know that if nothing else, i don't wake up choking and gagging anymore since starting therapy. for that alone, i still use CPAP nightly. 

i'm just interested to see if anyone has read that paper. you probably all have, and i'm just late to the dance.

[pholynyk]

I've never heard of an AHRQ report, and I have no idea which paper you are referring to.

I think it's safe to say it is not a hot topic here.

[Crimson Nape]

Boy!, you did go down the rabbit hole.  I had never heard of this group before your posting.  AHRQ stands for Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  It seems they are a think-tank out of Rockville, Maryland.  The only paper I could find is now archived and was conducted sometime after 2014 and was published in 2017.   With it being archived, leads me to believe that it is no longer valid.

Here is a snippet of the test:

Four study sizes ranged from 43 to 1033 participants, and studies were generally conducted in participants with underlying conditions such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, or Alzheimer disease or in persons with symptoms.

Of course, it is on the internet, so it still must be true.      

As we age, stuff happens. That is a fact of life.    

- Red

[eok361]

thanks for pointing out that it isn't even a major topic here. i have no way of knowing if it was a valid paper or not. looks like it may have been less than an ideal study.

[eok361]

        Hi,  
I just got a resmed airsense 10 a couple weeks ago, and having a real difficult time with leak rates. 

I've done all the standard attempts to alleviate it. Mouth taping, new ff mask (bust), 2 different mouthguards, v-com and last night, a soft cervical collar with a mouthpiece and the v-com. 

I am posting last night's results. A full night shot, and a zoomed in section of the worst of the leaking. 

I have a mask I have used for years (mirage micro) that my prior machine never flagged as problematic leaking. Now I got an n20, and the airfit 20 (the bust ff mask).

every one of them, including the mirage micro register major leaking, according to the as10 and oscar. 

does anyone have any clues? i'm beginning to think the resmed leak tolerances are way more sensitive than my last philips machine (560P system one). 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Here are the screenshots.

[srlevine1]

I am curious...
Why are you in CPAP mode and not using the machine's auto-titrating capabilities?
Is the mask sized correctly?
Are your leaks around the bridge of your nose or lower?