[Equipment] How should I pause CPAP (ResMed AS11) for a bathroom break?

[ThinMountainAir]

What I’ve been doing is just detaching my mask for my once or twice a night trip to the toilet. I’ve just started using OSCAR, which records it as major leak (I’m bravely refraining from making a pun here). I know it isn’t actually a mask leak so with MyAir I’d ignore it. But with OSCAR it probably skews other measurements. I’m concerned that if I use the machine’s on/off button or the “auto stop” feature, OSCAR will think I ended and then started a new sleep cycle even though the bathroom break gap is less than two minutes.  I know I could try different things on different nights  but I’m eager to quickly compile some OSCAR data in the hope I can figure out why my numbers are terrific but my symptoms aren’t  better and maybe worse.
As an aside, this is my first post so I want to say how incredibly grateful I am that there are people on this forum willing to share their time and knowledge with strangers. It’s heartening to know there’s such kindness in the world.  
As another aside, some may be thinking: Wait, what? A 76 year old man can get up, walk to the toilet, use it, go back to bed and reattach his mask all in less than two minutes?! How is that possible?  The answer is that I was treated for prostate cancer about 23 years ago, which just goes to show: there’s a positive side to everything.

[edfreeman]

Usually once per night I hit the button, unhook, do my business, hook back up, go back to sleep. Oscar's calculations of AHI and the min/max/95% pressures and leaks are "unharmed," as they're calculated on the "sleep day," meaning noon to noon. It will show the few minutes unhooked as a gap, but nothing changes in the math.

[Melman]

Welcome to the forum. I get up 2-3 times each night. I remove the mask and the machine shuts off in a few seconds.I use the smart start feature. I have done it manually in the past. It just shows as a brief gap in the therapy as edfreeman said. It does not start a new sleep session or effect the overall Oscar data. I have an AS 10 but suspect it is the same with the AS11.

[cathyf]

I hold my breath as I hit the button and then either unhook the hose or pull the whole mask off while still holding my breath. I have kind of a love-hate relationship with "SmartStart" because I HATEHATEHATEHATEHATE the "StupidStop" feature. I am a much happier camper now that I own a machine where I can have SmartStart without having to turn on StupidStop.

But I'm going on 8 years so holding my breath during stops and starts is very thoroughly engrained at this point.

[ThinMountainAir]

Thanks! Yes, now just a small gap in Oscar graphs rather than showing a massive mask leak.

[Millstone50]

Pop off the hose from the mask and let it leak. SmartStop will shut the machine off. Come back and pop the hose back on, SmartStart will start it back up again.

[Sleepster]

I’m concerned that if I use the machine’s on/off button or the “auto stop” feature, OSCAR will think I ended and then started a new sleep cycle even though the bathroom break gap is less than two minutes.

The sleep cycle is 24 hours, regardless. When you turn off the machine it just creates a new session when you start it up again.

I know I could try different things on different nights  but I’m eager to quickly compile some OSCAR data in the hope I can figure out why my numbers are terrific but my symptoms aren’t  better and maybe worse.

For me the hose and the mask and the air pressure were all irritants to me so I was getting less sleep. Then I started noticing that on rare mornings I would wake up with a feeling that I'd actually gotten some good sleep. As time went on there were more and more of those mornings. The road to recovery can be slow and unsteady.

But of course it's worth it!

[dwd1249]

I always use the start/stop to stop the machine.
The last thing I need is to disturb "She who must be obeyed" with the noise and air from the hose.
When I come back to bed I just put the mask back on.