First night on bipap

[idahocouchpotato]

Hello, all!

Tonight is my first night with my bipap machine. I look forward to reading your stories and sharing my own experiences as they develop.

[SuperSleeper]

Howdy idahocouchpotato....



Let us know how it goes after the first few nights. If you need help, just post and someone will come sooner or later to try and help as best they can.

Sleep well....

[idahocouchpotato]

Thanks for the welcome, Super sleeper. The first night was not altogether bad. I got 5.7 hours use, but a frowny face for mask fit. It says AHI 6.6, but I'm not going to call that accurate with the mask leaks, and being just a single night's data. However my AHI during my sleep study was 96.5. I didn't know it went up that high. I will use the "mask fit" function today to dial out the leaks.

FWIW I feel more energetic this morning, but it could be from the relief of finally getting everything set up and trying the therapy at home for the first time.

[lonnieb]

hi idahocouchpotato
welcome to the forum,hang in there it took me about half a year to start feeling better and about 4 or 5 different mask,it gets better as time goes by.

[PaulaO2]

As long as that AHI gets below 5, you're doing great!

Yes, one night of data is not enough but it does show the treatment is effective.

It can take a while to find the right mask. Ask your DME (supplier) what their mask return policy is. A lot of them allow 2 weeks or more to try a mask. If it doesn't work, they take it back and give you another. I guess I tried at least 6 different ones. Not all nasal masks are the same and not all nasal pillows are the same. Each has slightly different build and the like.

[zonk]

congrats ... 5.7 hours sleep and feeling better is excellent start
beside AHI ... you want leak to be below 24 L/min .... whats the leak showing on the screen

[trish6hundred]

Hi idahocouchpotato,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
It sounds like you're off to a GREAT start, CONGRATULATIONS,! and keep going.
Best of luck to you.

[idahocouchpotato]

you want leak to be below 24 L/min .... whats the leak showing on the screen

I just figured out how to read the leak data on the screen and it says 115L/min.

[zonk]

I just figured out how to read the leak data on the screen and it says 115L/min.

its way too high but with more practice and experience .... it,ll get better
higher leak affect the accuracy of the data as the machine cannot detect and identify events correctly
115 L/min: 95% percentile leaks been AT and BELOW for the 95% of the time using the machine and higher for the other 5% of the time
ResScan software leak graph would shows the period during the night leak was over the threshold line 24 L/min

[idahocouchpotato]

It just goes to show how important access to data is. I thought I was doing "pretty good" last night, but the numbers show how wrong my groggy perception really was!

Out of curiosity, Zonk, where did you find the 24L/min figure? If there was no leak at all, is that how much air should pass through the exhaust ports on the mask? If so then the leak value would be a function of the mask pressure vs ambient pressure rather than a fixed value. I would like to research this further.