First two nights using CPAP, starting a 63

[elitheelephant]

Hi there.

I had a sleep test a few weeks ago and was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea (AHI 63.1).

Long story short - I had a 3 week business trip overseas, managed to talk my ENT into writing a script for a Philips Sleepeasy Centre without a titrated study, had a quick mask fitting and then walked out with a Philips Respironics Dreamstation set on 5 to 15 and an Amara View full face mask and got on the plane that night.

Flew overseas, 25 hours travelling with 2 hours sleep probably helped me get off to sleep with the mask on.

First night I had an AHI of 12.1 and apparently was a bit leaky. I saw in Sleepyhead that I had a period where my pressure was pinned at 15 and after a while I woke up.

I figured that if the machine is meant to work itself out I might as well just let it go to 20, so I tweaked that for the second night.

I also had a close shave - I had a day and a half of stubble the first nights sleep.

Second night I hit 6.3 with a lot less leakage. 

I am feeling pretty amazing sleep wise - I should be super jetlagged but I think it is being counteracted by the improvement in sleep.

My graphs are below. Should I just leave well enough alone at the moment - or is there anything I should be tweaking? I am obviously still coming up to speed with Sleepyhead. I already love it though - it is like Strava for sleeping...

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Boo :-(

I am not allowed to post my graphs until I have 4 posts. I guess I will have to find 4 interesting things to say...

[ajack]

glad you're getting the leaks under control. As you know, you are doing fine with the 6.3

[OpalRose]

Welcome to the Forum!  

Glad that it is working out for you, and you feel more rested.

When you are able to post screenshots, follow the tutorial in my signature line.  This will show you how to organize the graphs and post here.

[elitheelephant]

glad you're getting the leaks under control. As you know, you are doing fine with the 6.3

Thanks. It all seems too easy though - no proper script or anything and dropping from 63 to 6.3 in two nights? 

Not complaining - but so many people have such horror stories about getting their settings right, fighting we suppliers and doctors etc...

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Welcome to the Forum!  

Glad that it is working out for you, and you feel more rested.

When you are able to post screenshots, follow the tutorial in my signature line.  This will show you how to organize the graphs and post here.

Thanks! I had actually already read your guide, images were up at imgur and all ready to go - then fail...

Only one more post to go....

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Damn it. Two more posts to go. It is totally robbing me by combining consecutive replies :-(

If you could reply to me again so I can get another post without spamming the rest of the board I would super appreciate it.

[ajack]

The US system is a lot different to ours and it's not just the medical costs.

[elitheelephant]

The US system is a lot different to ours and it's not just the medical costs.

True that! I am actually in the US right now. Everything is different. They even drive on the wrong side of the road.

And the toilets are too full!

[elitheelephant]

First night!

[elitheelephant]

OK, second night:

[quiescence at last]

Hi Eli,

You do not need to panic about how hard it is going to be.  Really, a lot of us have adjusted well, and changing settings was not hard with the help provided.  The kindness of others on this forum will get you to a better place soon.

Mostly, you'll hear that you handle a few things in approximate order of:
leakage - getting used to the mask and reduction of leakage.  [we note your leakage is really not horrible - so good for now.]
pressure maximum being reduced to help get used to the pressure.  this step is often used, but is not really necessary unless that upper pressure is waking you too much. 
pressure minimum being raised to reduce or eliminate the obstructive events.  your machine is adjusting automatically to raise pressure to attempt this. you can aid this by picking a better minimum, so the machine reaction time can be reduced.
other adjustments to fine tune. things like how the pressure shifts when you inhale or exhale.  you probably won't have to do much here unless there is some hard spot you experience during your journey.

Looking at only 2 nights, these both tell about the same story.  you will want to eventually have your minimum pressure about 12 cm and your maximum around 16 cm.  suggestions on how to get you there are varied.

I would start my journey by lifting the starting pressure to 8 cm or 9 cm. I would move the maximum down from 20 to 16 cm.  I would run those pressures for at least 3 to 4 days before considering any other moves.

Great journey to you.

QAL

[Gideon]

Your range is wide open (6 - 20), an ok place to start, but PR devices perform better with a narrower range.
Looking at your 2nd night I'm going to suggest increasing your min to 8 and your max to 16.  so 8-16 for a range.