candidate for bipap???

[eok361]

hi,

As of last June, I started using an airsense 10 after finding out my old system one 60 was part of the "foamgate" disaster. 

some background:
in about '06, i was diagnosed with OSA after having a sleep study done. I have long lost the original report, but I recall that the recommended therapy was CPAP at 11 cmH2O (or somewhere near that). 

since then i have been getting machines on my own as needed. i ended up setting the machines to APAP with some pretty basic min/max numbers. I was never really proficient at reading oscar data, but have wanted to get better since getting the AS10. 

when i first started using it, my numbers on a whole were ok, but certain things were awful. primarily leaks and FL. i will post some early screenshots from last June.

I have been through a bevy of masks, taping methods, mouthguards, cervical collars, etc, and have gotten to the point now where i can ask the following question. and i ask because i know there are very knowledgeable folks in here who could give me better guidance than if i went to see a new sleep dr. the time, effort and money to do that would be an issue.

anyway, there is someone near me who has an unused aircurve 10, at a reasonable price. it is a card to cloud version, but that doesn't matter to me, as i don't upload data to anyone. I just save data and read it on oscar. 

is there anything in my data that would suggest i'd be better served with bipap? i know that the machine can do everything the AS10 does now, with the added benefit of true bi-level therapy.

i just don't know if it would be worth it, as far as my numbers go. 

i don't have COPD, asthma or any breathing issues. I did have a couple stents inserted into my arteries in June, but i don't have actual coronary heart disease. 

any input would be appreciated. if upgrading would not be all that necessary, then i'll just stick with the as10.

thanks...

[eok361]

i could only add 3 images in the last post. here's the last in the 4 shot sequence.

[Korndog]

Good morning,
I am no expert by any means, but if I had those numbers from the getgo with my CPAP id have never asked for a re-look on my sleep study. I just went to BiPAP about a month ago, and its taken someone in this forum to help me dial it in. I am not sure if they knew what they were doing when they sent it to me "set up". I Know it isnt the same machine tha I had my study with, but I think they tried to set it up the same. I went two weeks with BiPAP with my old 2 plus years of CPAP numbers! Talk about a disappointment. Posted my info and graphs here and I am under an AHI of 1 more regularly now, where the lowest I ever had on CPAP was AHI of 4. Constant CA's, hypopneas, but OSA was for the most part treated.
There are some good people here I am sure that can get you pointed in the right direction.

[Old Steve]

Looking at your most recent OSCAR and if you are feeling good I wouldn't think that you need a BiPap.  Your settings and results are almost the same as mine.

[eok361]

thanks for the reply!

[Sleeprider]

You therapy is good with your CPAP at 8.2 EPR 3 or 8.2/5.2 pressure. Very similar results at CPAP 10.8 EPR 3, however your results from last Summer with EPR 1 shows how much you benefit from some bilevel pressure support. If the Vauto card to cloud is affordable, it is a better machine and will let you try some higher pressure support and fine-tune TiMax and trigger sensitivity which are not available on your Autoset. You can choose to use fixed or auto pressure. While you don't need the Vauto, you will like it, and I'm pretty sure your CPAP will become a backup. If you don't have a backup, that alone is a pretty compelling argument to get it.

[eok361]

thanks, sleeprider. i'll probably pull the trigger on the ac10