Help newly diagnosed with apnea

[nunz4]

Hi all, im a cpap newbie, I was just given my sleep study report AHI=29 RDI= 56 per hour...I have never used a machine.
the DME is delivering either a resmed 9s or airsense s10 autoset today, any sugestions on which of the 2 are better for me or which should I choose ? I will be using a swift fx nasal pillow. I live in miami. any help is appriciated , sorry I have not looked thru the links yet, dont mean to be asking repeat questions. thanks!

[DeepBreathing]

G'day nunz4, welcome to the forum, and welcome to the exclusive order of hoseheads.

The Airsense 10 series has just arrived on the market and is a successor to the S9. Both are excellent machines, though some members prefer their older S9 to the new A10. In both ranges the Autoset is the preferred machine, being versatile, able to give you both variable and constant pressure therapy and fully data capable. This last point is important - some machines only record the hours used ("compliance") but to get the best value you need to have one which also records your AHI, leaks, flow rate etc. You will need some software to extract and display the data - either ResScan by Resmed or Sleepyhead. There is a link to Sleepyhead at the top of the page and there is a thread including a users guide. Now I'm not sure if Sleepyhead supports the 10 series yet, but if not, it soon will. I'd suggest you download and use both programs and see which suits your needs better (most people plump for Sleepyhead).

Some lucky people get instant results with CPAP therapy, but for most of us it's a bit of a journey. You have to get used to sleeping with a plastic alien strapped to your face and blowing air at you all night long. You may find it difficult to adjust your breathing to the machine - in particular if the pressure is too low you might feel you're not getting enough air. Alternatively you might be getting too much and find it hard to exhale - "drowning in air". (This is easily fixed by turning up the EPR setting on your machine).

The big bugbear for most people is the mask. It may be too big, too small, wrong shape for your face, leak a lot or otherwise be uncomfortable. If your mask isn't comfortable and/or leaks a lot, then everything else is wasted. If you're not happy with your mask, make sure your DME provides you with some options. It can take four or five tries to get one that's right for you. Don't be surprised if you find yourself taking the mask off during your sleep. It's something everybody does, but mostly we grow out of it.

OK, so that's the downside covered, what's good about this therapy? First thing you might notice is that you have far fewer toilet breaks during the night. Yes, something I had never heard of but apnea causes your bladder to go into overdrive. Once you get into the hang of it, you'll find yourself waking refreshed and without a headache. You'll be able to drive to work without nodding off at the wheel. And you won't nod off during meetings with your boss (a seriously career-limiting event).

If you have high blood pressure you might notice a decline (though probably not enough to go off your meds). If you have heart arrhythmia it's likely to get better. You will feel more energetic and generally healthier.

And best of all - you'll stop snoring so the man/lady in your life will stop giving you the elbow!

[Eurika]

Hi Nunz
I'm a newbie too, and have had amazing results with the Airsense 10 Autoset and the P10 nasal pillows. I've been on it for 2 weeks and am already 100% compliant, I just kept fiddling with the mask tension etc until I got it right.
Good luck with your new journey into APAP and always remember that the way to succeed is to never ever give up. There are some really knowledgable people on this board and they are all part of our support group, so how can we not succeed with support like that?
If you need any moral support just drop me a pm.
Due to therapy I have never felt better waking up and seizing the day with loads of energy, the rewards outweigh the inconvenience 10 times or more, it gives us our lives back!

[Crimson Nape]

I am to a new user too, I only beat you by month in usage. I have the Resmed S9 with the H5i humidifier. I am just now using the mask that you will be starting off with and have had very good results with it. One of the best things that I did with my system was switch to the Climate-Line heated hose for humidity. This cut down the dry throat condition and help decrease my coughing. Good luck with your new system and keep us posted on your progress.

[PollCat]

The bottom line on masks is: keep trying different masks and types until you find one that works for you. Over the years I've used several different nasal pillow masks; never tried any other types because I refuse to shave off my beard and mustache!

[trish6hundred]

Hi nunz4,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I think either of the machines you mentioned are fine. Take a look at this link to further help you on machine choices: http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ne_Choices
Feel free to ask any questions you have to help you understand this therapy, there are a lot of knowledgeable people and plenty of helpful information to read here on this board.
The mask can be the hardest part of the therapy, so don't be shy about asking to try as many masks as you need 'til you find the one that works for you.
Best of luck as you start your CPAP therapy.

[trish6hundred]

I am to a new user too, I only beat you by month in usage. I have the Resmed S9 with the H5i humidifier. I am just now using the mask that you will be starting off with and have had very good results with it. One of the best things that I did with my system was switch to the Climate-Line heated hose for humidity. This cut down the dry throat condition and help decrease my coughing. Good luck with your new system and keep us posted on your progress.

Hi sgearhart,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I use the Climateline hose and I really like it.
Best of luck to you on your CPAP journey.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Nunz
I'm a newbie too, and have had amazing results with the Airsense 10 Autoset and the P10 nasal pillows. I've been on it for 2 weeks and am already 100% compliant, I just kept fiddling with the mask tension etc until I got it right.
Good luck with your new journey into APAP and always remember that the way to succeed is to never ever give up. There are some really knowledgable people on this board and they are all part of our support group, so how can we not succeed with support like that?
If you need any moral support just drop me a pm.
Due to therapy I have never felt better waking up and seizing the day with loads of energy, the rewards outweigh the inconvenience 10 times or more, it gives us our lives back!

Hi Eurika,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
It's so good to hear that you have had such great success with your CPAP therapy and that you have fine tuned it to work well for you.
Keep up the good work and best of luck as you continue on your CPAP journey.

[nunz4]

Thank you all for the input ! I forgot to mention i got the climate line too
Im heading home now to my appointment with the rep who is bringing the machines so I can look at them, i was given a brand new swift fx nasal pillow for free by a friend, the rep is bringing me another as well so i will have two varieties to use, i guess i will choose another type, I sleep on my side alot so comfort has to be there (or as much as possible)
again thanks for youe help, I will be following here for advice!
Pleasent dreams to all!

[archangle]

Thank you all for the input ! I forgot to mention i got the climate line too
Im heading home now to my appointment with the rep who is bringing the machines so I can look at them, i was given a brand new swift fx nasal pillow for free by a friend, the rep is bringing me another as well so i will have two varieties to use, i guess i will choose another type, I sleep on my side alot so comfort has to be there (or as much as possible)
again thanks for youe help, I will be following here for advice!
Pleasent dreams to all!

If it's an S9 machine, do not accept it if it says "escape." on it. Make sure it says "Elite" or "AutoSet" next to the power button.

If it's an A10 machine, be sure it says "Elite" or "AutoSet" at the bottom right. There is a base model called the AirSense 10 "CPAP". Be sure to get the Elite or AutoSet.

The Escape and "A10 CPAP" models lack the more useful data recording functions of the Elite or AutoSet models. The better models are like having a mini sleep test every night.

Note that the DME will lie to you and tell you it records full data and show you the SD card. The Escape only records the time you turn it on and off. The S9 Escape Auto and A10 CPAP models only record nightly averages.