I am livin’ the dream..
I am livin’ the dream..
I have been in such a nice zone lately that I’m willing to declare it as “my own.”
For the last 21 days I have had my pressure running at min 9 / max 13.6. It took awhile before I settled on those numbers.
Then, something robysue said inspired me to give EPR a try. I have been reluctant to do that because I have been doing fine without doing that. But hey... A guy’s gotta try something new doesn’t he? As long as it isn’t something green that you’re supposed to eat?
So, 21 days ago I was fooling with my machine and turned EPR on. Hmmm, it offers a setting on 1, 2, or 3. I didn’t know what that meant. It occurred to me to read the manual, but I got over that pretty quick. So I set it on 3.
Now, when you change something, you really should give it a number of days before you decide to change it some more. So now it’s been 21 days.
My average AHI for the last week is .10. Yup. .10. My leak rate for the last week is an average of 6.79. I've never experienced the higher rates so many of you have, but since on "therapy" an ahi of 1 or 2 has been kind of the norm. If I stare at my graphs hard enough I can see where little guys tried to form up, but never made it to the point where they were reported as an event. Now I'll see 1 or 2 obstructives on a given night, and some nights, like last night none at all. I haven't seen a central event in all of these 21 days.
But mostly I am so lovin’ the livin’ at night. My O2 stays at a 93% which is great for me. I do get up once during the night most nights for bathroom duty and to scare the miserable cats, but other than that I am sleeping so way so good. In the morning I'm just there, on my back, in the zone. It's way nice.
My new motto is “is it bedtime yet?”
My wife’s new motto is “shut up and finish you breakfast.”
The point of all this? If you haven’t gotten here yet, your turn is coming. You will find that perfect sweet spot combination that changes this “life sentence” of ours to a life style worth bragging about.
RE: I am livin’ the dream..
Hi retired_guy,
Very inspiring post, It's GREAT to hear that things are working well for you, sounds like your experiment has paid off.
Keep living the dream.
trish6hundred
RE: I am livin’ the dream..
Cool !  It's great to hear when someone is doing well. It shows that life is good , even with CPAP. I know I can't wait to go to bed every night cause I always have a hot date with my PR750 . 
RE: I am livin’ the dream..
Retired_guy! I'm not in the zone with you...YET! I HAD A DREAM!...Something as simple as a dream, an everyday occurrence for the lucky, unobstructed masses; my dream last night was to me, like the rainbow must have been to Noah! My 4th night with CPAP, still adjusting, trying different masks, humidity settings, etc... the night was still not GREAT, I had "events", (5 being considerably better than 67) and by sheer force of will, not comfort or ease, I was determined to keep the mask on my face...all of that considered...I HAD A DREAM! And it is exciting! I was literally dancing down the hallway this morning to the amazement of my 13, 11, and 9 year old kids.
Still, like the poet Robert Frost said, I have "miles to go before I sleep"!
BUT...like Dr. Martin Luther King... I HAD A DREAM!!!
RE: I am livin’ the dream..
(05-12-2014, 08:27 PM)retired_guy Wrote: I am livin’ the dream..
I have been in such a nice zone lately that I’m willing to declare it as “my own.”
For the last 21 days I have had my pressure running at min 9 / max 13.6. It took awhile before I settled on those numbers.
Then, something robysue said inspired me to give EPR a try. I have been reluctant to do that because I have been doing fine without doing that. But hey... A guy’s gotta try something new doesn’t he? As long as it isn’t something green that you’re supposed to eat?
So, 21 days ago I was fooling with my machine and turned EPR on. Hmmm, it offers a setting on 1, 2, or 3. I didn’t know what that meant. It occurred to me to read the manual, but I got over that pretty quick. So I set it on 3.
Now, when you change something, you really should give it a number of days before you decide to change it some more. So now it’s been 21 days.
My average AHI for the last week is .10. Yup. .10. My leak rate for the last week is an average of 6.79. I've never experienced the higher rates so many of you have, but since on "therapy" an ahi of 1 or 2 has been kind of the norm. If I stare at my graphs hard enough I can see where little guys tried to form up, but never made it to the point where they were reported as an event. Now I'll see 1 or 2 obstructives on a given night, and some nights, like last night none at all. I haven't seen a central event in all of these 21 days.
But mostly I am so lovin’ the livin’ at night. My O2 stays at a 93% which is great for me. I do get up once during the night most nights for bathroom duty and to scare the miserable cats, but other than that I am sleeping so way so good. In the morning I'm just there, on my back, in the zone. It's way nice.
My new motto is “is it bedtime yet?”
My wife’s new motto is “shut up and finish you breakfast.”
The point of all this? If you haven’t gotten here yet, your turn is coming. You will find that perfect sweet spot combination that changes this “life sentence” of ours to a life style worth bragging about.
So , Are you liking the EPR on 3?, I know for me one week into theropy I had to change my epr to 3 so I could exhale .
Yes I also enjoy when it's bedtime 
RE: I am livin’ the dream..
Yep. All of this is pretty much the same true as it was nearly a year ago. EPR at 3 is a fine thing for me.
I did up my pressure a little to 10.6/14 which seemed to have baby-butt smoothed out my flow-limit graph. Since then, for about 6 months now, my average ahi is less than .15. I'll get zero about 3 nights out of 5.
My only complaint/problem/challenge is I can't decide what to change next. Everything's working very well, so what can I tweak without screwing something up?
Maybe I'll up the pressure to 10.7 or something.
Maybe I'm healed! Maybe I don't need no stinkin' machine anymore! ------ no way in the world would I consider not using my machine. If they want my machine, they will have to pry my mask from my cold dead nosie.
RE: I am livin’ the dream..
Hi retired_guy,
I am so happy for you. I'm still working on that "zone".
0n my PR Auto, I use C FLEX on #3. Very comfortable to breath out.
My AHI is usually good, .5 to 1.5, but still feel tired some days.
I suppose Flow Rate and those pesky RERA's have a lot to do with it.
OpalRose
RE: I am livin’ the dream..
I always look forward to your posts retiredguy!! Congrats on finding the zone!
RE: I am livin’ the dream..
(03-24-2015, 01:57 PM)2tired2sleep Wrote: Retired_guy! I'm not in the zone with you...YET! I HAD A DREAM!...Something as simple as a dream, an everyday occurrence for the lucky, unobstructed masses; my dream last night was to me, like the rainbow must have been to Noah! My 4th night with CPAP, still adjusting, trying different masks, humidity settings, etc... the night was still not GREAT, I had "events", (5 being considerably better than 67) and by sheer force of will, not comfort or ease, I was determined to keep the mask on my face...all of that considered...I HAD A DREAM! And it is exciting! I was literally dancing down the hallway this morning to the amazement of my 13, 11, and 9 year old kids.
Still, like the poet Robert Frost said, I have "miles to go before I sleep"!
BUT...like Dr. Martin Luther King... I HAD A DREAM!!!
I missed this earlier, 2tired, but I did see you mention it in another thread. Dreaming's fun. Especially FUN FILLED dreams are fun.
I will suggest however, that your exuberance is really more about successfully enjoying a nights sleep than it is about having a dream. Having a dream wouldn't be near as big a deal to you if you felt like warmed up crap.
Good job on your path! Keep it up. I think soon you'll need to ask Superguy to change your name from 2tired2sleep to nowilaymedownto sleep, or some such thing.
(03-24-2015, 04:49 PM)OpalRose Wrote: Hi retired_guy,
I am so happy for you. I'm still working on that "zone".
0n my PR Auto, I use C FLEX on #3. Very comfortable to breath out.
My AHI is usually good, .5 to 1.5, but still feel tired some days.
I suppose Flow Rate and those pesky RERA's have a lot to do with it.
OpalRose
You're doing great O.R. Keep up the good work. Definitely RERA/Flow Limit can be a part of quality sleep. However, I keep reading folks concerned about getting a little sleepy in the afternoon or whatever? Not a problem. I love Mr. Power Nap. I also love not HAVING to do that if I have something else I need to do. So there's that. I'm not concerned about being bright eyed and bushy tailed all day long. So long as I don't fall asleep in my Rice Krispies, I'm good to go.
(03-24-2015, 05:08 PM)truetopath Wrote: I always look forward to your posts retiredguy!! Congrats on finding the zone!
Thanks True, I've enjoyed your stuff too. You are having a very nice impact on the new guys that come around. Congrats on that.
RE: I am livin’ the dream..
Good work there Retired_guy! You've been a long time arriving but it sounds like you are finally there (or is it here). It's amazing how beneficial it is to help others since in the process we help ourselves.
OK, enough of that, here's the bad news...you don't need no stinkin' EPR all that much but if you insist on screwing around with things that are working well, I advise you to set the EPR to #2 for your test. If you go with #3, you may find, as I did, that the big change of pressure is very bothersome and takes a long time (like never) to get accustomed to whereas #2 position is hardly noticeable yet provides a pleasant amount of expiratory pressure relief. There, you have been warned. If you try using #3, like I know you will, please report back so I can say I told you so. ‹(•¿•)›
Good luck, Dude
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