Managing the Sweet Spot

[0rangebear]

I just reached my 104th day of therapy, and I met with my Dr. for compliance visit requested by Aetna for final payment to the DME for the machine. I went over the Data form sleepy head and he agreed that we have identified the "sweet spot" he advised me to leave the machine set at it current settings, until the machine breaks.


"Mission Success" I now can sleep on my back with the APAP, an and AHI <1 .... The Dr. was only expecting <6


Any thoughts on managing the "sweet spot"?

I have attached a image from the comparative analysis I reviewed with my Dr. comparing the first 5 days of therapy with the and the last 5 days of therapy. I clipped it down because all the data was to big for the forums attachment allocation

[justMongo]

[Crimson Nape]

[green wings]

That's terrific news, Orangebear. I know I'll give a big "Whew!" when I finally get to that point.

I'm giving your doctor a big frown, though, for being willing to settle for a nightly average 5 AHI and also for suggesting that your pressure needs are fixed in stone and that you'll never, ever need to change the pressure settings again.

It sounds like you can relax for now and enjoy some good sleep while also treating your apnea effectively. I imagine it has often seemed like those two things were incompatible goals during your first few months of APAP use.

I would imagine staying in the "sweet spot" will involve keeping an eye on the data and making small changes to your pressure settings if and when they are needed. Sounds like things are going to be a lot calmer in the immediate future.

I don't know if you've used a pulse oximeter. If not, that could be something to add in the future for occasional checks on how well your therapy is working, depending on how you're feeling. If you're feeling terrific, I probably wouldn't bother.

Congratulations! I confess that I'm envious, but I know that you've done the work to get where you are. I still have work to do.

[tmoody]

It's very encouraging to hear of your success, Orangebear. I've yet to find the sweet spot, although my numbers on ASV are much better than they were on APAP. I have no idea what they were for the previous nine years on CPAP, but I imagine they started out well and deteriorated.

At any rate, your story gives me hope!

[FrankNichols]

My "sweetspot" so far appears to be AHI=8.1...


Congrats on your success!

[OpalRose]

That's good news Orangebear,

As far as managing the "sweet spot", all you can do is look at your data on a regular basis.
If your AHI starts to inch up, then look to see what might be causing it.

Mine goes up and down, but still stays fairly low. There are so many variables that affect our sleep, like eating too late, not having a regular schedule, drinking too much, stress (job or family) and many of the different medications we take.

Just don't stress over the little things in life that don't really matter. Take care of you.

[trish6hundred]

Hi 0rangebear,
GREAT JOB!
Keep up the good work.

[trish6hundred]

That's terrific news, Orangebear. I know I'll give a big "Whew!" when I finally get to that point.

I'm giving your doctor a big frown, though, for being willing to settle for a nightly average 5 AHI and also for suggesting that your pressure needs are fixed in stone and that you'll never, ever need to change the pressure settings again.

It sounds like you can relax for now and enjoy some good sleep while also treating your apnea effectively. I imagine it has often seemed like those two things were incompatible goals during your first few months of APAP use.

I would imagine staying in the "sweet spot" will involve keeping an eye on the data and making small changes to your pressure settings if and when they are needed. Sounds like things are going to be a lot calmer in the immediate future.

I don't know if you've used a pulse oximeter. If not, that could be something to add in the future for occasional checks on how well your therapy is working, depending on how you're feeling. If you're feeling terrific, I probably wouldn't bother.

Congratulations! I confess that I'm envious, but I know that you've done the work to get where you are. I still have work to do.

Hi green wings,
You’ll get there, just keep on going, I know you will, I just want to encourage you.
Keep up the good work.