New and in Need OSCAR Analysis

[UnicornRider]

Chin tuck & Soft Cervical Collar are frequent topics on this forum, search SSC or Soft Cervical Collar for recommendations'.

[Well Marbled 1]

Good morning!  

I took a couple of days off from posting and decided to experiment by narrowing my range to 10.4 - 11.4.  Look at these results!

   

I think it's interesting that reducing the Max really made all the difference for me.  I can only surmise that I don't do well with pressure changes.  In any event, these statistics are basically perfect and I really hope this continues for me.

Thanks again to those who took an interest and offered their advice.

Brad

[Old Steve]

You have come a long way.  

It would be interesting if you were to set your machine to run in CPAP mode rather than APAP.  Just leave your min pressure and EPR settings where they are now. This is how I run my machine all the time, I find that I have fewer arousals.  I think this is due to the pressure not going up and down like APAP does.  Also, by having you min pressure higher as you do now at 10.4cm and in CPAP mode you will be stopping most Obstructive Apneas before they start. This is unlike APAP as it raises your pressure after the Obstructive Apneas have already started. Anyway, this is what works for me and I thought it might work for you too.

[UnicornRider]

How do you feel? Are you feeling fully refreshed? Wide eyed, bushy tailed ready to greet the morning sunrise even before coffee? The ultimate goal is the greatest night's sleep you have experienced in life.

[Well Marbled 1]

Hi Steve,

It's interesting to hear you say that, because I was contemplating switching to a single pressure setting. However, it seems like my numbers are pretty much ideal right now so I'm hesitant to tinker with my settings at least at this point.

If my results don't hold, I may decide to raise the Min and possibly my Max by 0.2 increments but I definitely think keeping a very narrow range is ideal for me.

If I were ever to try a single pressure setting, I've heard that it's better to stay on APAP and make the Min and Max the same number rather than changing over to CPAP mode because it gives you more data that way.

Brad

[Well Marbled 1]

Hi Unicorn,

I do feel like I have a bit more energy today. Also, although I haven't really mentioned it, one of the main reasons I decided to start this journey in the first place is because I have suffered from morning headaches for decades and nothing ever seemed to help until now. I think I've had one or possibly two headaches since I started about a month ago. This is probably a 95% reduction so it truly is life-changing for me in that area alone.

Brad

[UnicornRider]

Brad,

 When you get consistent low AHI scores and good hours in, you have satisfied Medicare and insurance requirements. Now you have to go by how your body is reacting to therapy. Sometimes we have to try different things to find that key to unlock that potential we have yet to achieve. Go ahead and try Old Steve's suggestion to go straight pressure. You can always change back. If you look at my settings I am in effect running as "CPAP with pressure support", although I am in the VPAPAuto mode.

 It is good to hear your headaches have diminished dramatically, we want more, do not fall easy into thinking this is all *PAP has to give. Wring everything you can get from therapy.

[Well Marbled 1]

Can you tell me the pros and cons of switching over to CPAP vs APAP with Min / Max set at the same number?

[Old Steve]

I have heard people say it is better to try it in APAP mode with the same pressure.  Perhaps it is better for diagnostics in OSCAR...I just do not know.  I have only done that once and looking at my old OSCAR chart today nothing really stood out to me as much being different than CPAP mode only.  Perhaps someone more knowledgeable on the forum than me knows for sure.

[UnicornRider]

Can you tell me the pros and cons of switching over to CPAP vs APAP with Min / Max set at the same number?

Pros:   When in APAP I can easily add to my Max pressure and gain the advantage of APAP, where it would take more steps to convert from straight CPAP mode to that therapy.

Thinking...