12-03-2020, 01:57 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-03-2020, 01:59 PM by MikeWarner.)
New guy checking in
Howdy Folks,
I just found this site and the OSCAR software and holy crap!! Y'all know a lot about sleep apnea... alla y'all- members, staff, advisors, alla y'all- I feel, unarmed
I'm a retired US Navy veteran and was diagnosed by the Veterans Administration Healthcare System with a heart arrhythmia (Premature Ventricular Contractions or PVC's) in 2012 and sent for a sleep study as there's a statistical link between heart arrhythmias and sleep apnea. I was diagnosed with moderate to severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea which surprised me as I had none of the classic symptoms of sleep apnea- I knew I snored but as far as I could tell I slept like a gorilla and felt adequately rested. The VA issued me a Resmed S9 Auto and full face mask (the model of which I no longer remember) which began a 2 year battle that I ultimately lost after going through numerous adjustments and every mask the VA had in its inventory- that machine wound up sitting in my closet for the next 5 years.
In 2019 I moved into the Armed Forces Retirement Home and after being here for a while began to wake up every morning with my nose completely blocked and a headache. I was referred to an ENT clinic where I was told I had a deviated septum and swollen flanges and a corrective procedure was performed that relieved the blocked nose but the headaches remained. Then I was sent to a neurologist who asked me if I had sleep apnea. She told me to try to start using my CPAP again and even though it leaked and woke me up frequently the headaches subsided.
In July 2020 I got another sleep study which again indicated that I had moderate OSA and the recommended treatment was APAP. I now have a Philips Respironics DreamStation and Resmed F30i mask. The mask was remarkable, it got the tube out from in front of me and was comfortable and at first I had good results but the machine would eventually set pressures during the night above 15cm and a couple of times above 19cm that would cause my mask to leak and wake me up. I managed to get the leaks somewhat under control by continuously tightening the mask until it was literally clamped to my face. During this time I was getting AHI's in excess of 10. I read somewhere on the internet that enabling AFLEX might help with mask leaks so I got into the machine's advanced settings and turned on AFLEX with a setting of 2 and while I was there enabled OptiStart. The result was a drop in AHI's to 5-6, pressures in the 10-12cm range and NO MASK LEAKS- I was actually able to significantly loosen my mask
But I've also read that enabling AFLEX can diminish therapy effectiveness.
So after this long diatribe my question is have I compromised my therapy by enabling AFLEX or are the lower AHI's an indication that I've improved it?
Thanks
I just found this site and the OSCAR software and holy crap!! Y'all know a lot about sleep apnea... alla y'all- members, staff, advisors, alla y'all- I feel, unarmed
I'm a retired US Navy veteran and was diagnosed by the Veterans Administration Healthcare System with a heart arrhythmia (Premature Ventricular Contractions or PVC's) in 2012 and sent for a sleep study as there's a statistical link between heart arrhythmias and sleep apnea. I was diagnosed with moderate to severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea which surprised me as I had none of the classic symptoms of sleep apnea- I knew I snored but as far as I could tell I slept like a gorilla and felt adequately rested. The VA issued me a Resmed S9 Auto and full face mask (the model of which I no longer remember) which began a 2 year battle that I ultimately lost after going through numerous adjustments and every mask the VA had in its inventory- that machine wound up sitting in my closet for the next 5 years.
In 2019 I moved into the Armed Forces Retirement Home and after being here for a while began to wake up every morning with my nose completely blocked and a headache. I was referred to an ENT clinic where I was told I had a deviated septum and swollen flanges and a corrective procedure was performed that relieved the blocked nose but the headaches remained. Then I was sent to a neurologist who asked me if I had sleep apnea. She told me to try to start using my CPAP again and even though it leaked and woke me up frequently the headaches subsided.
In July 2020 I got another sleep study which again indicated that I had moderate OSA and the recommended treatment was APAP. I now have a Philips Respironics DreamStation and Resmed F30i mask. The mask was remarkable, it got the tube out from in front of me and was comfortable and at first I had good results but the machine would eventually set pressures during the night above 15cm and a couple of times above 19cm that would cause my mask to leak and wake me up. I managed to get the leaks somewhat under control by continuously tightening the mask until it was literally clamped to my face. During this time I was getting AHI's in excess of 10. I read somewhere on the internet that enabling AFLEX might help with mask leaks so I got into the machine's advanced settings and turned on AFLEX with a setting of 2 and while I was there enabled OptiStart. The result was a drop in AHI's to 5-6, pressures in the 10-12cm range and NO MASK LEAKS- I was actually able to significantly loosen my mask
But I've also read that enabling AFLEX can diminish therapy effectiveness.So after this long diatribe my question is have I compromised my therapy by enabling AFLEX or are the lower AHI's an indication that I've improved it?
Thanks
