New to APAP Dreamstaion - Resmed F20 Mask

[Ron AKA]

Here is my data from last night. You can see the time where I had removed the mask. It was only a hour or so last night, but other nights have much longer periods of removal. The large leaks are more than likely me breaking the seal of the mask to make sure the machine was working. For some reason I seem to have a lot of snore episodes as well. Isnt this a sign of blockage?


edit...updated screenshots to remove pie charts

There is something not right about the pressure setup on your machine, at least according to SleepyHead. Your pressure is starting out fairly high, but then goes low later and causes problems. I suspect you may have a high, possibly 8 cm Ramp Start (pressure), and a ramp time set, but the actual Auto Min pressure set lower at 5 cm. At the end of the ramp timeout the machine can then run pressure down as low as 5 cm and get you in trouble with snoring, apnea events, and a feeling of lack of air. 

Check your settings again in the clinical menu on your machine. I would agree with Walla Walla that based on your most recent posted chart a minimum of 9 cm would likely be better than 8 cm. The rest of the settings I would leave the same as I said before. A 12 cm max may create a few events because it could limit your max pressure a bit, but not likely many, and the mask may also feel more comfortable. Just check it again after a few nights. 

Yes, your charts are much improved. I would pin the event flag chart at the top though, and then display Pressure, Snore, Flow Rate, and Leak Rate in that order. You can click on the titles and drag them to a new position. I don't find the Respiratory Rate that helpful and let it slide off the bottom of the screen.

[Ron AKA]

Sickntired,

I see you are using a full face mask. Have you tried or considered the nasal pillow masks? I know they don't address mouth breathing, and some shy away from them because of that. I think we all mouth breath to some degree, and can learn to do it less. If you have not tried and rejected them you may want to research the ResMed AirFit P10 and the Fisher&Paykel Brevida. I use the former and find it quite good after I got used to it. And I like the idea that if you feel short of air, you just open your mouth for a breath. Have not used the Brevida but have heard good things about it here. The replacement mask inserts are about 6 times the cost on the F&P compared to the ResMed though. I would post links to the info on them, but you know.... Just google the names!

[SuperSleeper]

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Thanks for your understanding.

[sickntired]

I didn't change anything last night, but have just made the adjustments. The min was still set to 5.0, even though I was starting out at 8.0, my min is now at 9.0 with ramp at 6.0 for 10 minutes. The max was set at 20.0 but I moved this to 15.0. I have not tried any other masks, I've only had the machine around a month now. The guy who come set me up seemed to be pushing the mask I have, and compared to the other one he brought in it seemed to be the better fit. I would like to be able to use one of the "pillow" types, so I can sleep on my side. Pie is removed from the chart, and adjustments made to what shows when viewing the chart. I am attaching last nights chart, again I seemed to have removed the mask again. It looks like my pressure was low when I removed it, so that could very well be why I feel like there is no air pressure.

[sickntired]

I've also noticed within the last week or two when I awake during the night and the mask is on, I have a cold feeling around my mouth/lips. The humidity is turned up to 5, and set on "fixed". Last night it was a cold enough feeling to make me dip my finger into the reservoir to verify the warmer was working, and it was.

[Ron AKA]

I didn't change anything last night, but have just made the adjustments. The min was still set to 5.0, even though I was starting out at 8.0, my min is now at 9.0 with ramp at 6.0 for 10 minutes. The max was set at 20.0 but I moved this to 15.0. I have not tried any other masks, I've only had the machine around a month now. The guy who come set me up seemed to be pushing the mask I have, and compared to the other one he brought in it seemed to be the better fit. I would like to be able to use one of the "pillow" types, so I can sleep on my side. Pie is removed from the chart, and adjustments made to what shows when viewing the chart. I am attaching last nights chart, again I seemed to have removed the mask again. It looks like my pressure was low when I removed it, so that could very well be why I feel like there is no air pressure.

I think you will be better at those settings. Having the min at 5 would explain what was happening. On the left hand side of the SleepyHead screen you can check the settings on the machine. When you find out if that basically works, you may be able to lower the minimum a bit below the 9 cm. And I suspect you will be able to lower the 15 cm max a bit too. 

Your chart is looking much better for layout. You may find it is better to only pin the event bar at the top. Otherwise you are not going to see much of the other variables as you scroll down the screen and how they may correlate to the events. I only pin the event bar.

I think one of the most popular and less expensive pillow masks is the ResMed AirFit P10. You might want to give it a try. They sell it as a fit pack bundle that includes S, M, L mask inserts (for men). You can then try and see which one fits best. After that when the insert needs to be replaced they can be bought in a package of three that are all the same size. In Canada, on line, the fit pack is about $95 and the replacement pack of three inserts is about $22. Should be lower in the US. You are still having leak issues at fairly low pressure, so I think they may be an improvement for you.

Post your results with the new settings and we will see what happens...

[Ron AKA]

I've also noticed within the last week or two when I awake during the night and the mask is on, I have a cold feeling around my mouth/lips. The humidity is turned up to 5, and set on "fixed". Last night it was a cold enough feeling to make me dip my finger into the reservoir to verify the warmer was working, and it was.

Do you have a heated delivery tube on your machine? If one is connected you should be able to adjust the tube temperature. If you have no heated tube it appears you have to choose between Fixed and Adaptive mode. In adaptive mode it adjusts to room temperature to avoid condensation in the hose. I suspect it reduces the humidity setting as the room gets colder. In effect it will make the air dryer in a cool room to avoid condensation. If you are getting condensation then give the adaptive mode a try. If you have the heated hose instead of cutting the humidity back, it should warm the air up more. May be more comfortable. In any case see pages 4-11 and 4-21 in that manual...

[sickntired]

I do not have a heated tube, only the heated water reservoir for humidity. I attempted some side sleeping last night, that may be why there are leaks. Also air blows out if that elbow a lot, I thought there was a missing seal or something but there is not. When I apply the head strap and mask I'll cover the air hole before attaching the elbow to be sure of a good seal, but still have leaks. I will be orderingor heated tube from Amazon this afternoon. Possibly the f10 as well.

Thanks

[Ron AKA]

I will be orderingor heated tube from Amazon this afternoon. Possibly the f10 as well.

In masks F stands for full face, N for Nasal (covers the whole nose), and P for Nasal Pillow (kind of sticks into your nose). I had suggested the P10 which is the Nasal Pillow type.

[sickntired]

I seen that and knew what I wanted to type but it came out as a F20, my bad. Hope I have a good sleep with the new settings, I'll post the graphs in the morning.

Thanks