Starting Down the Yellow Brick Road

[Bigstates]

I was going to wait to respond for a few days and will still do so with several OSCAR charts, but something happened last night, and I cannot figure it out. By the way the changes seem to have helped as the AHI went down to 1.64 and the CA's were down to 7 in total. It may take a day or so to get used to the increased EPAP

After midnight I woke up to what sounded like a large leak but could not seem to figure out where it was coming from. I felt all around the mask and detected to air escaping. It sounded like the leak was back near the machine. I looked at the pressures and it was cycling between 12.6 IPAP and 9.6 EPAP. Normally I can hear the blower motor cycle up and down on inhale and exhale. I couldn't hear any difference during this time, but it might have been drowned out by the leak. I turned the machine off and then back on, along with removing and replacing the mask, and everything returned to normal. The OSCAR chart did show a large leak and that time.

Any ideas? if needed I can post the nights data later when I get home.

[Bigstates]

I have given it several days and the following has evolved since my last post. The leak that I mentioned in my last post was, I think, from the climate line becoming partially dislodged from the back of the machine. I have found a way to stabilize the hose just behind the machine so it shouldn’t happen again. I wish the Resmed 11’s had the 90-degree pivot at the machine connection point so this wouldn’t be an issue.
 
The respiratory therapist from the company that did the at home test contacted me to check on my progress early last week and was pleasantly surprised to see the changes I had made to the machine. Wink, Wink… thank you Peace Love and Pizza.  They suggested that I might want to try either an S setting of 11 with PS of 3 or a very small Vauto range for a few days so that I might better acclimate to the machine. I was having pretty bad aerophagia.  I tried both and the Vauto setting of EPAP 8, IPAP of 12 with PS of 3 seem to be the easiest for me to deal with at this point.  They also sent a Dreamwear FFM to try.

I now seem to be handling these pressures with no problem and am still changing masks and cushion size to find what might work best for me.  I do think there might be some positional issues going on and I am trying to find ways to resolve them.  Leaks also seem to be a problem, but I don’t know where a good number of leak rates should be.

I will attach the last three nights of OSCAR data below which all should be at the Vauto settings that I describe above.

The first night is with the F40 mask and the last two are with the Dreamwear FFM.

I don’t know if I should just leave the setting alone for a while and try and figure out the mask or if you think other changes may be warranted at this point.  Overall, I am waking more refreshed, have no headache for hours in the morning, making fewer trips to the bathroom, reduced brain fog and less fatigue during the day.

               

[HalfAsleep]

Be sure the correct PAP mode is set on the machine. Right now, your Oscar says "unknown".

[Crimson Nape]

The "unknown" designation is because OSCAR is currently unable to read the new parameter format for the AirCurve 11.
- Red

[HalfAsleep]

Gosh, @crimson nape, who knew? Learn something every day.

[Bigstates]

Thanks for posting that information! I saw it when I started with OSCAR and thought I might be doing something wrong.

[Bigstates]

It has been several weeks since my last post and here is where I stand as of now. I tried the Dreamwear FFM and it seemed to reduce leaks a bit but was very uncomfortable. Aerophagia is not causing issues anymore. I tried the very high trigger for a few nights, and it cleared the CA’s but I had more of a headache during that time. I don’t know if it was related to the trigger setting or just random for those days. I am willing to try that setting again if seems warranted. For the last several days I have the machine set to Vauto EPAP 8, IPAP 12 and PS of 2. I also added a Wellue O2 ring and that data is now in the charts.
 
I will post the last two nights of charts. The first night was with a F40 mask and last nights was my first night trying the F30i. I will also add a zoomed in section of last night which is representative of the CA’s that are later in the night. I am wondering if this is more sleep wake junk or an issue. Both masks are comfortable and am not sure which one I will use long term. I think I can get my leaks down a bit more with the F30i as last night was the first night adjusting to it.
 
I still think there is room for improvement and am hoping for any comments and suggestions!