[Treatment] What next?

[Kramden's Demise]

Okay- Here is a brief update on my understanding of my therapy and where I think I am to date....

My daily stats are coming in under 5.0 AHI, with apneas about 0-20% of the index. I'm sleeping on the machine about 4-5 hours a night, waking up with bloating/gas and general discomfort. I'd like to eliminate the bloating to see if additional sleep time is possible. The <5.0 AHI seems to be the magic number with all you experts. Are there any other factors to strive for once the 5.0 goal is reached?

I'd love 6-8 hours of sleep, so that's one, but is there anything else that the machine currently calculates that I need to watch and try to correct, reduce and / or eliminate?

Is the bloating due to too much pressure, and would dropping the pressure from the current setting of 13.2 help reduce these symptoms? I've seen others comment that sleep position impacts the amount of air in the belly. Elevating my head/shoulders hasn't seemed to help much.

If I do drop the pressure, will I see an increase in the AHI and what other affects (negative/positive) are likely to occur when dropping the pressure?

[me50]

what pressure setting was determined in your sleep study? Can you post the info from your sleep study? How long ago was your sleep study? Can you get a more updated machine? I don't remember how long you have been using CPAP therapy.

some people say they have aerophagia (don't know how to spell it) when using CPAP therapy. I think Robysue and maybe supersleeper have been through this and will be able to talk more about this

[zonk]

If I do drop the pressure, will I see an increase in the AHI and what other affects (negative/positive) are likely to occur when dropping the pressure?

EPR at 3 might helps somewhat. We don,t know if lower pressure would increase the number of apnea events (also S8 don,t detect clear airways events) but if the discomfort is so great cannot tolerated than its worth shot, better than sufering or not using CPAP at all. As you start feel better, you can bring pressure up again

Followup with the sleep doctor. If insured, you may be due to machne replacement. S8 is s discontinued machine, been replaced by S9 series
Specifications guide and comparison chart
http://www.resmed.com/us/products/s9_ser...nc=dealers

[cant_sleep_in_nj]

kramdens, your info says you are not using software, how are you getting this info with an S8 ?

[zonk]

Have you utilized EPR and Ramp features
EPR (expiratory pressure relief) provide a small pressure reduction during exhalation at 3 levels. 1,2, and 3 is the highest

Ramp provide a lower more comfortable pressure at the beginning (up to 45 minutes, 5 minutes increment) until it ramp up to treatment pressure

[zonk]

kramdens, your info says you are not using software, how are you getting this info with an S8 ?

S8 Elite LCD provide AHI, AI, HI (no CAI) and leak
Leak reported in L/s as opposed to S9 L/m

You need ResMed S8 smart card/card reader, there is a shortage of the card reader as the S8 been discontinued, maybe on ebay from Israel

Edit: Just saw, you also use an S8. Which model, Escape don,t report anything beside usage time