[CPAP] First Night with Machine & Some Questions

[JoshM6535]

This is my first post on here as well as my first time using a CPAP machine, so I'll try my best to include what I should.

I was diagnosed with mild OSA back in November of last year after taking an at-home test given to me by my sleep doctor. The results from that test show that I had an AHI of 4.7 and an RDI of 12, I was diagnosed because of the RDI score. Many months have passed and I am still waiting for a Polysomnogram (scheduled to happen at the end of September) to, in the words of my doctor, get a better look as to what's going on.

As it stands now, I'm using one of my father's old machines just to try to get some kind of relief in the mean time while I wait for the in-person sleep study. My question to the forum is how do you think my chart looks? I'm not really sure what I should be doing for pressure. I did set the machine to Auto-Trial to try to see if that would help, but should I set it back to the normal CPAP mode to just get the continuous pressure? Sorry for all the questions.

Basically, I'm wondering:

1. What constant pressure / range should I set?
   
2. Should I stick with the auto or go back to the continuous setting?
   
3. Does anything on my chart particularly stand out?
   

Thank you all so much!

   

[AndyB]

Josh — I’m sure you’ll get excellent advice from the experts here, but in the meantime I suggest you check out the forum’s Wiki for helpful information on setting pressures, the pros/cons of APAP vs CPAP, and understanding flow rate/flow limitation data in OSCAR. Among other things, the received wisdom here is that trial and error, sometimes over a few months, is a necessary part of dialing in settings that work for you. Good luck!

[OpalRose]

It's been awhile since I used a Respironics, and don't remember how long the Auto-trial lasts.

It appears that the current pressure settings aren't sufficient to tackle the Flow Limitation, Hypopnea, and reras.

If you decide to use the Cpap mode, set it to the 95% number. I would set it to no less than 8cm. Use C-Flex set at 2.

[JoshM6535]

It's been awhile since I used a Respironics, and don't remember how long the Auto-trial lasts.  

It appears that the current pressure settings aren't sufficient to tackle the Flow Limitation, Hypopnea, and reras.  

If you decide to use the Cpap mode, set it to the 95% number.  I would set it to no less than 8cm.  Use C-Flex set at 2.

Thank you for the reply. I took your advise and set the machine to the CPAP mode with a pressure of 8cm. Unfortunately, that appeared to raise my AHI (see the attachment).

Do you think this is something that I should stick with or should change the pressure again? Raise it up a bit?

Sorry, I'm still pretty new with all of this. I really appreciate the assistance.

   

[OpalRose]

The clear airway events doubled, but flow limitation was down.  

I think that if you raise your pressure, that the CA's could continue to rise.  Did you have a Sleep Study done?  If you have a copy, post it here.  I'm curious if clear airways showed up on a study.

While on Auto-trial, even though set to a maximum of 20, you never went higher than 8.

Did you feel better on Auto-Trial or Cpap mode?  Whichever you use, try it without the Flex setting.

Next time you post, leave the calendar off, so we could see all the statistics.