gettingbetter - Therapy Thread

[Ratchick]

The lower the leak rate the better, generally speaking - that said, it's not necessarily about chasing zero leaks. As long it's low, then the machine can compensate. That looks to be below the level where it might be an issue. Unfortunately, I'm unable to offer more advice on your charts/settings as I'm still stuck with APAP myself (and praying for ASV).

[SevereApnea]

For most, that is an acceptable leak rate.

Remember this is the ResMed way of reporting leaks: Excess leaks. The machine is designed to cope with leaks less then 24 L/min.

Leaks Link

My own experience:

1. I don't "feel so good" when I have Zero leak rates. I am happier with leak rates < 10 even OK with 16 (95%) leak rate. Still not sure why.

2. It is mask dependant.

I use mostly ResMed masks. When I feel the leaks during the night, I know I have them because they wake me and they are recorded on the charts.

When I used the DreamWear full face mask (aka oronasal) mask it records Zero leaks in the charts (whoohoo Zero Leaks jump for joy), but my notes from those nights indicate the leaks were waking me. So I know there were leaks. I felt them. I diarized them. None showed on the charts, though.

Hope this helps give some insight.

Keep us posted.

[gettingbetter]

@SevereApnea:

Thanks for your response.

I use only Resmed masks at this time (Airtouch and Quattro Air for Her).  

In my limited experience, I also notice I don't feel as good with almost no leak with the Airtouch F20 mask.  I seem to feel better when I use the Quattro Air (it has a small amount of leak).  I have no explanation for this, other than I suspect when I sleep on my side that I cover up some of the F20's venting system with my pillow.

[gettingbetter]

Ratchick:

Thank you!

[gettingbetter]

Last night I used a full face mask but had the machine set on "nasal" (by mistake).  Could this affect my sleep?  I felt like I didn't sleep well at all.

[Ratchick]

In another recent post about this, someone suggested that the change might be the equivalent of less than 1cmH2O so, it's possible but probably unlikely. It's definitely best to change it now, for the future, but as the machine uses that setting to help calculate expected leaks, having the wrong figure could (potentially) mean that some of the calculations are out. That said, little things can sometimes make a difference, sometimes we just have bad nights, and sometimes even the change of a mask from one to another can disturb you enough to make you feel cruddy the next day for no reason.

[gettingbetter]

Thanks Ratchick!  

I've also wondered if Resmed reports unintentional mask leaks in Oscar, or if it's only intentional leaks.  So much to learn!!

[gettingbetter]

I've attached charts from last night.  VPAP-s mode, 7.6 IPAP, 5 EPAP.   I'm climbing slowly with pressure because of aerophagia. I[m still not sleeping great and don't feel that great.

*How do the charts look?







https://imgur.com/a/l7UI85G

[gettingbetter]

*I posted a couple of charts earlier today.  I'm wondering how they look?


*I'm edging the pressure up very slowly due to aerophagia (still on the Aircurve in VPAP-S mode).  Is it best to increase IPAP and EPAP at the same time, or separately?  If increasing them separately, do you start with EPAP or IPAP first?

*What is the lowest level of "adult dose" of EPAP.  I keep seeing people say that a really low EPAP setting is a "pediatric dose" and not adequate for most adults.

[gettingbetter]

The attached charts are from last night.  I had significantly more centrals, which is unusual for me.  The only change was I used a Resmed N20 mask for most of the night (used Airtouch FFM the last 2 hours...I didn't include that portion on my Oscar chart).

Any suggestions?


https://imgur.com/a/ORdM3D8