Can I improve, pease respond.

[want2catchzzz]

I’m a new CPAP user. I just picked up my Philips Respironics Dreamstation 2 days ago. I’m also using the DreamWear Nasal CPAP Mask. According to the docs, I have interrupted sleeps on average 17 times per hour so I’m rated at moderate.
Everyone I talked to told me once you get the CPAP, its life changing. I don’t know if this is the case with me. Since I only used it twice, is there a break-in period and I won’t see good results for a few weeks? Or is it possible that I won’t ever have a live changing event since my case is moderate compared to people that are severe cases?
I woke up this morning and I’m still tired but I’m not super wasted either or extremely fatigued. I was hoping I would feel like others have told me, refreshed, energized, life changing.

Dreammapper.png (550.3 KiB) Viewed 1174 times

Some additional questions in reference to my screenshot I have shared.
• My AHI says 5.7 is this high for wearing a mask?

• Is the AHI from the dreammapper software average per hour?

• When it says 7:36 hours, does that mean how long the machine was running or how long the Philips Respironics Dreamstation determined I was sleeping?

• When the Clear Airway Apnea, Obstructive Apnea, or Hypopneas also be from me be a false positive from when I got up to go to the bathroom and took off my mask while it was still running?

Please share you thought… I really want to improve.

[Julie]

PLEASE read the info at the top of the pg and download Oscar - there are instructions on how to use it, DL it and then we can see what's really going on - it may be as easy as needing to raise your min. pressure setting by a bit (quite common) or something else, but what you provided doesn't give us all the stuff needed to help. Also, what machine (model) and mask do you use?

[want2catchzzz]

Thanks for responding. As noted, I have the Philips Respironics Dreamstation and the DreamWear Nasal CPAP Mask.

I'll check out oscar.

[chunkyfrog]

Two days---child, you have barely opened the box.
It can take weeks to learn "the dance".
After several months, I was comfortable.
Now, I cannot bear to sleep without it.

[want2catchzzz]

Two days---child, you have barely opened the box. Agreed as a possibility of being too early in the stage. That's why I said in my post, "Since I only used it twice, is there a break-in period and I won’t see good results for a few weeks?".

I know you didn't mean anything by it but word child could of been substituted for other words. I have thick skin, Army vet, far from child. I do appreciate your input.

Thank you

[Pugsy]

Some additional questions in reference to my screenshot I have shared.
• My AHI says 5.7 is this high for wearing a mask?

• Is the AHI from the dreammapper software average per hour?

• When it says 7:36 hours, does that mean how long the machine was running or how long the Philips Respironics Dreamstation determined I was sleeping?

• When the Clear Airway Apnea, Obstructive Apnea, or Hypopneas also be from me be a false positive from when I got up to go to the bathroom and took off my mask while it was still running?

The AHI is a bit higher than we would like to see routinely but not uncommon to be seen at first because we don't always sleep so great the first few nights for various reasons.

The 7:36 hours is how long the machine was on...it has no way of knowing if you were ever asleep or not.

False positives can happen when awake breathing irregularities cause the machine to flag the irregularity as some sort of apnea.
So it's quite common for people to have a lot of flagged events while awake.
Awake breathing is much more irregular than asleep breathing and since the machine can't tell awake from asleep...it just calls them like it sees them. The machine measures air flow only....it doesn't not have any way to measure sleep stages or status.
Your machine won't flag anything if you aren't attached to it.

As far as it being "life changing" ....some people do experience an over night miracle but most people don't. Those overnight miracles are actually rather rare. Most people take a few weeks to even a few months to see any noticeable improvement.
Heck...just learning to sleep with a mask plastered on our face blowing air up our nose can disturb our sleep and cause a lot of wake ups during the night and all those wake ups will mess with how we feel during the day.

[want2catchzzz]

Thank you all for the wonderful responses!

Here is my data from OSCAR. You may have to (right-click) on each image and click (view image) to see the detail.

stats.jpg (208.13 KiB) Viewed 1129 times

g1.jpg (550.62 KiB) Viewed 1129 times

g2.jpg (284.42 KiB) Viewed 1129 times

Thanks and look forward to your input.

[Jas_williams]

An increase in the minimum pressure to 8 would likely reduce the Hypopnoeas and male your overall numbers better other than that keep using the APAP

[want2catchzzz]

In most cases will the provider of the CPAP get mad if I change the pressure? Thoughts?

[Jas_williams]

All you provider is interested in is Hours of use there is no CPAP police

[Pugsy]

Providers of equipment cannot change prescribed settings without a doctors order.
There is no such restriction for patients themselves. There is no law that says a patient can't change something but there is a law about equipment suppliers making changes.
For some reason suppliers want to transfer their restrictions to the patient or use it as a power control type of thing.

They can bitch about it and threaten all sorts of stuff but there's no teeth in their threats. There is no cpap police going to some and haul you off to jail or take away the machine if a patient changes something.

Now the doctor might go getting his/her panties all in a wad when a patient changes something but the worst they can do is fire you as a patient but most doctors won't have a problem if the patient changes something based on data and proven need. Most of the time the change is what they would have ended up suggesting themselves anyway if they had half a brain.
If you are unlucky enough to have a doctor without a brain who gets really upset if you take part in your own therapy and wants to fire you......you are better off without him/her anyway. Go find a better more educated doctor who thinks that patients should be educated and empowered and able to help themselves.

Your insurance company only cares if you use the machine the required number of minimum hours...that's it. They don't care what pressure you use or heck, they don't even care if it is working or not. All they want to know is how many hours you are using the machine.

[gingin]

You need to give it longer, wait a week, maybe the pressure needs to be higher, or you may find nasal mask is not right for you. If you are a mouth breather you would need a full face mask. I really need mine, life changing for me just means being able to stay awake during the day, not nodding off while driving. It was really bad before so CPAP makes my day normal again.

[Dog Slobber]

Providers of equipment cannot change prescribed settings without a doctors order.
There is no such restriction for patients themselves. There is no law that says a patient can't change something but there is a law about equipment suppliers making changes.

For some reason suppliers want to transfer their restrictions to the patient or use it as a power control type of thing.

...

When I was early on in CPAP and the wheels fell off (because of a deviated septum, I didn't know I had) the DME technician who was monitoring me, lost her shit when she learned I had made some changes.

At my next Drs appointment, I told my Doctor I had made changes. She told me she "had heard". She didn't care that the DME tech was upset, and was completely supportive of my self-management.

My last appointment, she asked me "What my secret was?", my AHI was 10 times lower than they were while I was managed by the clinic. She told me I no longer need to set up regular appointments and to give them a call if I have any problems.

[bristolman]

I struggled for 2 weeks trying to get used to cpap therapy and once u find a mask your comfortable with there is a light at the end of the tunnel . don't give up . you will start sleeping and feel so much more rested , so hang in there .
mike