First Morning - PR System 1 Auto / Swift FX

[Skier757]

Hi Forum,

Well my first night at home with CPAP went amazingly well. I used my machine for about 7 hours, and had an AHI of 4.9 with no reported leak time. It took me 30 - 45 min to get to sleep, but then I slept peacefully through the night. I did wake briefly three times, but was able to go right back to sleep without any issues or need to re-ramp. Note, for those of us at the mid century mark, controlling fluid intake in the evening to eliminate mid-night visits to the restroom really makes a nice difference in sleep quality.

CPAP machine details: I am using a PR System One Auto, firmware version 1.22, in straight CPAP mode at a pressure of 8. It is set to ramp from 4 to 8 over 20 minutes, and is using Cflex at a setting of 2. I started the night with the humidifier set at 2, with the room temperature at 65. When I woke at my normal waking time of 6:00 AM, I felt a little stuffy, so I increased the humidity to 3, laid back down to see if that made a difference, and actually fell back asleep for another 45 minutes. I have nothing to compare my System One to other than the sleep lab's ResMed lab machine, but in that comparison, the System One is much quieter, and it is completely natural to inhale and exhale against the machine using Cflex. I felt NO resistance to exhaling. The sound of the machine is a bit more of a whirring, than a breezy sound compared to the one other machine I used at the lab, but it is very quiet and did not disturb me at all. You can hear it increase and decrease as you breath in and out, but it is a very natural sound, and I used imagery of the beach to get into a restful place for sleep. Note on data display: The System One seems to only present data averages for the week on the screens. I could only get it to show me blower time for my first night, no other details at all, but once I downloaded the card, all the details were available in the software reports. I will see what the machine screens show me as the days go on, and once I have seven days of data in the machine. I did go into the Clinician menu and enable AHI reporting on-screen.

Mask Details: I am using the new Resmed Swift FX with the Med pillows. It is a remarkable mask. I am a dedicated side sleeper, and I had no issues at all. No leaks, no pressure, nothing. This is only my second night ever using CPAP, and I have to say I was comfortable with the mask all night. I never felt the need to take it off. I am not sure I have the experience to offer any hints, but I want to share my observations of this mask. First, find the video from ResMed on the Swift FX and watch it, it is on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcRRbCMu_tk). The video is much better at showing you how to set up the mask than the booklet that comes with it, and I doubt any DME or lab tech really knows this mask yet. Second observation, try all the pillow sizes. I got this hint from the forum. The lab set me up with the small pillows because I have a small nose and small nostrils, but I was much better off with the medium pillows. The video makes it clear that the critical issue is not nose size or nostril size, but how widely spaced your nostrils are. With the Med pillows I had NO leaks, none, and I could exhale much easier, and it was quieter (I did not hear myself breath as much). Third observation, you need much less head gear pressure than you think. These pillows self inflate and seal themselves in your nostril. To me, it seems that you only need to hold the pillow at your nostril, and the harness acts to more keep the pillow from blowing away from your nostril, than to keep them jammed in. I used very little pressure/tightness, in the harness straps and it worked great.

Software: I found, and am using the Encore Pro 2.2 software. I don't want to start that fire, but the software downloaded clean, no virus or other issue, and is running fine on my Win XP laptop with a generic USB SD card reader. There is more detail than I know what to do with. One oddity is the time stamps are clearly GMT, not my local time. Also the DME did not put any patient data like my name etc. on the card, but that is no big deal. I know I saw a post on the GMT time shift issue so I will go look for that later and address it.

Thats all for now. If anyone has any questions for a newbie on this gear please feel free to ask.

Brooks, aka Skier757

[chronic]

I have the PR System 1 Auto also. I enjoyed your post. I would like to know how you enabled your machine to give you AHI and where you downloaded the ENCORE PRO. Thanks.

[Skier757]

Hi,

To 'Show AHI' you need to get into the Clinician setup menu. Go to setup, then hold both buttons (Ramp and Dial) down until the machine beeps, about 5 seconds. Then use the dial to select setup again, and the last option is 'Show AHI'. Use that menu at your own risk, you can change everything in there including you pressure, Auto or CPAP functiuon, and change from Cflex to Cflex+ which is something I may experiment with. Note, my machine is not showing me any data yet, because I only have one night, so it cannot calculate the averages.

The software, as mentioned elsewhere, is out there if you look using Bit Torrent for example. I used the other posts as a guide to ensure I got the right load package, 171mb if I remember, and that the files were the same ones previously reported. I had no issues, but your mileage may vary, and we all know downloading things carries risk.

Regards,

Brooks, aka Skier757

[cpapernewbie]

Brooke
you are one of those who are blessed with ability to adapt so fast to the CPAP world. Congrats.

Your firmware is newer than mine. Yes, you can change your time zone through the software, Encore Pro 2.2, this thread show you how:
viewtopic/t49420/PR-system-One-auto-%20 ... ssion.html

[chronic]

Thanks very much for the information. You have been very helpful. chronic

[Cosette]

Last night was my first time with the Swift FX. The mask worked fine, but I had trouble with the chin strap and my mouth popping open. Do you use the mask without a chin strap?

[Skier757]

Hi,

I do not use a chin strap. Somehow, with my unique body, the CPAP pressure seems to keep my mouth closed. When I do open my mouth, like to say something, it feels very strange to have the air rushing out. I was worried about mouth breathing because I think I normally would at times due to nasal congestion, but the CPAP at 8 is keeping my nasal passages open, and I have not had any issues yet. I am still worried about how I will do if I get a cold, but so far so good.

Regards,

Brooks.

[rested gal]

Brooks, thanks for those informative posts. Sounds like you are taking to "CPAP" great!

Way to go!

[Cosette]

Hi,

I do not use a chin strap. Somehow, with my unique body, the CPAP pressure seems to keep my mouth closed. When I do open my mouth, like to say something, it feels very strange to have the air rushing out. I was worried about mouth breathing because I think I normally would at times due to nasal congestion, but the CPAP at 8 is keeping my nasal passages open, and I have not had any issues yet. I am still worried about how I will do if I get a cold, but so far so good.

Regards,

Brooks.

Hi Brooks, I bet you won't have as many colds with CPAP but it might be well to have a backup FFM just in case.
Cosette