Bundy

Thanks Sierra, that does make sense. Again, much appreciated. All the facts aside, my gut feeling is that whilst 4cm was sufficient on both a high quality and my personal machine, it may only be just doing enough to not count as an "event". However, I'm just going to set it on 5-9 for a few weeks and take how I feel post sleep as an indicator. I don't know why, but while I recently had it on 6-8 I felt fatigued even though the results were the same (low). I'm currently feeling quite fatigued during the day again but have put this down to a cold I have for the time being, so I will update again as things improve.

Thanks sleeptech, that's very helpful, it's good to understand that it all is seriously damaging. I think for the time being I shall make do with the machine I have, I think if it's set to return a low AHI reading that might have to suffice for now, and investigated further down the track when I can again afford it. I think my medical care was poorly constructed with rushed sessions and only liaising with the diagnosing doctor once via video link. Unfortunately, that's the best we have here, living remotely.

I totally agree Sierra. Thankfully I've had the opportunity to chat here and now have a much better understanding of sleep apnea. I don't agree with my case being in the "severe" category, and it also explains why I haven't had a vast improvement in my alertness during the day, although I am experiencing a noticeable improvement. I would be interested in your thoughts on minimum pressure; It appears to me that a simple addition of pressure is opening the airway sufficiently to not allow any events to occur, by that reasoning, would an increase in minimum pressure further decrease flow restriction and provide a better quality sleep environment. Or, might it be better to have the minimum pressure set as low as possible that would still produce near-zero AHI so that I'm relying as little as possible on the machine support?

No COPD fortunately, I smoked heavily for ten years but have ceased smoking for two or three years now. My guess is the huge amount of weight I put on since I stopped smoking (30kg), but I did have weight issues before that (was 110kg). I am going through insurance, currently going through the waiting period for bariatric surgery next year. Fingers crossed that may eliminate all apnea.

No, unfortunately, it only gives me an output for AHI, snoring index, and mask leakage. Also, I didn't notice before on the sleep study data, for events there were 2 obstructive, 0 central, 0 mixed, 2 total apnea, and 253 hypopnea.

Thanks sleep tech, that makes perfect sense, I hadn't really considered the human difference component as much at first. I did an at-home study but I have made a personal adjustment for comfort and now use a pressure of 6-8cm with a result of 0.0 AHI and a mask leak of only 2 liters per hour, so I'm pretty happy with that. I now have the raw data as suggested (I was shown but have little understanding of the implications), the interesting part I've noticed is I only had 2 obstructive events but 253 hypopnea events. Perhaps this means I would respond better in a certain way to air pressure? Thank-you for your input, it's much appreciated.

Thanks again, very helpful.

That does help, thank you. I found the settings quite comfortable and had an AHI of zero. I don't mind increasing the minimum pressure, but would that be for the best if it's not uncomfortable? I would have thought the lower the pressure the better. But I've also considered just because it doesn't bother me doesn't mean it's providing me with the best quality of sleep. Overall though, I did find starting at six more comfortable with a great result. That's a great tip with the SNI (yes snoring index) I think I'll reduce the max to ten. So 6-9 for now and close that a little (maybe 7-8 as suggested) until I find it right. Thank-you. I think the lack of quality in the machine is evident with the Reslex setting, it does not correctly adjust to the inhale-exhale rate as is my understanding to reduce the pressure of exhaling, instead, it is mistimed and has increased pressure at the pause in-between exhale and inhale and the result is a slight rush of uncomfortable pressure before inhale. However, set on 1 (out of 5) was fine. The other setting which may fine-tune things a bit is the sensitivity (1-5). I think this responds to how many or severity of API before increasing pressure. If the machine unnecessarily responds to snoring this may be the best way to adjust it. I currently have it set at three but perhaps lowering it might be better? I guess at the end of the day you have helped me with my initial concern that a set flow of 4 didn't feel right. Also, whilst misdiagnoses are possible, I did have severe symptoms associated with OSA and feel a degree of relief at times since starting treatment. I still have an upcoming final report with the doctor in a few weeks when he's available - not the sleep study technician - so with the new data/report which I will provide it'll be interesting to get his updated analysis. My primary concern was compliance so that I didn't have my license completely restricted. I do hope you and your wife continue to have success with your OSA, your support and assistance have been invaluable and very much appreciated.

Also, I have the latest model that was just released here, it's BMC Luna IQ so I'm hoping it performs a little better than the other models but I've failed to find any further information than what is on the previous G2 models.

Thanks Sierra. I made the adjustments and give it a test. Reslex at 3 was quite uncomfortable so I've put it at 1 for now which felt fine. I hope you have a nice dinner.