Sierra

If you have a spare SD card lying around from a tablet or camera, you could put it in the SD slot on the top left side of the machine. You can't really get the previous nights data back, but you can get data going forward. To read the data in SleepyHead you have to transfer the data from the SD card to a PC or Mac using a SD card reader.

The way that machine is set up it could be uncomfortable, because it is essentially in default out of the box for settings. The machine max and min pressure is 20 and 4 cm. Normally it would make more sense to say set the minimum pressure at 7 cm, set the EPR to 3 and Ramp only. That would then cycle the pressure on inhale to exhale from 7 cm down to 4 cm while you are awake. Then it uses 7 cm as minimum when you go to sleep. My guess is that they are just trying a wide open machine to see how you respond to pressure and whether or not it controls your apnea, and what pressure it takes.

On the mask issue you either have to learn to keep your mouth closed, or use a chin strap, or go to a full face mask which covers your mouth and nose.

Your machine is a good one, and I would try to get that same model (but with a SD card in it) for your permanent machine, if you are going to be prescribed one. Here is a link to a technical manual which gives you more detail on what the machine can do. See pages 4 through 11. In fact if you get to choose your machine I would ask for the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her. The "For Her" model has an extra optional mode which can be useful to a male or female, if they need pressures in the lower range. You can set the machine to use it, or just use the standard mode. The price is the same.

But, if you really want to see what is going on with pressures and mouth leaks during the night I would suggest using a free software program called SleepyHead. Here is an example of what it can show you. That period of time from 3:00 to 3:30 is probably a mouth leak. Leak rate is high, and it has a fairly flat top to the curve indicating a constant but high leak rate. And the green trace in the pressure chart shows the pressure during the night as it responds to events. If you want more info on SleepyHead just ask.

When you start your machine up to go to sleep the display will show the starting pressure in the middle of the circle. In the top right it will also show the minimum and maximum pressure it is set for. It would be helpful if you would say what it is currently set at.

The very lowest pressure the machine can operate at is 4 cm. The minimum pressure can be set there, but for most that is not an ideal setting, and can you leave you feeling starved for air when trying to go to sleep.

Depending on how your machine is set up, you may be able to see a sleep report that reports the 95% pressure. That is the pressure at which 95% of the time during the night it was less than that. It is not the peak pressure, but is usually quite near the peak pressure.

I use the same machine and mask. It is actually very hard to inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth, especially after you fall asleep. What tends to happen is that air escapes continually though your mouth and makes a large leak. It may or may not affect your AHI results. But, it is most likely to give you a very dry uncomfortable mouth and throat. One way or another one really needs to stop the air loss through the mouth. A chin strap is a good first step if you cannot learn to keep your mouth closed even when sleeping. Some find that putting your tongue on the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth helps. It does when you are awake, but the trick is to also do it when you are sleeping. I have tried a few different chin straps and the Breathewear Halo is the best one I have found so far.

Hang in there!

I found this article on CPAP vs APAP at the link below. It appears to be targeted to the sleep professional audience and addresses changes in the industry.

AutoPAP Versus CPAP Which is Better?

The last paragraph lists some possible unique situations where an APAP may give the better treatment. However, the interesting part of the article is that the reported trend for sleep practitioners (under the influence of insurance providers no doubt) is to prescribe an APAP for convenience and overall cost. But after 30 days of in home use in APAP mode by the patient they then set the machine to fixed CPAP mode. Even more interesting for me was that the method suggested is to look at the sleep data record and use the 90% or 95% pressure average over the 30 day trial, and use that as the CPAP mode fixed pressure.

That prompted me to look at my first full month of data (May 2018) in SleepyHead and see what the 90% pressure was on average for that month. It turns out to be 12.14 cm. It appears I have spent 5 months or so now trying to adjust my APAP settings to some optimum values (over 20 different settings), and if I had followed this simple rule of thumb I would be in exactly the same place as I have now arrived: Fixed CPAP at 12.2 cm of pressure! Ouch! Kind of reminds me of the Expedia World Traveler in search of the perfect beach. See video at link below:

Expedia World Traveler

I ran my AirSense 10 with the built in humidifier out of water a couple of times. I woke up with a very funky smell coming from somewhere. I thought the house was on fire at first but there was no smoke alarms going off. Then I thought the machine was on fire and I finally got up to check it out. The humidifier was dry but humidity was turned on. When I removed the reservoir I found the metal bottom was very hot, almost too hot to touch. I would estimate about 150-160 F. Since the reservoir is a combination metal bottom and plastic, I would worry about keeping it that hot every night. But, I guess the reservoir is replaceable if you suffer a full meltdown!

Darlene, I am not a doctor, or sleep specialist, just another sleep apnea sufferer. Your post is kind of buried in the middle of another long thread. My suggestion would be to repost your issues from the beginning in a new thread. Include some details such as how long ago you did the sleep study and if it was an at home test or in lab test.

I believe ResMed designates the backup function as the S mode. I also believe it is just a fixed 10 bpm rate. It does sound a little crude. This is available as an optional mode on the AirCurve VAuto, which does the Auto BiLevel as well. The AirCurve ASV is a much more sophisticated machine that locks on your breath pattern, and tries to restore (force) breathing on a breath by breath basis. In Canada the VAuto can be had for about $1200, while the ASV is close to $5000.

I have no physician or sleep tech overseeing my therapy. It is not a service available to everyone.