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The M series is indeed a Respironics machine. If that is what you have it will be small, black, and the tube connects at the back. It is not the simplest thing to adjust because it uses and icon based interface which is not easy to understand. I really don't like the idea of people changing their own pressure because that can lead to all sorts of problems. I agree with Wiredgeorge. Contact you Dr and get them to authorise a short-term fix. Since you have an auto they should be able to simply lower its minimum pressure and let it do its thing until you have your study.
AHI stands for Apnoea Hypopnoea Index. An apnoea is when you stop breathing completely and a hypopnoea is a partial reduction in breathing. To get AHI you count every time you have an apnoea or hypopnoea and divide it by the amount of sleep you've had in hours. If your CPAP machine reports and AHI of 5 or less this is generally considered OK, largely because your CPAP will overestimate AHI. If I am reading the numbers from your first post correctly you do not have any significant central sleep apnoea. A CPAP does not help central sleep apnoea (or to be more accurate, it rarely helps it) because it doesn't matter how much your airway is opened up if the muscles around your lungs aren't pushing the air in and out. CPAP is only for correcting obstructive sleep apnoea (collapse of your upper airway). If you have central apnoeas you would need a BiPAP (same as VPAP) of some sort. This works in a very similar way to CPAP but instead of just blowing air at one constant level to inflate you airway, the pressure goes up and down as you breathe in and out which augments you own breathing effort. If you have an Airsense 10 then you have a CPAP because ResMed called their BiPAP which looks like the AirSense 10 the Lumis. Does that cover everything you wanted to know?
Your sleep study results suggest that CPAP was ineffective. There may have been a hint of underlying obstruction but the central events seem to be the main problem (bear in mind I'm only going by the data you reported above). The APAP will report central events if they happen, and it SHOULD also resolve any obstruction, so it could confirm this diagnosis. I believe your doctor can get a report from the data transmitted by your machine (so the rep told me last week), but we don't do that here yet so I don't have first hand experience of what that data would be like. ASV could well help, but it is not the magic bullet for central apnoea that some doctors think it is. I imagine that the elevation would affect your baselone oxygen saturation, and possibly emphasise desaturations, but beyond that I'm not sure.
Sounds like this is something that you should have looked into. It may be a positional thing. You could try finding a way to stay off your back and see if that keeps it low, and if so then you could be fairly confident it's positional.
Supplements will not help with sleep apnoea. They may improve your subjective sleep quality, but this is a very separate thing.
I wouldn't get hung up on whether you have central, obstructive or mixed apnoeas. As long as CPAP fixes it, then that is what matters. And by fixes it, I mean that a sleep study has verified that while you are using it your breathing is good.
Spot on, Wiredgeorge. I concur.
If the light on your AC/DC converter (or block as you call it) has a light and that is not lighting up, it suggests that power isn't even getting that far. Try something else that you know works in the same outlet as your CPAP machine just to be sure the socket has power. The cord which runs from the wall to the block is removable on the Airsense 10, and you should be able to get a replacement quite cheaply at any electronics store. You could try replacing it to see if that fixes things. If it's anything else, it probably time for a trip back to the supplier. It has probably just gone out of warranty too (2 years is standard).
I will refrain from commenting until you have spoken to your doctor, because they should be your primary source of medical info. However, once you have, I will be happy to offer an opinion.
I'll try to brief. How long it takes for you to feel the difference from your treatment varies greatly from person to person. For some people everything is great from the moment they put the mask on. For others it can take weeks and, in some more extreme cases, it can take a year or more. I agree with Wiredgeorge, check your AHI and leak levels. If these are good it's probably a matter of hanging in there. If not, further investigation is required.
