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Just be careful if you are going to explore the clinical menu. There are some settings that are locked for a reason, and if you change them your therapy could become ineffective.
Kudos on your persistence and good result Madjack.
I can tell you that there is small but significant proportion of sleep apnoea sufferers who are asymptomatic. That meas that, like you, they don't really feel or show any ill effects of OSA. The good news is that means you have treated it before it has caused any major damage. If you had a proper sleep study, they will have been able to see every breath you do or do not take, so if they saw you stop breathing then it probably is so. Don't worry if you don't notice much difference other than sound sleep. It can only do you good. And, believe me, while you may not think it looks sexy, it's a darn sight more appealing than a snore. I have had hundreds of spouses attest to this.
Just a few thoughts Madjack, which you may feel free to ignore.
Wipes made specifically for CPAP masks are usually a ripoff. Your mask does not need to be sterilised. It's not like your sharing it with someone else (I assume) and your face and nose are certainly not sterile. All your wipes need to do is clean your mask, and plain ordinary baby wipes will do this. You should use alcohol free wipes, but most of them are. If you are paying any more for your wipes than for standard baby wipes (or wet wipes if that's what you call 'em) then you are paying too much.
You should empty your humidifier chamber every morning and let it dry. If water stays in it too long, mold can start to grow in it and inhaled mod spores can cause nasty infections. I have seen some pretty unpleasant cases of this. As long as you empty your chamber every morning, problem solved.
I hope you don't pay too much for your "CPAP water" either. It just needs to be demineralised in order to prevent salts from depositing on the inside of your chamber as the water evaporates. Triple distilled/filtered sounds expensive and unnecessary. The only problem with normal tap water is that it will eave deposits on your chamber over time and make it look dirty, and these can be cleaned off by letting vinegar stand in your chamber and cleaning it with a tooth brush. Most people opt for demineralised/distilled water though. Where I live, it can be purchased for $1 - $2/liter (much less that spring water for drinking). If you are paying more than that I would suggest that you may be paying too much.
These are all things I discuss regularly with my patients. There's nothing wrong with the CPAP wipes or the "CPAP water" per se, they may just be an unnecessary expense.
What model of ResMed machine do you have DeterminedChocolateDog? I suspect it is an older model like an S8 or earlier. Just google some pictures to work it out. That would be useful to know.
Also, you can get a short, solid plastic bit of tubing, about 2 inches long, which could go between your hose and the humidifier chamber. It looks like this
https://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patientsleepsupplies.com%2Fimages%2FT%2Faghc150_small.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patientsleepsupplies.com%2FAdapters-and-connectors%2F&docid=CI-JsaIVwYTjrM&tbnid=WEctHuZ5Jhi0OM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjhkabnv4vWAhVLyrwKHVl1BikQMwh5KEkwSQ..i&w=200&h=200&client=firefox-b&bih=1078&biw=1704&q=CPAP%20connector&ved=0ahUKEwjhkabnv4vWAhVLyrwKHVl1BikQMwh5KEkwSQ&iact=mrc&uact=8
That should prevent your hose from being damaged. There are several other things look a little different but will do the same job.
Have you had a look at an Amara View? It is usually where I'd go for someone who has issues with mask fit over the bridge of the nose. The Simplus is not bad in that area too (although not as good as the Amara View). Also, it is possible to use BiPAP with a nasal mask, even intranasal. Some of my patients do just fine that way. You could give it a try.
For rain out, the 2 things you can do are turn your heated tube temp up and turn your humidifier down. There is a limit to how much moisture the air will hold, so will have to turn your humidifier down until the rain out stops. Before you do that, turning your heated tube up should help prevent the rain out.
I noticed you have a minimum pressure of 10 cmH2O. That it a a little high for most people, so I was wondering if there is a reason it's set so high? If you're comfortable with it then it really doesn't matter. Also, you have EPR on 3. Is there a reason for this? If you feel OK with it off, then I'd leave it off unless there is a reason you have it on. It can cause problems (see a previous post of mine about EPR for details).
You may note I corrected my previous entry fro m"7-" to "70". Typing is not my strongest suit.
I couldn't really say what a typical level of usage for a 70 year old is because it's so individual. The reason I say that 5.5 hours/night is "pretty good" is that I have seen so many people of that age do a lot worse. Older people can be, somewhat unsurprisingly, more challenging to get used to therapy. 5.5 hours/night should be enough for her to receive some benefit to her health. If she remained at that level, overall I'd still call it a win. Hopefully she will gradually get more used to it over time. This can take many months for some people (just look at this site for some examples). Be encouraged that you are doing a good job so far. The best thing you can do is focus the areas she is struggling with and do your best to address them. Because every person is different there is no one magical cure-all for CPAP compliance (again, see the rest of this site). It's also worth remembering that, all other factors aside, your biological need for sleep decreases with time. At 70 it is probably something like 7 hours per night roughly speaking, possibly less.
For the vast majority, once properly set, a fixed pressure machine doesn't need to be adjusted for years, so there should be no unnecessary visits to the doctor or anywhere else. Your perception of your sleep, combined with data from your machine, should be enough to indicate if anything needs adjusting. Having said that, if you prefer auto and understand all that involves, then by all means use one. Where I come from, the difference in price is more like $2000, which is something most people can't afford to waste. And visits to the doctor are generally free. My concern is that people know what they are spending their money on, that is all. The best thing is whatever works best for you.
Unfortunately, this is not unusual for people with high pressure. What model of FFM do you have? There are several good ones, and one of the best things you could do is to try a different model to see if it fits you better, which would then mean the straps don't need to be so tight. Also remember that a bit of leak is not the end of the world.
