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I record and interpret sleep studies for a living (in addition to other stuff). Short version, the AHI of 1.5 is considered well within the bounds of normal sleep and not indicative of OSA. I'm not completely familiar with some of the abbreviations you have listed, but if "valid time" is the total amount of actual score-able sleep, 51 minutes is too little to be confident in those results. You could have significant OSA that won't show up in 51 minutes of sleep. That's about all I can say from what you have listed.
How quickly, and to what extent, people feel results varies greatly from one patient to the next. Some people feel better the first night (or half night) they use CPAP. Other people still don't feel hat different 6 - 12 months down the track. For the latter category it is often the case that they miss using CPAP for one night and are surprised at how much worse things are without it, despite feeling that their sleep had not improved. It is always important to remember that subjective improvement in tiredness, while greatly desirable, is only part of the picture. Assuming that the appropriate processes were followed, you can trust in the fact that someone verified that CPAP does improve your respiration and oxygenation, and therefore it is doing its job to aid your body physically. Don't be too concerned if it takes a while for you to feel the benefits, that's quite normal.
I have not had my hands on that specific model yet, but I can tell you that, historically, ResMed do put alarms in their machines for exactly that situation. If your specific model doesn't have the capability I can assure you that some do. ResMed even has a range with extra alarms (the VPAP ST-A), but a mask fit alarm or high leak alarm is fairly standard. Ask someone (preferably an experienced technician) to look at your settings and see if there is some sort of leak alarm that can be turned on.
We always advise our patients to check with the airline about their policy regarding CPAP/BiPAP machines before booking a ticket. We also advise that they carry a letter from a doctor saying that it is a prescribed medical device. As a rule of thumb, never assume that anyone ever knows anything about your CPAP or BiPAP machine. Even in a hospital. In my experience, very few hospital staff of any type (doctors, nurses or other), know anything about CPAP, so I wouldn't expect any non-medical people to be familiar with them. Always take charge of your own equipment and use it yourself. When in hospital I recommend politely asking the nursing staff not to touch your equipment and to let you do it yourself. They have a terrible habit of pulling stuff to pieces and losing things. I am sorry to hear of your air travel travail HarryMarshall, and I hope it may prompt the airline to develop a policy around devices for OSA. Awareness is increasing, but knowledge is still very patchy.
How many other nasal pillow masks did you try? The Nuance from Respironics is worth a look.
This kind of thing is quite common among my patients. In most cases, it gradually becomes less over time as your body learns what's what. I'm afraid that I don't have any useful advice other than persistence. Getting some good sleep with your CPAP is better than none. Also, the statistics you quote sound bad, but they are worlds away from the worst I've seen, so don't get too stressed about that.
It is not uncommon for people who have just started CPAP treatment to feel more tired. When you start CPAP therapy your brain is suddenly able to sleep, especially in REM, when it wasn't before. It often gets a bit overexcited and tries to make up for lost time by having a lot more of the stages of sleep it previously missed out on (again, usually REM sleep). This is called REM rebound. This can often lead to you feeling more tired than before. However, over the course of a week or so your brain should get back into a more normal sleep pattern and you should start to feel some benefit. So your situation is normal, don't worry too much. Having said that, has you case been reviewed by a doctor? And, if so, was this doctor linked to the service that sold you the machine or independent of it? Just be wary of the fact that some unscrupulous operators will throw a machine at you, take your money and run, without putting in the time and analysis to make sure that you are getting optimal treatment. Unfortunately, CPAP machines are a multi-billion dollar business these days, which attracts people who are more interested in money than health care.
Obstructive sleep apnoea involves airway collapse at the back of your throat, and your nose has little to do with it. A blocked nose may reduce your sleep quality, but it shouldn't affect the collapse of you airway.
I have looked into this a lot as a number of my patients have asked me about it. It looks like a scam. Wait until it actually hits the market before getting excited. And I certainly wouldn't be throwing any money at it. It's already passed its funding goal by miles, is well over a year behind schedule, and there still is not one working prototype. That's before you address any of the many potential flaws in the proposed design. Treat with caution.
That sounds like what we'd call demineralised. The terms are often used interchangeably. I have a degree in chemistry (among other things), so when I was studying the difference was important to us, but in the real world it really doesn't matter as long as you don't pay too much.
