British Snoring & Sleep Apnoea Association

Hi Chattabob

I also have ResScan but have also discovered in other forums whist chasing down the links for ResScan, a freely available program called Sleepyhead.
It is still in development. It has been written by an apnoea sufferer and is a bit more flexible the ResScan in that it will read directly from the SD card or from a folder on disk. It also runs on Mac's and UNIX/Linux. I'm using it on both XP and Ubuntu. I think it has the makings of a realy useful product.

Currenly supported machines:

CPAP
Philips Respironics System One (CPAP, Auto, BiPAP & ASV models)
ResMed S9 models (CPAP, Auto, VPAP)
DeVilbiss Intellipap (Auto)
Oximetry
Contec CMS50 Oximeters
ResMed S9 Oximeter Attachment

[quote="Nuneatonman37"]Do you have a sd card in the machine ???

I have ResScan software could have given you the results myself ,
The software will show - obstuctive events , central apnoea's ,other events and hypopnea .

[quote]

Can you have a look at the data for me if I get it off my SD card?

Whilst I was on antidepressant medicine a few years back, my daytime sleepiness was mega and really impacted on my life. Now off these meds since 5 years, and haven't looked back. However, there are still times when I get very tired during the daytime and need a nap but usually due to 'natural causes' .... too good a lunch, rebound after a period of stress or travelling involving irregular hours. Boredom is a major factor for sleepiness ... but then sometimes a good sleep is something to be enjoyed!

Alsacienne: does your sleep apnea affect you in the day anymore, or is CPAP cured tiredness?

I'd just like to hear others views on how they carry on their life after CPAP, rather then what laws apply to condition

Blueflash, sorry I can't help with this as I don't live in the UK and therefore don't know UK law. Try sending your request by pm to Nuneatonman37 or Mac if you don't get a reply soon on the forum.

Thank you downloaded my manual and should have a AHI screen but can't access it, it would be interesting to know, I thought machine stopped them completely guess it manages them more then.

Been using my machine for few years so should be getting any benefits expected by now

Will try and see someone, need to find out if tired because bored and tired or due to my condition.

My employeers have asked me to apply for "access to work" which give help at work if disabled at work, but don't think of myself as disabled and not sure what help they could provide to keep me awake?

Welcome blueflash! Don't worry about being a newbie! We were ALL newbies at one time or another!!

When we are talking about 'AH' we're really talking about measuring AHIs. Here's a definition:-

[i]Apnea-hypopnea index, or AHI, is an index used to assess the severity of sleep apnea based on the total number of complete cessations (apnea) and partial obstructions (hypopnea) of breathing occurring per hour of sleep. These pauses in breathing must last for 10 seconds and are associated with a decrease in oxygenation of the blood. In general, the AHI can be used to classify the severity of disease (mild 5-15, moderate 15-30, and severe greater than 30).[/i]

In layman's language this is a count of how many times in an hour you stop breathing, and the lower the count, the better your sleep. When treated with xPAP therapy the aim is to get the number of AHIs down to less than 5 in an hour.

Some CPAP machines allow you to see the data they are storing about you when you go to sleep. You really don't need to worry about this. Some of us are keen to keep mental 'score cards' to check our progress, but I think you can safely rely on what your doc/sleep tech tells you if you are simply using the mask and sleeping normally, especially because you're no longer disturbing your partner! If you look up your machine on the Respironics site, you should be able to find out if you can access data yourself, or if it has to be downloaded by the professionals who look after you. Ask them about it on the next visit, or if it really is bothering you ring them and ask or ask for a short appointment sooner than you would normally attend to discuss this.

You don't say how long you have been on xPAP therapy, but it can take some time for the good effects to kick in - we're all different, and it is quite possible that the change of job, especially if it is repetitive, will make you feel sleepy.

The fact that you are no longer having [quote]wild body movement or snoring[/quote] would seem that you are already responding well to xPAP therapy. I hope that the explanation of AHIs will help to put your mind at rest, but please do keep in touch.

Can I jump in on this thread. newbie to this board but been using CPAP for few years and have a REMstar Auto M Series A-flex.

You've all been mentioning AH and I have no idea what that is, can I find it on my machine somehow? I never messed with the screen and buttons, just but mask on and sleep.

I take my machine in yearly and have been told its working OK.

Reason I came on this forum was to try find out even if CPAP machine is working fully, can you still feel tired,confused and nod off in the day? I've had a change of role at work to very repetitive work, and find myself nodding off, but I was fine in other role of call centre. Could it be down to sleep apnea or boredom?

My CPAP machine seems to be working as dont distutb partner with wild body movement or snoring anymore, but still nod off?

thanks will carry on reading other posts, just the AH got me wondering shoul I know more about my machine

I spoke too soon... I've now had two consecutive nights where CPAP has not really worked for me and I'm exhausted now and I know when I;m asleep that I'm going to feel bad in the morning.

I hate it with a passion when it starts leaking as I can never fix it in my sleep and can only make it blow even more of a gale... It also keeps waking me up with the noise of it.... It just sounds like its constantly blowing as hard as it can

Early days for assessing if you've only just got the humidifier. Keep up the good work, Chattabob, and hope very much that you'll be seeing better days soon.

Hi,

I actually have the S8 Escape which is only data capable, I knew it was only data capable but that didnt stop me asking the hospital for an S9 humidifier lol I thought the S9 was the newer version (The balck one) Got the humidifier but I need to play around with it as its set on 3 but I still get dry.

I thought maybe the other possiblilty is that each night differs and maybe on my sleep study I had one of my better nights of sleep with less Apnoeas??

I think I am sleeping better, I do seem to be fresher on some days wierdly it alternates, one day I wake up and feel a bit better and the next I wake up and feel my normal tired self, I kinda know just as I;m waking up because I say to myself oh Bo**ocks and cant wait for the day to end to go back to bed.

One thing I love is that as I start waking up I stretch so much... a lovely stretch and it feels great. So I think the machine is working but how much its working is anyones guess

Hi Chattabob, sorry your having such a hard time.
Unfortunately most hospitals now use call centres for appointments, which can be frustrating at times, they have a lot less discretion than secretaries.
I may be wrong, but I thought the S9 gave AHI data (I know the S8 escape doesn't), but thought that was one of the upgrades on the S9: also giving leak data etc.
A number of things could be going on that could cause you the increase in AHI. One could be that if you were only using your CPAP for short periods (particularly if you are inadvertently removed your mask in the night), then you could have been having a lot of apnoeas at the start of treatment before the machine has got up to treatment pressure, then if you remove the machine after an hour or two, the number of apnoes/number of hours use (ie AHI) is going to be higher than if the number of hours is a full night.

You could be having excessive mask leak which is both preventing the pressure building up enough to treat and also preventing the machine to acurately detect apnoeas. Signs of this may be dry eyes, cold face, excess noise, and sometimes finding you've removed the mask in the night.

Another possibility, but unlikely given how mild your AHI is, is that you have complex sleep apnoea, which is where treating obstructions with CPAP can bring out central apnoeas. This occurs in about 6% of CPAP users but usually resolves itself within 3months of treatment. Only about 1.5% have residual central apnoeas which would require an auto-serve type device which are 10 times or more the price of a CPAP. This condition is more common in people with heart disease, particularly heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, stroke and opiod use. It's very unlikely though that this is the cause in you as I would expect the AHI ro be much higher.

Re humidifier, much better idea to try this first before going down the ent route. CPAP is quite notorious for causing nasal irritation. / congestion.

Would definitely keep badgering your team to get seen ASAP if only to put your mind at rest.

[quote="Chattybob"]The only thing I can think of is maybe my stopping breathing is not for as long as it use to be i.e. It use to be 26 seconds or longer and maybe now that has reduced?[/quote]

Did you keep count of the seconds when you were asleep ???? :lol: :lol: :lol:
I would'nt say any pause in your breathing is good for you .

If i can remember rightly your early posts mentioned that your ahi was 9 which is mild osa what is going wrong ???

Lets hope they find the solution for you ,

Regards,

He did say my AHI can vary from night to night. either way its not working fully for some reason.

I do feel a bit better on CPAP and I dont think its all in my head.

The only thing I can think of is maybe my stopping breathing is not for as long as it use to be i.e. It use to be 26 seconds or longer and maybe now that has reduced?

WELL DONE for persevering with the doc, though I must admit I'm not happy to learn that your AHI is 15 because that implies that your current treatment is not working for you as you suspected. I'm not a doc, but I'm glad you will get a PSG even though it's a bit far off. The humidifier should make things a lot more comfortable, and let's hope that it, in combination with your CPAP will give you a few better nights sleep in the meantime ... and hopefully more than just 'a few'.

All the best, Alsa x