I am pleased to answer this. Every morning I anxciously wait for ResMed to get my sleep report ready for my laptop. After 2 1/2 months of usage I am now getting consistent events below 5 per hour, which is normal sleep. The really big turning point was the tennis ball method of keeping me off my back. I do access the settings page on the CPAP on board computer and experiment with max pressure settings and ERP.
I am Canadian and have no requirement to report to Medicare. I did not attend the sleep trial which would have used titration to find my best settings.but instead did that myself. The sleep clinic doesn't help me at all because I refused to pay them $2600 for a machine that I bought on Amazon.ca for $1000. It is a ResMed Airsense 10 and a hybrid mask. These are Canadian dollars and the exchange rate right now is 1.34.
The set up process was to:
1- Watch the free videos on YouTube explaining the how to use a CPAP and how to bring up the "secret" settings panel.
2- Since the video reported that most users set the max pressure at 10 cm. of water column, that's where I started. I now have it at 7.0 and will continue to fine tune that setting.
3 For ERP I tried both 1 and 3 as a setpoint and saw no difference however I will redo that test now that I have eliminated the erratic results that are brought on by sleeping on my back.
4- WRT humidity and temperature I am using the default settings as shipped and see no need to change.
I hope that covers the set-up process.
I want to write about the tennis ball method that grew from a discussion with @johnbishop in which I came to realize that the frustrating erratic results, that did not correlate with anything that was happening, was actually related to rolling onto my back, unknowingly. The tennis ball gets irritating when in contact with the skin. I duct taped and safety pinned it to a fabric belt which I wear over a tee shirt at about kidney level. The belt is not tight and I don't feel the ball until I turn onto my back. It seems like just the determination to stay off my back has made a big difference. There is a device on Amazon designed to reduce snoring by keeping the user off his back. It is a large cylinder with a backpack type of vest and the air pressure (hardness) is adjustable (55US$). My sleep test showed 20 events per hour when on my back and 8 when on my side.
There is something really suspicious about this industry. I think that our universal health care pays the sleep clinic for the sleep test and subsequent sleep trial. So why do I need to pay him $1600 extra for the machine and why does the manufacturer seem to be in colusion with this robbery by hiding the settings panel from the machine owner? I may be wrong but it smacks of extortion and I sent a scathing email to ResMed decrying their lack of integrity. I'm a cranky 79 year old male.

Jump to this post