Software to read SD Card

[Fredxx]

"Compliance" tends to be measured as being "using the CPAP for at least 4 hours a night". The clinic gets that from the number of hours the machine has been used divided by the number of nights.

Effective treatment is measured by how you feel, not by the numbers on the machine. If you are feeling better and more alert, have stopped dozing during the day etc. the therapy is working. The Epworth Sleepiness Index is a better measure than AHI

As for trying a new mask - it isn't all about the AHI and leaks, it is about how comfortable it is, whether your sleep is more or less disturbed by different masks, and ultimately how you are feeling. Numbers do tell a story, but I'd far rather have an AHI of 10 and feel fine, rather than an AHI of .5 and feel crap.

[Aspasia]

Thanks for that, Fredxx; it makes a lot of sense in general, and I certainly take your point about leaks and being woken in the night by mask discomforts.

While the new mask was the trigger for me downloading the software, once I had done so, it occurred to me that having AHI information could help me significantly in another way (and this is the core reason for my whinge: it just seemed a bit long-winded to explain it all in my first post).

I've had Crohns Disease for 28 years, and one of the reasons it took me so very long to go to my doctor about 'unusual' daytime tiredness is that Crohns can make you feel utterly exhausted as a result of inflammation, so I had just assumed the tiredness was linked to almost permanent low-level inflammation (as did my doctors over the years). In fact, I'm in the middle of treatment for a fairly horrible flare-up at the moment, without which, despite the CPAP therapy, I would be permanently, desperately, exhausted. So, for me at least, feeling tired is not necessarily an indicator that CPAP therapy is not working well. I feel generally better since being on CPAP than I did on APAP, but going onto CPAP coincided with beginning a longish course of steroid treatment, which in itself makes me feel a lot better and energetic. So I have no clear idea how well the machine is actually working for the sleep apnoea, and nor can the clinic, if they are basing their records just on how I feel, except that it is better than nothing.

Now that I know I have sleep apnoea, I can look at the joint diagnosis in two ways:
1) Since both sleep apnoea and Crohns results in daytime tiredness, I will never know which one is causing the problem, and all I can do is endure until it becomes abundantly clear that I am having a Crohns flare-up that needs additional treatment, OR
2) Now that I know that some of the daytime tiredness is due to sleep apnoea, if I can broadly distinguish between the two, then I should be able to identify the signs of the onset of a flare-up some of the time, at least, and take early action to resolve it.
I much prefer option 2!

If I can recognise the beginning stages of a flare-up, then I can change my diet for a while and rest up, and that may help resolve the problem before it gets to a full-blown, painful flare-up which requires steroids (plus horrible side-effects) to resolve. I can't stay on this diet permanently because it's simply not very healthy in the long term to stay off fruit, veg, nuts & seeds and everything wholemeal, but this is the diet that will help to ease the inflammation in the short term because it avoids further irritating already inflamed tissue.

While I don't plan to keep track of the numbers obsessively, if, when I feel unusually tired in the day, I can check my AHI and see that I have had a terrible night, then I can assume that sleep apnoea is probably the reason for the tiredness and go on as normal. On the other hand, if I have a couple of days of daytime tiredness and I know my AHI has been normal-for-me-on-CPAP, then I can adjust my diet for a few days, and that might be all that is needed to stave off a flare-up. It shouldn't be a problem to adopt the diet for just a few days at a time even if there wasn't a flare-up, so false positives wouldn't result in additional health problems.

Basically, AHI information from the CPAP could mean I have a useful new tool to help me take pre-emptive steps to stay healthy. It's actually a very liberating concept for me, after years of being at the mercy of apparently random flare-ups. Hence my frustration when I realised it will not work with this machine, because it leaves me only option 1, and trying to asses how well I slept by the kind of dreams I had. Perhaps I can persuade the sleep clinic to issue me with an Elite instead of an Escape...

[Fredxx]

I can understand your dilema.

There is a compromise solution if the sleep clinic don't help with a machine that records AHI - you can get a pulse oximieter and use that to monitor your sleep patterns. It will record your pulse and blood oxygen through the night and then let you download it onto the computer in the morning. I've got a CMS50F which does the job pretty well - you can get them on ebay.

[Aspasia]

Thanks very much for that suggestion, Fredxx, and for the recommendation. It would certainly be much better than dream monitoring!

[Grim Sleeper]

I recently had my re-visit to the sleep clinic after my first month on CPAP. I thought they would have taken the SD card from my machine and looked at the data AHI etc.

I was surprised that the nurse only looked at the compliance information via the display on the machine, noting number of nights used, total hours and average per night.

As I have the Resmed S9 as well Aspasia, I seems it's because there is no other stats to be downloaded from the card. Like you I find this a bit dissapointing.

I had a look at the Pulse Oximeter as you suggested Fredxx, they seem a bit pricey for the ones that can store data overnight and can be loaded onto a PC. I guess I will need to start saving my pennies up.

[Aspasia]

It seems that the S9 Escape (which is the one I have) only records compliance data, whereas the S9 Elite and S9 Autoset track AHI, leaks etc. as well. http://origin.resmed.co.uk/uk/produc...?nc=clinicians

[Fredxx]

It isn't a cheap solution I admit - you can get them for about £60 on ebay, including the software. It isn't a necessary thing for most people, but for some who want to get more involved it is useful

[bubble]

the NHS issued escape has no real data logger

I have to have a medical for work, my company doctor sent me out to buy the resmed auto s9 which has full data logging

£475 later , via sleepy head software, I have more data than you shake a stick at.

I have just sent in my data to the 'company doc' he was pleased with the data and sent me on my way, till next year!

but...... big brother is watching me via an SD card

the data is very detailed, sleep times, AHI, etc etc etc

I would recommend the step from fixed pressure to automatic pressure.

rgds bubble

[Tom @ Intus]

Most modern machine now have full data logging, mostly using an SD card. The Respironics System One range, Fisher & Paykel's ICON, and DeVilbiss SleepCube for example all have very similar data reporting to the S9.

It's impressive how many people really want to see their data, even when they don't need to satisfy somebody else. For example, anyone who gets a CPAP machine from us is provided with data report from us whenever they need one, and over half of our customers take us up on that because they want to see how their therapy is going statistically and if it can be improved.

That many machines now have software to allow people to look at their own data at home can only be a good thing, so it's good to see that all of the major manufacturers have given their users this option.

[Tom @ Intus]

It seems that the S9 Escape (which is the one I have) only records compliance data, whereas the S9 Elite and S9 Autoset track AHI, leaks etc. as well. http://origin.resmed.co.uk/uk/produc...?nc=clinicians

That's the same with many fixed-pressure machines, and it's basically due to the sensors they have.

A fixed-pressure machine is very simple, it is designed to blow at one pressure the whole time. Therefore it does not need a huge amount of sensors.

An automatic machine works different, reacting to your sleep. To do this, it needs a wide range of sensors to detect resistance changes, and to interpret exactly what is causing this changes; be in an apnoea, a leak, snoring, etc.

This means an automatic machine can therefore record data about these leaks, numbers of apnoeas etc. A fixed-pressure machine cannot record this, because it isn't designed to function with this feedback in mind. It can essentially only record how long it has been used for.

Some fixed-pressure machines will have leak-compensation, but this is very basic and would not be used for data reporting either.

So yes, if you want full data reporting, then you'll need an automatic machine from one of the major manufacturers; be in Philips Respironics, DeVilbiss, ResMed or Fisher & Paykel. Unfortunately it just isn't possible with most fixed-pressure machines because they do not have the required sensors built-in for accurate data analysis.

[tallishbloke]

data

I am all for patient knowledge, and empowerment etc. However, many CPAP machines these days give you basic usage, compliance and AHI information without the need for any downloads.
You can have the best figures in the world - but what is important is how it makes you feel. Its the effect on your sleep and the resultant improvements in daytime tiredness, the feeling of waking up refreshed and full of energy that makes people use the machine, not whether or not you have an AHI or ).5 / hr, or 6 / hr etc.
And if you are using it nightly, from the time you go to bed till you wake up. whats the need for usage data?

Hummmmmm.... beats me

Chill out, and concentrate your efforts on getting your mask to fit as good as possible - this will give you the best results!

Good luck
TB

[Aspasia]

Thanks very much for the information, Tom!

[Aspasia]

Thanks for your reply, Tallishbloke.

I can see that if a person's only chronic health condition is sleep apnoea, then how one feels is the only feedback necessary. However, for those of us who have another chronic health condition as well, it can be very useful for our overall health to know our AHI. If we feel exhausted but our AHI has been acceptable, and at levels where we previously felt fine, then we can identify the early stages of a flare-up of our other condition and so get early, less invasive treatment for it.

[Tom @ Intus]

You can have the best figures in the world - but what is important is how it makes you feel. Its the effect on your sleep and the resultant improvements in daytime tiredness, the feeling of waking up refreshed and full of energy that makes people use the machine, not whether or not you have an AHI or ).5 / hr, or 6 / hr etc.
And if you are using it nightly, from the time you go to bed till you wake up. whats the need for usage data?

Hummmmmm.... beats me

TB

Good question, but one I'll have a stab at answering

What about if you're using the machine every night, but NOT feeling good in the morning? That's where data comes into it's own. It may show something is wrong (pressures are too low, lots of leaks are being detected) for example, which can then be used to improve matters.

Alternatively, it may show that the CPAP is working perfectly in terms of keeping OSA under control, and therefore it may be that another sleep condition (or health condition generally) could be causing you to feel tired. Just because somebody has OSA, it doesn't necessarily mean that they don't also have another condition that causes similar symptoms, and therefore even when OSA is being treated they do not feel better. Of course, that doesn't mean it isn't worth treating the OSA, as there are long-term problems leaving it untreated can lead to. It does mean that you should look into whether or not something else needs addressing as well.

Similarly, often people ask us for a data report to compare different masks for example, just to see if one performs better for them over the other. So there are any number of reasons why data reports are useful.

But you're right, many machines will show the most important bits of information on the screen, which is great when you're feeling good and just want to find out for curiosity's sake. If you have a specific problem though, using proper software often provides many more clues as to what exactly the problem may be. You can see graphs of how the pressure changed throughout the night, pinpoint specific times where there was a significant leak etc. It's a very useful tool for when things aren't working 100% as they should.

[glezga]

anyone find software that reads the card from a weinmann somnobalance e? i get a excel file but it just that he pressure and time used, everything else is blank, im nosey and want to know more

there are 2 other files data.tdf and para.tpg - sleephead spftware just crashes when you try reading the card

anyone?


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