I had a PSG study done last year but I learned sleep docs/techs tend not to score RERAs or flow limitations because it's optional.
I've been able to get my sleep study report only recently, and I noticed scored RERAs and flow limitations are zero during the whole night; then I looked at the cortical arousal part, and (not so) surprisingly I see 42/h spontaneous arousals.
Is this a case of UARS? This would also explain why even if my AHI after CPAP treatment is below 5 I'm still tired.
Link to the report (sorry if it's not in English; I still think it's understandable though, I can translate it if needed): https://imgur.com/a/fNPtnUc
I've spent 2 weeks acclimatizing to CPAP on an older philips cpap for the first week and then on an Airsense10 I then aquired while dialling in my mask fit and i'm now ready to start trying to get better sleep. I need some help in regards to dialling in a jumping off point if anyone can help?
I enjoy the sensation of CPAP but the biggest barrier i'm facing is mask comfort. I'm autistic and certain sensory things trigger awakenings more than others. I am a nasal breather by default and the masks I have right now are;
Airtouch & Airfit F30i.
Resmed Quattro full face.
Airfit N30i arriving tomorrow.
The airfit F30i fits me the best with the least leaks, however I wake up sooner with that than I do with the airtouch just because of the silicone sticking to my face after about 4 or 5 hours and I have to take it off. I get more leaks and a worse fit with the airtouch but i've kept that on for 6.5 hours. The airtouch f30i blocks my nasal passages and makes me mouth breathe whereas the airfit f30i allows for unobstructed nasal breathing. The full-face mask I have is a no-go for me though I am open to trying a better full-face mask when finances allow, but I want to try the n30i first.
I experimented with Autoset (with EPR also) and found that wakes me up when it ramps up so I have switched to CPAP and found that the most comfortable so far with a continuous pressure of 8. I haven't tried CPAP with EPR as i've read a lot of differing opinions about that so I just stayed away from it while getting acclimatised. I also think i'm more a UARS candidate than full OSA.
Here is my Sleep HQ data from last night - https://sleephq.com/public/e68ff42d-d13d-480e-9c66-268a2f03030c (It says airtouch was used but it was airfit, i need to change that).
Many thanks.
*edit to add i'm self-treating because my single night NHS at-home sleep study of 5.5 hours came in at 4.6 AHI, below the NHS threshold of 5 to qualify for treatment.
Will try to keep it short and hoping for some guidance from this wonderful community :)
Been on CPAP for about 4 months after a home sleep study (Type III = AHI 10.7; RDI = 26). Tried APAP first for a while (6-10 with a 95% landing around 9; EPR of 2) and recently started CPAP at 8 or 9; EPR = 2.
AHI has been great. However, I don't feel refreshed in the morning and wake up frequently during the night. I also keep getting flow limitations in clusters during the night no matter what I try. I recently discovered the Glasgow Index and my score is 1.4 on average which I understand is not ideal and I do see patterns of disordered breathing on my graph in OSCAR/SleepHQ.
I plan on trying slightly higher pressure and higher EPR as suggested here before. Is there anything else I can realistically do? I see recommendations for a bilevel machine but not sure it makes sense at these relatively low pressures that seem to be resolving my actual apneas successfully. Would bilevel make sense in my case?
Thanks again in advance for any help!!
SleepHQ Link: https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_links/ba31dde8-7ec6-43dc-8759-36aaaa51e4cc
I will be heading to China in a month. Does anyone know CPAP safe voltage converters?
I'm from America and our voltage is 120 I believe?
Hi,
I am trying to lower my glasgow index numbers. I used CPAP and averaged around 1.7. I then jailbroke my Airsense and am using ASVAuto, my average glasgow index is still 1.65, but my steady breathing has improved from ~25% up to ~40%. My high GI number consists of 4 things.
No Pause- .44
Variable Amp- .39
Top Heavy-.31
Skew - .25
I am running ASVAuto- No backup + square wave timing. Last night's settings:
| EPAP min | EPAP max | PS min | PS max |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.6 | 5.6 | 2 | 8.4 |
I am open to anything. Sleep is still fragmented, would love to wake up and have actual energy at some point in my life. I've added a link to my google sheet for my glasgow numbers.
Thanks for your help in advance.
Hello! My doctor told me I have sleep apnea and I can get a prescription sent in for it. But my health insurance is garbage and I’ll need to pay cash. I had heard that the Res med series 10 is the best and that I can get it for $400 on a Black Friday sale on cpap. Com. But is that the best way to go? I’d like to keep my budget under $500 if possible. I don’t mind a used machine either if it’s from a reputable site and is cheaper.
Hey, Everyone. I'm a small female with an oval shaped face. I've tried millions of masks over the last year and finally settled on the AirTouch F20. Just one problem ... I am for sure between size M and size L.
The M likes to ride down and then leaves a mark on the bridge of my nose, and feels a bit tight. The L is much more comfortable for me, but it tends to leak a bit more because it's bigger and the memory foam likes to spill into the inner corners of my eyes which is super annoying. And yes, I've tried all kinds of different strap tensions to solve the various problems. I just don't think either size fits my face very well.
I notice that the M is more of a perfect triangle in shape and the L is more of an elongated triangle, which does map to the types of problems I'm having.
Does anyone else have a "between sizes" dilemma and found any solutions? Or any suggestions? Maybe an off-brand aftermarket cushion that fits the resmend frame?
Hi guys,
As the title suggests, I can’t seem to lower my AHI. It’s around the same (or sometimes higher) than my initial study score, which was 7.4.
I’ve been forcing myself to sleep on my side with a backpack but it doesn’t seem to be helping. I’ve linked my SleepHQ account, so if anyone would be kind enough to take a look and offer advice / try and help me out, I’d appreciate it!
Thanks guys.
Here are the settings I currently have:
IPAP - 19.0
EPAP - 14.0
Pressure Support - 5
Bi-Flex - on, 1
Ramp Time: 0:45 / Ramp Start: 4.0
Humidifier setting: 0
System One Resistance: 0
Mask Alert: on
Auto On / Auto Off (both on)
Please help
does anyone know what I should do???? Please help
Hi everyone, so I posted a few weeks back and took some of your advice. I boosted my pressure from 8 to 10.4 which was my 95% pressure when I was using APAP mode (currently using CPAP mode). I'm using resmed airfit n30i mask with nasal pillows not the cushion like I was using in my last post because I believe the pillows have a better seal. I have felt some improvement but I still feel kind of fatigued and am still having some brain fog through out the day. My sleep is still kind of fragmented as well. I understand there is no such thing as a perfect nights sleep but believe my settings can be dialed in a bit better. My EPR is currently off do you all think I should turn it on? And if I turn it on should I increase my pressure? Also I'm concerned about the clear airway events on my Oscar chart from last night. These pictures are from my last 5 nights of sleep. Thank you so much, all advice is welcome.
I'm 30 nights in and still getting adjusted to mask and pressure, etc. My usage has been good though.
I had an at home test that noted 13.6 AHI and only 2 central events. I don't know if the at home device is even capable of determining the difference between OSA and CA given it was a positional chest device and a pulse oximeter.
Here's my whole account data on sleephq, but below is a bunch screenshots from different nights. A good amount of them happen in batches and particularly within the first ~90 mins of the night. Are these legit? Should I be concerned? Sleep wake junk?
https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_links/b2c15259-8350-4797-949a-f60508000bbc/dashboard
Help! I cannot find a mask that works for me.
I have tried the Res Med AirFit n30i
Phillips Dreamwear under the nose, nasal mask
Siesta nasal mask (this lasted about three minutes on my face before feeling extremely claustrophobic, even though it only went over my nose. I just felt like I could not breathe)
I sleep on my side. Anyone have any suggestions?
As many of you know, there is tons of data recorded on the SD card of your CPAP machine waiting to be harvested and analyzed.
Although I have reviewed that data with the aid of the kind people who developed and maintain the OSCAR website, my eyes just glaze over when I see the daily report. Too much data, too little knowledge on my part.
I heard that AI can help analyze this data so I asked ChatGTP to review my Daily Report as generated by OSCAR yesterday. You just give the AI engine screenshots of the Daily Report (made anonymous to obscure your identity) and it spits out a lengthy review in language that I can understand.
We all know that AI like this can reach wrong conclusions so I take it with a grain of salt. However, it was educational and I will keep evaluating as I prepare for my next annual visit with my sleep doctor. In my experience, sleep docs don’t do a deep dive in this data so it is useful to be able to point out a potential issue if ChatGTP discovers one. At the very least it is harmless.
Hi all,
Been doing cpap therapy for a few years. Feeling like never really much better. Still dealing with insomnia, fatigue, etc. Purchased a wellue o2 ring recently for more data and last night had some scary data for a 12 min period of time. I use a dreamwear nasal pillow mask and mouth tape with papmd tape because I get mask leaks with nasal masks when mouth drops at night. I have TMJ so have had issues with full face and chin straps as well as a MAD. I’m currently undergoing Invisalign expansion as well on week 33 of 40.
I have had some days of feeling terrible lately and after last nights data I’m a bit worried. It shows o2 dropping down to 70% and I was dropping from 80-70% for almost 12 minutes. I again feel horrible this morning. How dangerous is this? Dr google has me panicking about it. I messaged my dr this am about this as well.
Also, my myair data has done this occasionally where it only reports low usage but I used it all night around 8 hrs. What’s that mean?
Hi, I just graduated college about 4 months ago, and have been working full time for a private firm doing various law firm's accounting and financials. I struggled in school, and honestly found that what I learned in school, didn't necessarily translate into work or what I have reviewed for FAR so far.
I started studying a few months back, about 2-3 hours a day, and then became very discouraged by my MCQ scores and just not being able to retain the information.
I am looking to start again, but I dont want to repeat what I was doing if it wasnt seemingly working/
Through Becker, I was watching all of the lectures, taking pages of notes just on the lectures, and would go back and rewatch to make sure I got the information down, then would move onto the MCQ's and do those (Fail bad), do them again (Fail less bad), and then would move onto the sims, and I would spend so much time on them, just for them to be wrong.
I just now am trying to get back into it after taking a beak, but I am wondering what I should do different?
I just ordered the book to try that, but I am a slow reader and dont love reading, but I saw that many people had success with reading it at least once.
I am also very curious as to what other's timelines are. My initial budget was about 9 months of 3 hours 6-7 days a week, but I have seen many people do it in less than half of that time.
I am not the best test taker, I will know the information, and then question myself when it comes to the test day.
Any and all tips would be greatly appreciated, regarding: Strategy, timeline for each exam (I am planning to do FAR, AUD, ISC, REG), What strategies did and didnt work for you, and if you actually think the lectures are worth watching, or if the book is worth reading/ what in the world should I put my focus into besides the MCQ.
Any information would be great, so please let me know!
Hi, I've been on cpap for 7 months, and while I'm sure my tiredness and headaches were sleep related(since whenever I sleep without the cpap I get heavy headaches), I've been wondering whether I could be needing bipap instead of cpap.I've never gotten 8 full hours of uninterrupted sleep in these 7 months... at most 6 and a half, and I also have a feeling that I do too much effort to exhale(even with EPR set to 3). Also, I don't wake up refreshed as when I was a kid. I've experimented with pressures from 5-9 and all of them have been kinda similar, with almost all events being clear airways instead of hypopneas. My sleep study gave 7 AHI, with like 6.5 being due to hypopneas.
Maybe all of this is psychological, so I want to ask what data can I look at to determine whether I need a Bipap instead of a Cpap.
So I got my BIPAP machine on Friday and the first night of sleep was great. 3.5 AHI down from 144.8 during my study. The group I got it from is a respiratory therapy and oxygen clinic, doing everything from CPAP machines to home oxygen systems, and have RT's, a ResMed Rep, doctor and nurses specializing in respiratory care, and they set my machine up for me. However the nights since I can wear it for about an hour before the seal just seems to disappear, and I even felt light headed last night and like the machine wasn't matching my breaths properly (like starting to ramp up pressure while I was still exhaling, dropping pressure while still inhaling).
I've had to stop the therapy 2/3 nights so far, and since it's a long weekend, I will miss another night tonight. It's a Resvent iBreeze 20A and a Phillips Dreamware full face mask, I've tried all the mask sizes it came with and chose the one that sealed the best using the fit check mode. I'm applying for it through a grant and I have to wear it minimum 4 hours 70% of the month or the grant is revoked and I have to pay out of pocket. It being a long weekend I doubt I'll be able to get in to see anyone tomorrow either. Looking for any advice, as I may be doing something wrong. Beautiful side effect of the horrible sleep I was getting (81% average SPO2 with a lowest recorded of 53%) I have almost no short term memory for this kind of thing, requiring weeks of repetition before it sticks.