Am I having Central Apneas?

[dk2011]

The first hour I had on the P.R. Full Face Amara Gel mask, but I felt sick and horrible with it on for some reason.  What was happening?

After that I switched to the P.R. Amara View the rest of the night, but was it working worse?  Or better?  Pressure was less but it looks like my events were more?  What's going on?

And am I having Central Apneas?  I have an APAP, not a Bi-PAP machine...  Do I need a different type of machine?

I know that my range of 4-20 is too large.  But look what happens at the pressure between the two masks.  And apparently even though the Amara Gel (the first mask) leaks like crazy, my AHI was much lower, correct?

All help is appreciated!!!

[Walla Walla]

My guess is your leaks with the gel mask drove the pressure up and you ended up swallowing air. That will make anyone feel sick.

[Ron AKA]

The first hour I had on the P.R. Full Face Amara Gel mask, but I felt sick and horrible with it on for some reason.  What was happening?

After that I switched to the P.R. Amara View the rest of the night, but was it working worse?  Or better?  Pressure was less but it looks like my events were more?  What's going on?

And am I having Central Apneas?  I have an APAP, not a Bi-PAP machine...  Do I need a different type of machine?

I know that my range of 4-20 is too large.  But look what happens at the pressure between the two masks.  And apparently even though the Amara Gel (the first mask) leaks like crazy, my AHI was much lower, correct?

Your first hour mask seems to have the higher leakage rate. I don't much difference between the results you are getting with the two masks. Perhaps that is because the machine increased the pressure to compensate for leaks, and that didn't make you feel good?

Your central apnea index, CA, or Clear Airway, is 1.05 which is not really that high. It is worth watching over time and discussing with your doctor if it gets worse (over 5.0). My view is that a BiPAP would not be any better than the machine you have now. 

I would go with the second mask and start adjusting your pressures to get better results. I would expect when optimized you should get an AHI in the 2-3 range. My suggestion at a first change would be to set your machine to start at 5 cm start pressure, ramp up to 8 cm minimum over 20 minutes. That could give you a big improvement in AHI. After that maximum pressure could be reduced to 15 cm or less, after you establish that the mask is working with the lower pressures.

[dk2011]

Why is my periodic breathing so high? 5% to 8% when using the Amara Gel mask. 1% of less using the AmaraView.

What does this mean?

[Ron AKA]

Why is my periodic breathing so high?  5% to 8% when using the Amara Gel mask.  1% of less using the AmaraView.

What does this mean?

I believe that is the Dreamstation term for Cheyne-Stokes. Not sure how the mask could affect it other than if a mask is leaking badly the CPAP benefit is going to be compromised. CPAP has some potential to reduce the Cheyne-Stokes. Probably you should discuss with your doctor. 

[Walla Walla]

Periodic breathing and CSR are two different things. Most of the time Period Breathing tends to show up when first starting out on Dreamstations. It usually is nothing and unless you start getting alot of it (10% or more) I wouldn't worry about it.

[Sleeprider]

Just to put it out there, you're doing fine!  This image is what we don't want to see.

[dk2011]

Just to put it out there, you're doing fine!  This image is what we don't want to see.

This helps!  Thanks!!!

My doctor just changed my prescription to 6.0 minimum and 12.0 maximum. 

Hopefully his narrower range will help get clearer data on SleepyHead and hopefully will reduce my AHI.

[Apnea Infant]

Thats a better range as prescribed by your doctor, do that for a few nights and review. However I think you may find a range of 8-12 may give better results further down the line in a week or so?

Meanwhile, try to present your Sleepyhead charts like that shown by SR in his reply. Its more useful to show the PAP data on the left and the results to the right. Experiment with presenting that way but ensure you show the events flag, flow rate, flow limit, pressure and leak rate. There are some who seem to be able to squish more into one screenshot by changing the vertical ratios but I have not managed to.

I wish you good nights.........

[Ron AKA]

Experiment with presenting that way but ensure you show the events flag, flow rate, flow limit, pressure and leak rate. There are some who seem to be able to squish more into one screenshot by changing the vertical ratios but I have not managed to.

If you put your mouse cursor on the grey horizontal line between graphs it will switch to a parallel line and arrows. Left click and drag the dividing line up or down to compress or stretch the vertical height of the graph. I find there is a limit to what you can squash it down to and still have it readable. I would not go beyond the point where the title of graph gets messed up. Maximizing SleepyHead to full screen before pushing F12 to do the screen capture helps a lot too.