Amorsen84 Therapy Analysis - please help

[Amorsen84]

Hello everyone,


This is my first post, but ive read alot of the posts on the forum

Ive been diagnosed with sleep apnea about a year ago (26 AHI) and been using the machine/mask ive since.

I havent felt any real improvement in terms of feeling better and life quality in general, which is why i make this post and really hope you guys can help find anything usefull in my sleep data.

Ive been trying 3 different masks (F30, F30i and F40) and been trying to change the setting on my Airsence 10 machine - but nothing helps and im starting to loose faith in the hole thing.

I am 40 years old and I live en Denmark with my wife and 2 kids and my motivation is really to become a better husband and father by hopefully being able to get the treatment right and getting a better sleep and more energy.

Basicly im just trying to hang in there atm


When i wake up, both after a nap and in the morning, i dont feel rested at all and im feeling uncomfortable and dizzy.

My sleep doctors just point at the low AHI and say that everything is good.


So im hopeing and praying that somehow you can see something that i can change or maybe symptoms of not getting enough air etc etc. 

Im trying to understand the flowrate, but i dont know how to interpret my own.


If you need any extra information, ill be happy to upload any screenshots you neeed.

The screenshot is from last night with the F30 mask on.

Thanks alot in advance


Tommy

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Screenshots from the 2 days before that.

[Deborah K.]

Overall your chart looks great, but I see a couple of things that should help.  Here are my suggestions:

Raise your lower-pressure limit to 8 and your upper-pressure limit to 15.
Turn EPR on full-time, set at 3.

I think those will help you feel better.  

[Amorsen84]

Hi Deborah,

First of all, thanks for taking your time to reply ?

I will try to make those adjustments ?

Just to try and learn from this, what indications make you suggest those changes?

Thanks again ?

[Amorsen84]

I am wondering wether my tidal volume is too low?

Thanks in advance

[Jay51]

IMO your tidal volume looks ok.  A very rough estimate is around 500ml per breath for males (of average height) and around 400ml per breath for females (of average height).  Your respiratory rate is right in the middle of normal around 15 per minute (can average between 12 and 20 - again this is just a very rough estimate again and can vary just like tidal volume).  

The taller a person is, the higher their tidal volume due to lung space.  The only way that your tidal volume here would be abnormal is if you are maybe 6'6 or taller or more.  Then it might be considered a little low.  

Your 440 to 460 seems ok.  There are many online tidal volume calculators.

[Amorsen84]

Iven tried changing the setting to pressure 8-12 and ERP to 3.

Im struggeling a little with cooping the extra pressure (mostly falling a sleep), but overall its ok.

Ive posted screenshots of the last 2 nights and an extra one from the flow rate. 


Its maybe feeling a little better, but im not feeling it has made a major difference overall in terms of overall quality and feeling when waking up/energy during the day.

Anything you guys maybe see i the numbers? 


Secondly ive noticed that the flow rate has changed and a little "bump" in the bottom of most breaths has started. 

Is this normal i do i need to look into that? (ive posted a close-up of the flow rate to illustrate the change)


Thanks alot in advance.

[Jay51]

Thank you for posting those. A rare few people like the ramp feature when starting therapy (falling asleep).  I like it on my ventilator because my pressure(s) get so high later after I fall asleep.  

You can try ramp for a night or 2 just to see if you like it.  But again, ramp is mostly frowned on here at ApneaBoard because it somewhat lowers the quality of therapy at the beginning of therapy (but it can help fall asleep faster I have found).  

Your charts look good IMO.  Very clean chart and good numbers the 1st chart.  2nd ok.  I am not sure what that little glitch is at the bottom of your exhale in your 3rd close up chart.  If anyone has an idea of what that is, please post. 

It is up to you if you want to experiment more.  You are pretty well optimized at this point, but it is always your decision on how you want to proceed with your therapy.

[Amorsen84]

Hi again, 

Ive been spending the last days trying to see a pattern in my sleep vs. numbers fra 02 ring, OSCAR etc. 

Im still dead tired after sleeping and during the day, and im trying to see if i can narrow it down to whats wrong. 


1: If you guys can see anything to try and correct in the OSCAR data, please let me know.

2: Ive uploaded my OSCAR data from today and the 02-Ring data in the PDF file too. It seems my O2 levels are quite low. Any of you guys know if this can be the reason for my lack of energy and sleepiness during the day?? If so, do you have any ideas on how to proceed from here? 


Thanks alot for you time guys, it really means alot to me

[Jay51]

Thank you for posting all of that.  Your chart again looks good.  Very clean chart.  I can't think of anything to improve your settings.  It just may take some time for you to feel better.  

On your SPO2 and heart rate:  they both look ok to good.  Your heart rate looks just fine.  Very steady and normal IMO.  

Your SPO2 looks ok.  A nightly spo2 average of 94 is definitely acceptable.  You drop down to about 90 or so a few times, but bounce back up.  You are kind of on the borderline here.  If you start to see more and more spikes below 90, then you probably should take more actions to correct this.  Please continue to monitor all 3 (your OSCAR charts, heart rate, and spo2 levels during sleep).  Feel free to post more if anything looks unusual.  Unusual for the heart rate chart would be more spikes upward and more variation up and down (yours is smooth and straight across which is good).

[Amorsen84]

Thanks for your answer everybody.

Just a thought i had, if i raise my minimum pressure to 9 or 10 - could that result in a higher O2 level during the night?

Im not sure wether those 2 things are directly connected.

Thanks in advance