Apnea clusters

[stillaliveca]

I have been using CPAP for about 6 months now. Many nights I average 1 or 2 apneas an hour and if I look at the Sleepyhead report, the apneas are scattered in ones and twos.

However, many nights (and seemingly more often lately) the average is around 5 and if I look at the report I see clusters of apneas lasting 5 or 10 minutes during the early part of the night. This is my best sleep time and I feel poorly rested the next morning.

I don't understand why the CPAP is unable to deal with these more effectively. I wonder if the Airsense 10 Autoset for Her is the wrong machine for me?

Please help with any advice, suggestions or explanations.

[Gideon]

It sounds like you may be having "Positional" Apnea.  The main symptom is a cluster of apneas with large gaps without apneas in between.  This is a guess because you have not provided any Sleepyhead charts.  This frequently occurs because the chin drops and obstructs the airway.  The common solution is a loose fitting soft cervical collar.

Post charts and we can better help.

Fred

[stillaliveca]

I will post some charts tomorrow. Anything in particular?

fyi I am wearing quite a substantial chin strap.

[Crimson Nape]

stillaliveca,
Your thread should be in the Main Forum. Your question is targeted at apnea/sleep and not being software related. I'll be putting a request in to have it moved. I just wanted to give you a "heads-up".

[Sleeprider]

I will post some charts tomorrow. Anything in particular?

fyi I am wearing quite a substantial chin strap.

Chin straps are the worst sleep apnea treatment ever. While intended to reduce leaks and open mouths, they can compress throat tissues and move the jaw back which greatly increases positional apnea.  A soft cervical collar helps close the jaw by pushing forward from the bottom and prevents chin tucking and preventing positional apnea. Ditch the strap.

[mesenteria]

Generally, if we have significant apnea problems, our sleep is adversely affected.  Often that is manifested in lighter sleep, more arousals, and fewer deep sleep sessions that normally come between two lighter ones.  Now that you are under treatment, and with AHI below 5 it means 'successful' treatment, your sleep is actually improving. But, there's a catch; as your sleep improves, and the quality of it comes more often, you lose the tone in your various muscles that would normally have been present during the more aroused sleep of last year.  You sag more.  If part of that means your chin tucks more toward your chest, and it is likely to be the case for most of us, you will have more obstructions to your airway...the very thing your equipment was meant to overcome.

So, most of us learn a couple of things when we begin to gain the benefits of our successful treatment, one being that when we sleep a certain way, and with a certain quality, we may actually inhibit, or counter, the work of the machine.  If we learn that we now have to deal with positional sleep problems, then we must deal with them constructively.  Often this means, in turn, that we need a device to keep us from sleeping on our backs (a greatly preferred position for so many of us, especially in the hour prior to awakening each morning), or we need to control out chins.  We sew a tennis ball to the backs of our sleepwear and/or we wear cervical collars to help to support our chins.

Remember, the body comprises a system of interrelated parts.  We can't hope to alter one part of it and not find that something else has inadvertently been affected.

[stillaliveca]

Thank you to both of you for your considered rep;ies. I do sleep on my sides quite a bit, but also sleep on my back. In the sleep studya, I was told that I  have apnea in both positions.

It a

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It appears that the export features in Sleepyhead do not work. Hw do I get graphs out of Sleepyhead?

[stillaliveca]

I have now attachd 5 days of Sleepyhead graphs in pdf format. I hope that one of you can make use of these for further comments.

[PaulaO2]

Look up at Sleeprider's post to see how to organize, screenshot, and upload the images.

Clusters of events usually points to a positional issue. Most often it is when we roll onto our backs. A neck brace isn't going to help in that case. You can wear a backpack with hard things in it for a few nights. This will keep you off your back. If the clusters disappear, there you go.

A chin strap keeps your mouth from opening. Most of the time. It does not stop lip leaks.

A foam neck brace will do two things (for most people, not all):
1 - helps keep the jaw closed without pushing it back (toward the neck and out of alignment like a chin strap can)
2 - keeps the user from bending their neck (chin toward chest) which creates an even smaller airway which is then easier to block

you don't need a chin strap if you don't "mouth breathe" and you don't need a collar if you don't mouth breathe and/or chin tuck.

[stillaliveca]

I have been wearing the chin strap to reduce mouth breathing. I dislike using it.

I also have a noticeably curved neck so my chin is down towards my chest at the best of times.

I will repost the graphs using the method outlined by Sleeprider.

I can try the cervical collar and/or the tennis ball on the back to see if either helps.

Thanks to everybody.