1 year on CPAP, still tired all the time

[joelin02]

I'm early 40s and probably since adolescence I need 15 min naps throughout the day, usually every 2-3 hours. The afternoon nap after lunch is absolutely essential but but the other ones I can power through if I have enough physical/mental stimulation.

A sleep study last year confirmed I have sleep apnea with an AHI of about 60.  I've been using CPAP for 1 year now, sleeping about 6-7 hours a day with a short 5-10 min waking after 3 hours of sleep and again 1.5 hours later and again maybe 45min after that. Each waking often starts with rapid heartbeat and overall body heat. When I'm up, I'll go to the bathroom, cool down and get back to sleep after not too long. 

I want to figure out why I'm still tired after using CPAP so I started recording my data on the SD card and opening it in OSCAR. I've attached screenshots. 

One thing I noticed is the data starts at about 1050pm and ends just before midnight. This is wrong because I went to bed around midnight. There is no data from midnight to about 140am. This is the period where I started sleeping. Anybody know why?

Also, from the data is there anyrthing you can tell me about how to get better sleep and adjust my CPAP?'

Lastly, does waking up in the middle of the night with a fast heartbeat tell you anything?

Thanks so much!

[quiescence at last]

Waking with a high heart rate usually suggests that something is causing a shock to the system, and an alert human is needed. So, it wakes you up urgently. Why that happened could be mysterious, but may be visible in a close up of breathing. Some people get panic attacks due to things like REM sleep paralysis syndrome and not breathing issue at all. Breathing rates may be cause or a result.

It you don't already know what is bothering you when you wake, then the issue could be hard to find or pinpoint.

Study some chart layout tips in the forum. I don't have those right at hand, but someone nice may chime in and tell you about those.

Good luck and Welcome!

QAL

[AshSF]

You may be one of the people who can't deal with variable pressure (According to a study published in sleep journal, 18% of the people are like that).

I would recommend that you set your machine to Max=Min=9.5cm (your 95%ile pressure) and try for a week. You can use a ramp to get to this set pressure if going straight to 9.5 is uncomfortable and makes you not fall asleep easy.

If things don't improve in a week, then we can move on to the next approach.

[joelin02]

I included a screenshot of last night zoomed in a bit. I showed the last 8 minutes of data before I woke up. Theres some surprising data I don't know how to make of. For example breathing lookeks normal at 5:13:45 for about a minute, but then it suddenly looks a lot more irregular...then there is a pause in breathing at 5:16:15 for about 10 seconds...then back to irregular for another a minute then another puase....all in all hard to figure out what is going on....



i'm going to try the 9.5 pressure min and max now

[AshSF]

I included a screenshot of last night zoomed in a bit. I showed the last 8 minutes of data before I woke up. Theres some surprising data I don't know how to make of. For example breathing lookeks normal at 5:13:45 for about a minute, but then it suddenly looks a lot more irregular...then there is a pause in breathing at 5:16:15 for about 10 seconds...then back to irregular for another a minute then another puase....all in all hard to figure out what is going on....



i'm going to try the 9.5 pressure min and max now

Whenever you fidget/move in bed & you are in any sleep state (and not awake), you stop breathing when moving in the bed. And when you reach the resting spot, you restart breathing. This may lead to a higher than usual tidal volume in the next few breaths (deeper breaths to compensate for not breathing while moving).

And if you are half/fully awake, the breathing rhythm is no longer a regular sinusoidal like wave.

I wouldn't worry about this at all.

[quiescence at last]

Yep. I agree. I would discount all of that after 05:14:45.

QAL