Mask fit & sleepyhead graph

[Cuppa]

Early this morning I had enormous trouble trying to get my nasal pillow mask to fit properly. It felt like my nostrils were partially blocked & I was unable to get sufficient air. Breathing out was ok, but breathing in was difficult, restricted. Chest felt tight & I had difficulty maintaining a steady breathing pattern. If I held the mask so that it was still sealing but very light on my face I could breathe ok, so I'm thinking it is a mask fit issue. Will try the next size up (M) pillow tonight. What is odd is that the mask size (S) has seemed ok for the past few nights, & this issue occurred after I had removed the mask due to minor 'rainout', & got up to go to the bathroom, replacing the mask when I got back to bed in the dark. I guess it is possible I may have put it on upside down but I don't think I did.

Would the circumstances I've described, with constant attempts to adjust the mask correlate with the attached Sleepyhead graphs, or is it possible that I have actually had a whole bunch of 'centrals' whilst awake/semi awake?  The graph doesn't show the entire night. AHI for the bulk of the night was 1.47, all brief centrals, no obstructives or hypops.

[attachment=3348]

[DeepBreathing]

G'day Cuppa

It's a bit hard to tell from the screenshot you posted. Can you zoom in on the offending area and re-post?  The following links show how to organise the charts to provide the most relevant information:

• Organize your SleepyHead Data :    http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ganization  
  
• Post your SleepyHead Data from Imgur:    http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...pnea_Board
  
• Robysue's Beginner's Guide to Sleepyhead:    http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...SleepyHead
  

For questions about your mask, maybe start here:  Mask Primer:    http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ask_Primer

Hope this helps.
Paul

[Cuppa]

Another post so I have enough posts to include a link.

[Cuppa]

Is this any more helpful Paul? (I'll check out Imgur later when I have more time).
screenshot-20170405-142521

[dosco]

Cuppa, you're about halfway there ... suggest you re-read the instructions on how to organize the chart. The data you posted doesn't include the charts the Apnea Board folks ask for to assess your situation.

-Dave

[Sleeprider]

The charts look fine to me. First of all, centrals can be "real" or they can also be what we call sleep-wake-junk. It's actually in our wiki. Disrupted sleep and irregular breathing can have the appearance of repeated central events, and if you're not sleeping, they don't count. A 2-hour session of disrupted sleep is not what we want to use to make any decisions. Notice that at the end of each "CA" you take a normal size breath. There is no recovery breathing suggesting you are not getting enough air. Recovery breaths are much taller (more amplitude) than normal breaths.

In future charts, it would help to re-order the graphs to show Events, Flow Rate, Pressure, Flow Limitation and Snores. Also turn off the pie chart by using the menu File/Preferences/Appearance, and uncheck the pie chart option on the right. Everything else is fine.

Nasal pillows almost always work better in a size larger than you think you need. If you are a male using size small, you NEED to up-size to at least the medium, and you could end up with the large. You will notice an immediate difference. Experiment and find what works best. Once you establish the seal with the larger pillow size, you will feel it is much easier to breath. I'm sure the right size will make it easier to relax and sleep.

Once you have some real undisturbed sleep with the machine, we can revisit the events and help you get optimized.

[Cuppa]

Thanks for your replies folks. I'll endeavour to set up sleepyhead a bit better.
Last night I changed to a different size nasal pillow & had a good night.
Data showed all events as centrals. No other events. AHI 1.9

I know I was awake for some of them, & the pattern is the same as those when I was asleep. The comment about the patterns I showed was helpful, thanks Sleeprider, ie. no large gasping breath following the events.

I found another thread here where the poster reported filming himself whilst asleep & found all his centrals corresponded to him rolling over in bed. As, like him there were zero centrals reported in my sleep study, I'm inclined to think that they are most likely 'false centrals'.

Cuppa.