Had an emergency. Heart went into abnormal rhythm due to leaks/OA's. Vent. Beigeminy

[Melman]

They may be positional. I use a buckwheat chaff pillow which maintains my head position pretty well but have found the soft cervical collar to be better. It's certainly worth a try but don't rely on just a couple of nights data to make the determination.
To make your charts easier to read and interpret I suggest you move your windows task bar to the bottom of your screen so it doesn't partially block the data on the left, move the respiratory rate below the leak rate and expand the height of the pressure, flow limit, and leak charts. The event, flow rate, pressure, flow limit., and leak rate charts are the most useful for the screenshot.They are easier to interpret if they are not so scrunched up.

[MyronH]

They may be positional. I use a buckwheat chaff pillow which maintains my head position pretty well but have found the soft cervical collar to be better. It's certainly worth a try but don't rely on just a couple of nights data to make the determination.
To make your charts easier to read and interpret I suggest you move your windows task bar to the bottom of your screen so it doesn't partially block the data on the left, move the respiratory rate below the leak rate and expand the height of the pressure, flow limit, and leak charts. The event, flow rate, pressure, flow limit., and leak rate charts are the most useful for the screenshot.They are easier to interpret if they are not so scrunched up.

The clusters of OA's have happened multiple times in the past few months. My bed has an electric adjustable frame and I have  the head and feet slightly raised. That with my ergonomic neck pillow usually helped. So that's why I'm curious if I'm tucking my chin or not. Or if it is just my tongue or something else causing the cluster of OA's.

If I remember in the past, the cervical collar didn't help much and I couldn't get used to it since it is so bulky. I don't see how people can use one in combination with everything else. 

Don't you feel like a prisoner to your own bed? 

That's the way I feel right now. And adding a cervical collar makes me feel even more so a prisoner. 

Do you think recording myself sleep each night, may show something?

[Jimsp1]

Having suffered from these events for several years I know how disconcerting they can be even though my Cardiologist has assured me they won’t kill me. Many things can trigger them and I’ll get premature contractions every other beat(bigeminy), every third beat (trigeminy)or every fourth beat(quadgeminy). After the premature contraction the heart has more time to fill so many of us like myself can feel the increased pressure of the next beat.

I have also have a Kardia and find it a very useful devise but unless it also detects afib PVC’s  will record as normal. The chart of course shows the premature contractions.  On one occasion when I had afib with a rapid ventricular response(160bpm) I ended up in the ER because after an hour I couldn’t get it to slow down. Of course, by the time I got to the ER it had slowed down but the Kardia recording proved useful to the doctor.

One reassuring thing I now have an implantable loop recorder. This tiny device with a 3 year battery slips under the skin and has build algorithms to detect serious arrythmia issues. It also has a small keychain attached devise to mark when you feel an event occurring.  Sometime during the night the recorder transmits to a bedside unit which in turn uses a cell phone connection to transmit to some facility which will generate periodic reports for my Cardiologist.  I got the recorder after an ablation procedure to stop the afib events. After 8 months with no afib seen I was taken off the blood thinner I was using.  They of course are still monitoring to see if the afib reoccurs.

[MyronH]

Yes the Kardia Mobile device did record the abnormal rhythm, then I paid for their service to have it analyzed by a cardiologist. The results came back with Bigeminy and it said to forward results to my doctor for review.

Last night I turned on the LEAK ALARM but that alarm is so faint, it barely woke me up. And it only comes on, if there is significant leak over 40. The problem I have, is that if there is ANY leak, I start having OA's and trouble breathing as seen in this new chart. See how I take a large breath, it dimensihes to nothing, then I take it another? If it goes on for too long, this is what causes my heart to go into abnormal rythyhm. I just got a new F20 Airtouch cushion and was hoping it would fix the leaks. 

I'm not sure why I'm having this weird breathing pattern like this when my mask leaks?
[attachment=8717]

[Sleep2Snore]

Early this morning, woke up around 5am. Didn't feel quite right, saw my machine showed RED FACE with leaks. I took my thyroid medicine, laid back down for awhile. Around 6am woke up again with crazy palpitations, sweaty clamy palms, and my heart beating extra beats unevenly. Felt like I was going to pass out or have a major anixety/panic attack.

I checked if I was in AFIB with my Kardia Mobile device, and it showed an abnormal rhythm. Called 911. By the time they got to my house, EKG was normal again, but I showed them my EKG at the ER, and doctor said I definitely had extra beats happening. called ventricular bigeminy.  Basically pre or post extra beats. Doctor said usually not serious, at least right now.

Issue is, I didn't check my BIPAP machine before I went to the ER, to see what happened. When I got home, I checked it, and it showed massive leaking again, and in the leaks, I had a lot of UA's, which i suspect are OA's. My oximeter also showed oxygen fluctuating during this time, up and down.

This is the second time I've had this happen recently. I have an AFIB condition, take medicine for it, but this sleep apena I need to get under control.
This is very scary! Usually my AHI is <2 with no issues and no leaks. 

I'm going today to see my cardiologist and also to my sleep doctor to try another mask. I sent everything to my sleep doctor, but i suspect he will say all looks good with that low of an AHI.

You take care there MyronH