[CPAP] Day 4 with CPAP!

[skinnylatte]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for creating such a warm community. I have probably had sleep apnea most of my life (most of my baby photos show me yawning, gasping for breath, etc; also struggled with staying awake most of school in the past). Only this year did I find myself in the right place to seek help. I was thankful to have found a sleep doctor that worked out very well for me.

I received my ResMed Airsense 10 Autoset (not the for her model, for the sole stupid reason that I am a woman who hates pink, and flowers) on Tuesday. I use a Philips DreamWear nasal pillow in medium.

OSCAR has all of my data from night 1, which is cool. I have no idea what anything means other than AHI, though.

General thoughts:

* I am feeling better: I no longer have that 'I have had no oxygen' feeling I used to get when I woke up
* I am feeling less exhausted: it usually took me a few hours to 'switch on' my brain, that doesn't happen anymore. No brain fog, which is cool

Concerns:

* My mask fits okay, but I am waking up around 6 or 7 in the morning many mornings to take it off my face. It feels like a lot of... pressure. Checking my charts, it looks like pressure is around 10 at those times, which is when I seem to notice / take it off.
* My doctor has prescribed 6-11 for pressure settings. I don't seem to notice it as I'm falling asleep, but I notice it a lot around the time it wakes me and I rip off my mask
* I seem to continue sleeping in pretty deep sleep (longer than usual) after taking off my mask. I don't feel more tired than usual when I wake up, but I seem to be sleeping more. Sleep debt, perhaps? I am starting a new job soon, so I hope to be able to figure out what this means.  

Can anyone help me make sense of all of that (and also how I'm doing, from my chart)? Thank you so much.

[SarcasticDave94]

Hi skinnylatte and welcome to the Apnea Board.

Your chart info looks very good, and at less than 5 AHI, medically you’re considered treated. Probably you can remove the calendar and the right navigation box for making room for the actual chart.

Yes there’s a sleep debt that you’re going to repay, this may be why you’re sleeping longer. Besides, the fact that your apnea is suppressed, you’ll likely be able to sleep more comfortably.

The mask removal issue is one most all have to face and conquer. It’s not like it’s normal to wake up with the rubber alien attached to your face.

Keep at it, this is really off to a great start. It only gets better, that is until you deal with the dreaded monster called the DME.

[skinnylatte]

Glad to know, and thank you for the tips!

[SarcasticDave94]

No problem.

[Dormeo]

Congratulations on a great start! It’d be helpful to see another chart when you have time. In addition to removing the calendar and right vertical bar, another two suggestions: could you remove the pie chart and move the mask pressure chart out of the screenshot and the flow limitation chart in? I’m curious to see why your pressure is going up at the end of the night, and FL s might be the reason.

[Gideon]

Great start. You have recorded RERAs which end with an Arousal
By definition RERAs are a series of Flow Limitations followed by an Arousal this I'm sure you flow Limitations chart is showing flow limits. Flow Limitations are where your breathing is between 0 and 50% of your normal flow.

Your ramp is set at 4, it is not uncommon for adults to have issues inhaling at 4. Since your EPR is set at 3 I would suggest a min pressure of 7 (4 + 3) which means inhale at 7 and exhale at 4

Your EPR is 3 which is good because of your hypopneas, flow Limitations, and RERAs. It would be good to bump EPR to 4 but we can't (it's limited to 3)

Talk to your doctor about raising your high pressure 12 for now (always go slow when your numbers are basically good/ lt 5 AHI) because you are frequently bumping your max at 11 and to try to reduce your already good numbers a bit.

[skinnylatte]

Thanks all! 

Is this screenshot clearer?

[DeepBreathing]

Hi skinnylatte. Welcome to the forum.

To maximise the benefit of Oscar, it's best to show the full daily page including the left sidebar but without the calendar or pie chart. The instructions to do this can be found here: http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ganization

I won't add to the advice others have given - you're off to a really good start.

[Gideon]

We are going to make a default report in OSCAR because we see this so much.
The charts to include are
Events (when did what happen)
Flow Rate (when viewed at various resolutions the key to what happens on a breath by breath level)
Flow Limits (ResMed only) (these increase pressure in autos)
Pressure (not Mask Pressure)
Leak Rate (can indicate a variety of mask issues)
Snores these increase pressure in Autos

[Dormeo]

Bonjour, I’m glad to hear that default is in the works. Skinnylatte, almost there! As soon as you get a chance to get a chart up there that includes the left sidebar, minus the pie chart and calendar, I’m hoping one of the experts can advise you in light of your flow limitations, which appear to be significant.