New to cpap my apnea events are all over the place can someone help me?
Diagnose with mild sleep apnea. i've been on cpap for a month and started with a pressure of 5-15 now im on 8-15 but alot of my apneas are still high and i feel like sh*t. someone on reddit told me to post my results here so that's what im doing. any kind of help is appreciated thanks.
Here's the link of the OSCAR Graphs: https://imgur.com/a/AdqJxw1
RE: New to cpap my apnea events are all over the place can someone help me?
The consisten feature of your Oscar graphs is a lot of very deep breathing when starting therapy associated with many OA events, generally followed by CA events. Eventually you somehow settle down and have a very low AHI This does not look like a problem with settings, but for some reason, you're very active or anxious when you initially mask up, but once you relax, it's all good. What do you think is going on here? What are your sensations or feeling when you first mask-up? Do you feel you need more air? Once you fall asleep the therapy looks good.
RE: New to cpap my apnea events are all over the place can someone help me?
i take deep breaths while falling asleep i've been doing it for a few years now, its an anxiety thing. im trying to work on it. usually it takes me a while to fall asleep like 1-2 hours, even before starting the cpap therapy. you said that once i settle down i have a very low AHI, does that mean the events per hour are lower? if so how low? does that mean the therapy is working? here's a screenshot of my sleep study results in case you need it. https://i.imgur.com/TRGFZZ4.jpg
thanks for replying to my thread!
And im sorry for the many questions. im new to all this & i just wanna get better 
RE: New to cpap my apnea events are all over the place can someone help me?
In short, yes, your therapy is very effective once you get through the initial anxiety. I can tell from the flow rate and respiratory statistics that the upper airway resistance you exhibited in your diagnostic study, manifested as snoring and hypopnea is well-resolved with CPAP. Without positive air pressure, your airflow is restricted in the upper airway. While you did not have a lot of apnea, you did have significant reductions in flow volume (flow limitation and hypopnea) and abundant snoring. None of that is evident in the data from Oscar. In fact you have what appears to be a very healthy tidal volume, respiratory rate and minute vent, and the 95% flow limitation index is only 0.03. This shows an unrestricted airway free of snoring or hypopnea on the good nights. Results are somewhat inconsistent, and there are charts showing some possible positional airway resistance. This is where your airway becomes restricted due to sleep position (chin-tucking) which increases flow limitation and leads to clusters of apnea and hypopnea. In your case it is somewhat difficult to differentiate clusters of positional apnea from your arousal and sleep onset anxiety. Our Optimizing Therapy wiki discusses the positional apnea issue and shows examples you might relate to. https://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph...onal_Apnea
RE: New to cpap my apnea events are all over the place can someone help me?
i have an appointment in september, should i tell my doctor about chin tucking before or at the appointment? also is there a way to prevent the chin tucking without having to use a cervical collar?
RE: New to cpap my apnea events are all over the place can someone help me?
The medical profession is either not aware of this condition, or chooses to treat it with more pressure. In other words, it is likely your doctor will raise his eyebrows, look at you like you're nuts, and ask where you ever got such an idea. This is something you probably just have to work out on your own. My comment above was intended to show you that this may be an issue for you. Avoiding multiple pillows, sleeping on an incline, and any position which causes your chin to tuck to your chest is how to deal with it without a collar. Video observation of your sleep and correlating events with what happens in the video is something many members have done. The article I linked to suggests a screening test your can try to see if your airway is susceptible to positional apnea. Basically while in a comfortable sitting position, try to relax and let your head settle until your chin drops. Without making compensatory protection of your throat by bracing muscles, you may find this relaxed position results in increased airway resistance, snoring or even blockage. If that does not occur, we move on to other things, but it's not a bad way to understand the mechanism of apnea and upper airway resistance if it applies to you.
RE: New to cpap my apnea events are all over the place can someone help me?
i wanted to ask you something, the reason i started cpap is because aside from feeling tired & low on energy for over two years now i also feel heavy brain fog and drowsiness & eye fatigue when ever i have to concentrate on something for extended periods of time. like if i have to do any manual labor, playing video games, working on the computer even going to mall to do shopping. Im desperate & Its driving me crazy because i dont know what it is. it all feels related to having to concentrate & doing rapid eye movement. i went to my dr & they did alot of tests including MRI, EEG, Thyroid Test, Blood Works, Eye Exam & everything looks fine. my dr thinks its sleep apnea. my question is have you ever heard of anything like that & somehow being related to sleep apnea? i ask you because i cant find anything online and all i get from my dr is that it might be sleep apnea.
RE: New to cpap my apnea events are all over the place can someone help me?
@LiquidOcelot,
Yes to all of the above, and LO you are in the best hands possible with Sleeprider, pay close attention to what he shares with you.
On a side note, you said earlier you were diagnosed with mild sleep apnea during a sleep study, did the study also detect any periodic limb movements? It will be mentioned later in your report as PLM index. A PLMI of more than 5 and less than 25 is considered mild, >25 and <50 is considered moderate, and >50 is severe. A combination of mild/moderate sleep apnea coupled with PLMD very easily would render you as described. Sleep apnea alone is enough to do that to you, just think of it as only getting a couple hours of sleep every night for a couple of years (even though you were in bed for 8), don't under estimate the effects of these sleep disorders.
Good luck on your journey to getting better, were all here for you.
RE: New to cpap my apnea events are all over the place can someone help me?
The study was a regular apnea test at home, the dr asked did ask if i felt my legs moving while in bed i told her no. I havent done a Polysomnography test.
also thanks for your words it means alot
RE: New to cpap my apnea events are all over the place can someone help me?
Chronic fatigue may be a consequence of your very long latency in falling asleep. Out of an 8-hour session with CPAP, you are losing at least the first two hours to the anxiety and being awake. There are also periods of wakefulness at night. There was a clear contrast in your respiration between when you are awake and asleep. This may be able to be treated or mitigated with medication or a behavioral therapy. We really don't know what leads to this anxious state, but it is apparently ingrained in your psyche that falling asleep or CPAP is hard. You may need some help to get past this. Other options include infectious diseases like Lyme's which can also manifest in odd ways. Since you have been experiencing these symptoms for a couple years, the challenge is to consider what the initial trigger was. When and where did this occur? Did it correspond to a lifestyle or health change? etc.
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