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09-01-2022, 02:21 AM (This post was last modified: 09-01-2022, 02:23 AM by CurledTwig.)
Spiky flow chart?
Hey folks,
Been lurking here a while.
I'm attaching last night's charts. This is sort of a typical night for me. AHI is pretty good (usually under 2), but my flow rate chart always looks messy compared to other people's, and I'm a bit worried about the flow limitations.
Oh, and in case the side bar wasn't clear: currently on 7cm with EPR on 2.
Until a bona-fide expert comes along, I will venture to suggest EPR should be 3 to treat flow limitations and hypopnea. That said, your flow limitations and hypopnea are not bad. I have read advice that flow limitations should ideally be under .10 and you are well below that threshold. How do you feel?
Also I wonder how long you have been on PAP therapy. The centrals may be treatment-emergent, in which case the wouldlikely decrease over time.
I've since switched to somewhat higher pressure (10cm) and a full face mask (dreamwear), which greatly improves my leak rate and snoring. The machine suggests the AHI is now very low (<1), but the waveform remains spiky. I don't feel super rested when I wake up (but I also don't feel bad).
I've tried increasing the pressure a bit more, but then I basically fart myself awake all night, which is not much better than regular suffocation
Would be grateful if someone could shed some more light on this situation, thanks!
Last year you were using an Elite model, which is a fixed CPAP-only machine. This year you have an Autoset, which is a full APAP, but you're using it in CPAP mode. Is there a reason why? Did you have a titration study in a sleep lab which recommended 10cm H2O?
Can you post a zoom in to some 3 minute samples of spikiness? Note also that the y-axis scale is a factor. Do you have OSCAR set to default scale on the flow rate graph?
I'm attaching a couple of 3 minute (or thereabouts) samples.
I have two devices, an airsense 10 elite and an airsense 10 autoset. I use one at home, and the other at my girlfriend's place. It was easier to buy a second one than to keep lugging it around. And for some reason, buying the autoset was cheaper than the elite.
The pressure is an ongoing experiment. I increased it because I'm often congested, and it seems to help getting the AHI down to <1 on most nights.
I'm not sure what the oscar default scaling on the y-axis is or how I can change it. When I have a look around on the forum it seems like the y-axis scale differs widely across screenshots :O
