[CPAP] Old CPAP user new to this forum

[Rastur]

Ok, I have installed the sleepyhead software and imported the data from my SD card. I have no idea how to interpret the data I'm looking at. What's my next step?

Well, consult the help files for a start. I felt pretty overwhelmed at first but after a month or so the patterns began to become visible to me. One single night doesn't matter as much as trends, so don't panic if things look bad one night or even a week, especially as you are starting to get used to sleeping on the machine. What you want to look for are trends.

What I always take a look at first is the Flow rate graph then the Flow limitations graph and how they affect the pressure my machine delivers. You will likely notice a correlation between the flow rate restriction and the pressures your machine delivers, assuming you have an auto machine.

After looking at the flow graphs for awhile you can begin to tell how long it took you to go to sleep and give you an idea of when you werein "REM" sleep, though the only sure measure of that and EEG.

I also examine the "snore" graph and look to see how that correlates with the flow limitation, and the leak graph to see if there were any big long lasting leaks.

Then I click on the Events tab and use the mouse to "zoom in" on all my OA's CA's and Hypopneas. I also take a zoom in on all the "large leaks" which don't affect your AHI but can affect your therapy and how well you feel.

As for that strange graph at the bottom with the triangles, I still don't understand what that does so I pretty much ignore it. I also ignore some of the others because I don't really understand them and don't think they matter much.

Then I go to the "overview" graphs. There's a bit of a problem with my version of SleepyHead that means it doesn't show the latest night when the graphs come up. Hit the right mouse button.

I look at the total hours under the machine, the number of times I got up to urinate and the longest stretch of time I was under. I have noticed, I think, that if my longest period is more than four hours I usually feel better that day.

Also scroll down and look at the "total time in apnea" graph. This is important because the A.H.I. doesn't tell the whole story. You might have a reasonably low A.H.I. but if the apneas you do have are long lasting you might still feel terrible. If you have a lot but they are all only 10 seconds long you might still feel OK. Total time in apnea tells you something about that.

So that's my approach now after 10 months on this therapy. I hope this will give you some idea of where to start. I am sure others will approach things differently.

I have attached a file from sleepyhead. Can you interpret this for me?

[eseedhouse]

I have attached a file from sleepyhead. Can you interpret this for me?

Well first it's only a one night snapshot. As I said it's trends that matter.
Your AHI for that night is 2.27 which is considered "treated" - any AHI below 5 is considered OK. You seem to be on a CPAP machine or an APAP that's been set to act like CPAP with a single pressure of 12 cm of water.

Your events are divided equally between obstructive apneas (OA) and apneas where your airway was open (CA). That suggests that your pressure might be a little bit high since Central apneas can be caused by that. Of course a "Clear Airway" event is not a proven central apnea but they usually are. You can only be sure they are using an EEG.

You might want to lower your pressure say half a cm. at a time and see if the clear airway apneas go down without allowing more obstructive episodes. Or since I see you have an APAP machine I wonder why you are on a single pressure. Keeping the highest pressure at 12 and adding in a starting pressure of around 7 might be a good idea.

Also it's better if you can post your flow graphs.

But I am not a doctor so these are just layman's impressions.

[PaytonA]

I would not worry about the clear airway apneas. They are less than one per hour.