Noob attempting self-titration - assistance interpreting results

[deepdiver]

Hi everyone - what a fantastic resource this community offers. I've learned so much from your wiki already!

After years of my wife telling me 'I stop breathing', I requested a sleep study. Results came back as 8-10 AHI on my side and 30 AHI on my back. I returned for a titration study where I experienced the P10 nasal pillows for the first time in the lab overnight. Unfortunately my sleep clinic seems to be taking the entire summer off on holiday, because they have not answered my calls for weeks and have not sent me any results!

I decided I'd had enough and wanted to try a DIY approach. I chose the Dreamstation Go because I travel often and I loved the versatility of the detachable humidifier and battery. I've had it for two weeks - first nights were 10 and 11 AHI and I started learning about self-titration. I went overboard and started jumping by 2s - 6 minimum the next night, then 8 then 10 and finally 12. Then I started reading your wiki - I'm concerned I may be a 'complex Apnea' type because I have a mix of all three types every night. Boosting up the pressure definitely increased my Central Apneas while it may have reduced the others, so I have scaled back to FULL AUTO CPAP (just letting the Dreamstation Go algorithm do its thing).

It seems like I'm just hovering around 7-8 AHI and don't have any solutions. I haven't received my doctor's titration results so I'm doing this blind but I've seen so many helpful tips here from you guys - I thought it was worth sharing a few results.

What I'm noticing is that hypopneas are the most numerous by far when I'm on APAP, and the apneas tend to cluster together (could this correspond to the times I'm on my back?). Looking for any insights.

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[ajack]

First thing is to get your leak sorted. Once that is fixed the pressures may be different. also consider positional apnea, chin tucking. there is lots written on the forum about it.

[DeepBreathing]

G'day deepdiver. Welcome to Apnea Board.

While ajack is right that fixing leaks is desirable, I notice that at no time does the leak go over the "red line" so your machine will have no problems compensating. However persistent leaks can disturb your sleep, especially if it blows into your eyes or causes "face farts". That will disturb your partner as well.

The thing that jumps out at me from your charts is the number of central apneas you experience, which you also highlighted. It varies from night to night, but in several instances the central component is higher than the obstructive. It's important at this stage to know if you had central apnea before going on to the machine. Your sleep study should have detected them (if present) but more often than not the doc or tech who scores the study ignores central apnea. If you could post a copy of your study report including the charts and tables we can give you some further advice.

Related to the central apnea, are you using the flex setting, and if so at what level? Sometimes reducing flex can also reduce the centrals.