[CPAP] WHY DO I FEEL WORSE?

[SarcasticDave94]

Myself, I use both the leak chart and the left panel stats. Your ResMed leak rate has a redline at 24, the further below this the better you'll be. I use the chart to determine how long larger leaks were present and gaining an overall idea how leaks are presenting themselves. Also the leak trace pattern can identify what leaks you're dealing with. Jagged spikey looks will be the mask itself, and flatter rounded lines indicate mouth leaks.

Maybe it's best to keep your 95% well below 24, and if there's some Max leaks at 24, it may be ok if it's short duration.

It's also a balancing act, low leaks in light of good comfort.

[Jeff8356]

  What would be ideal?  

In a perfect world???  Zero leaks.

My leaks are typically minimal according to my OSCAR data.  But every time I get a leak, even the smallest one, it wakes me out of a sound sleep.  I do a quick mask adjustment and usually fall right back to sleep.  But it is still a disturbance in my normal sleep pattern and can make me feel unrested in the morning.

[quiescence at last]

my experience with leaks is that leakage disturbs sleep, unless it doesn't.  I was the most comfortable using a mask pad, because without it the mask would flex under pressure swings and that was alerting me (not hurting or tickling, but just disturbing me enough to keep me awake).  The sensation of having a pad between mask and face was that (1) I felt none of those flex movements, (2) leaks stabilized but were higher and (3) the very slow constant leak through the pad fibers cooled the skin (but was still comfortable).

QAL

[quiescence at last]

in looking at your close up charts for Oct 9, it is pretty clear that

(1) you were wake enough to control your breathing 02:54 thru 02:56 and 03:32 to 03:35 suggestive that you are getting your sleep disturbed frequently, and

(2) you do have resistance to exhale that is fairly consistent. This means the airway is narrow enough to reduce the speed of exhaling or something is partially blocking the airway. That is probably consistent with UARS, but I get a similar look in my charts when one nostril is blocked by congestion and I am down to one nostril.

The two things above may not be linked and may suggest different measures to resolve them.

IIWM (if it were me) I would try to bump up the pressure I feel at exhale (EPAP) just a bit. That can be done in one of two ways.

APAP min pressure from 7 to 8 with EPR setting remaining at 3
or
changing EPR to 2 and leaving the pressure setting alone

I would note that chart shows resistance at 03:32 on Oct 9 while the exhale pressure was at 5.7, so I would probably want to graduate my EPAP to at least 6. That would be done after stabilizing a few days at the setting above. Then:

APAP min pressure to 9 with EPR 3 or APAP min pressure to 8 with EPR 2

I would expect to see a difference at that point. It will be demonstrated by (1) feeling (2) insp and exp times and (3) some more 7 minute close in snapshots.

QAL