FOT (Forced Oscillation Technique) waking me up repeatedly

[isuckatsleeping]

You are self-diagnosed and self-treating after a sleep test showed no apnea, but confirmed you have problems with persistent arousal or insomnia. Going without CPAP will not likely bring you the relief you hope for, but based on sleep test result is not the end of the world.  Good luck, and hopefully good sleep.

You are correct. The sleep test did show no apnea, although I only slept for 2 hours during the test. And from the data I've collected using CPAP, most of my apneas occur later in my sleep cycle. Usually the first 3-4 hours are clear. You're right though - not using the CPAP will likely not help at all.

Probably time to just go back to the doctor for another sleep study. Maybe I'm just stressed and anxious. I should probably focus on meditation and yoga before bed. I've been using devices (with blue light blocked) right before bed since the cpap was working well and maybe that's messing with me.

[harre]

sad to hear that you failed getting a good night even with mouth taped.

Perhaps your problems are a bit psychological as you had no apneas and just some arousals and these arousals triggers your subconscious to get into panic mode and wakes you up. Perhaps you can get some pills for anxiety now the first weeks to get you settled with the process.

I'm no doctor though so I'm just pulling stuff from my ass obviously

[isuckatsleeping]

Wanted to provide a video of FOT. This "feature" seems so excessive and disruptive to me, you can see it vibrating my whole tube in this clip. Make sure you have audio on as well and you'll be able to clearly hear it. 

https://streamable.com/b6ye6

I find that this repeatedly disturbs me falling back to sleep (usually in the early morning). While I transition into sleep, I usually hold my breath for ~5-10 seconds, FOT will activate and startle me out of this transition back into sleep. It's so frustrating.

[harre]

I think my own snoring for years have made me quite immune to disturbing sounds.

I have sadly no more advice to give you

[ajack]

You could increase the pressure to 10, it should clear most of the obstructive events. The machine only FOT when it sees a problem. It may take you a week to get use to this pressure. also using the ramp initially may help. The other thing you can do is look at the manual in CPAP mode, it's possible that there is no FOT in that.

[Reznik]

Sorry for coming to this party so late.  

The real harm of FOTs is when they don't wake you up.  They can ruin your sleep, and you might not even know it's happening.  You might just decide that CPAP isn't for you.  Since FOTs aren't really documented for the consumer, I've often wondering how many people are "failing CPAP" because of the FOTs that Resmed sends out.

Virtually all of Resmed's CPAPs send FOT even when in CPAP mode.  FOT is disabled during timed ramp (but not auto ramp).  For machines that have it, there is no way to disable it (except with with the S and VAUTO machine)
 
The exceptions are:

1.  The Airsense 10 CPAP (not Elite and not Autoset).
2.  The AirStart 10 CPAP.
3.  The AirCurve 10 VAUTO (or S model), in S Mode with Easy-Breath set to Off.
4.  The AirCurve 10 ASV.

I have repeatedly reached out to ResMed to ask them to allow clinicians to disable FOT on other models, and they've indicated that they do not plan to do so.  

Phillips Respironics models do not send FOT, but they send an even more annoying pulse at the end of the 10 seconds, and it occurs even during ramp.

Fisher Paykel models do not send any kind of pulses for the purpose of distinguishing between central and obstructive apneas.  They apparently analyze the waveforms and make a determination based upon how they look.

My problem, in particular, is that even though all of my OAs are taken care of by CPAP, I still have what I believe are central hypopneas, which trigger the machine to send FOT pulses about 5 times an hour.  Those pulses disturb my sleep.  Sometimes the wake me up, and it takes me an hour to get back to sleep.  But, even when they don't, I wake up the next morning feeling terrible.  Several of my friends who use ResMed machines appear to be dealing with the problem with Ambien or sedating antihistamines, neither of which sound like a good idea.

[ardenum]

Antihistamines are harmless, so is ambien.

You had the chance to get a VAuto months ago, but didn't and you still complain of FOT, I'm using mine in S mode since the beginning. Just get the damn machine and you'll see just how comfortable it is.

Also a buckwheat pillow? really? That's a disaster waiting to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the cause of your problems. Even if you tested negative on allergy tests against wheat, those tests mean nothing.

[Reznik]

Antihistamines are harmless, so is ambien.

You had the chance to get a VAuto months ago, but didn't and you still complain of FOT, I'm using mine in S mode since the beginning. Just get the damn machine and you'll see just how comfortable it is.

Also a buckwheat pillow? really? That's a disaster waiting to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the cause of your problems. Even if you tested negative on allergy tests against wheat, those tests mean nothing.

I think you're confused.  I never said that I used a buckwheat pillow, and I've owned the VAUTO for more than a year.  

Also, neither sedating antihistamines nor Ambien are harmless.  The former can cause a host of problems, including seizures, and the latter can cause you to walk, eat, and even drive while you're asleep.

[Russell Bateman]

I have found that (for the s10), this happens if the tubing size you configure in the machine settings doesn't match the actual tubing you're using. It happened for me using "big" tubing when "Thinline" was the setting. I swapped out the big one for a thin one and the problem stopped.

[Reznik]

I have found that (for the s10), this happens if the tubing size you configure in the machine settings doesn't match the actual tubing you're using. It happened for me using "big" tubing when "Thinline" was the setting. I swapped out the big one for a thin one and the problem stopped.

That setting has no impact whatsoever on pulsing or FOT.  

All that the "thinline" setting does is slightly increase the pressure to to overcome the slightly higher static pressure drop caused by using a thinner tubing.  

By turning it off, you've just decreased the pressure delivered to you mask compared to what it was when the setting was on.