First night with nasal mask/tape, check my charts please?

[Uphold9887]

So I have made a couple threads before about having issues with severe TMJD and suspecting some of these issues are being exacerbated by my full face mask.  However it seems the chart experts are not commenting on my graphs in those previous threads, hoping to get some attention here with a new thread.

I just tried my first night using an AirFit N20 nasal mask plus mouth tape.  From what I can tell, stats are looking much better than with my full face mask?

Here is a night with the old FFM:
   

Here is last night with the nasal mask:
   

However, I feel much more exhausted today than normal.  I notice I am pretty consistently only breathing through one nostril when i'm laying on my side to sleep, so I have to wonder if these air volumes being passed through the machine are enough for me to be getting adequate rest?  Maybe I have a deviated septum?  Should I perhaps be turning up the pressure?

Thank you for any input

[Uphold9887]

Here are charts from two more nights of usage with the nasal mask and tape. 

AHI continues to be way down compared to FFM, but each day I wake up with a headache and am quite tired.  Not the worst tiredness level I've ever had, but not good.  The headaches worry me, as i would always get headaches when my sleep apnea was it its worst pre-treatment.  Can anyone help me diagnose what I might be doing wrong?  The technicians that sold me the mask are absolutely clueless.

   

   

Am I doing something wrong with my posts that they keep getting ignored by the experts here?  What can I do better to get them looked at?  Please help!!

[cdplatt]

Looks as though you've dialed in your settings and you're sleeping well. It's not unusual to get much better results with a nasal mask than a full face mask. There is a body of research that predicts that. You're still picking up a few OAs - maybe related to position while you sleeping. Others may be able to make suggestions to improve that, but the therapy is very effective now. Hopefully taking the full face mask pressure off your jaw will help to alleviate your TMJ symptoms.

[SystemF]

This is the same thing that happened to me when i first started therapy. My stats looked pretty good while using a nasal mask and mouth taping but i was waking up feeling alot more exhausted and tired throughout the day. Ive since seen an ENT and a TMJ dentist as i suffer from the same TMJ issue as you and it turns out i have a slightly deviated septum and a CT scan that showed my turbinates are inflamed. So if u can, you may want to get your nasal area checked to see if anything is wrong there. I've made the switch to a full face mask and i dont feel as tired as i did with the nasal mask. But just like you, i feel the full face mask puts alot of pressure on my TMJ so ideally i'd want to use a nasal mask in the future. Maybe u can try increasing your pressure to see if u feel better? Sorry im no expert, but maybe they can lend their thoughts with this bump.

[Expat31]

Hello,

Your settings seem pretty reasonable. I can't really see much scope in adjusting settings further at this stage. You seem to have solved quite a few problems on this front.

Concerning  tiredness and headaches, I think you should consider the following:-

- Possible lack of oxygen due to Spo2 desaturation. I suggest research on this topic in the forum and members experiences. An idea to buy a pulse oxymeter. There are numerous examples of members using these, and incorporating into the set of  Oscar graphs. At the moment you have no data.
There are lots of models available and data can be incorporated in the Oscar set of graphs.

- Sleep aids. If you are taking these, it could have an impact on headaches. 

- Have you had a sleep study? If so, this could give us some clues of your apnea profile. You have probably seen, many members submit these, of course with personal identification redacted.

[Uphold9887]

So, I upped my min pressure to 10 and max pressure to 14 last night, although OSCAR doesn't show it properly.  Today I woke up with less of a headache and felt better rested.  Easily feeling better today than I have felt over the course of the last week, which is nice.  I feel this change has certainly helped, although I'm not sure I have things dialed in perfectly yet.  Here are last nights charts:


   

@Expat31:
I will look into an oxygen monitor for sure.  It would definitely be helpful to know how any further tweaks to settings affect things.


Concerning sleep aids, I have needed to take melatonin these last several days to help me fall asleep with my mouth taped.  I have a tendency towards insomnia even when everything is normal, but after tossing and turning for over an hour on my first night with the mouth tape, I realised i wasn't going to be able to sleep without some assistance during this transitional period.  My headache on that first day after mouth taping lasted over 8h after I got up, whereas I have noticed in the past that any post-melatonin fogginess usually resolves within 2-3h of waking.

Here are my sleep study results, which I posted quite a while ago on my first thread in the forum.  

@SystemF:
I wouldn't be surprised if I have a deviated septum.  Do you plan on doing anything about yours?  What options did they present you with, when you were diagnosed?

[SystemF]

My ENT suggested a Septoplasty and I accepted. Its gunna take some time for it to go through my insurance though. Honestly though, it doesnt feel like my septum is severe so I've been wanting to see if i can get away with using a nasal mask with an increase in pressure but everytime i do i get woken up by chipmunk cheeks. Im also not too excited to go through surgery. If you're starting to feel better with the increase in pressure maybe you can get away with not having to go under the knife.

[Crimson Nape]

SystemF - When your practice is like a hammer, then all proposed procedures are going to be a nail. Just be thankful you didn't go to a proctologist!

- Red

[SystemF]

Crimson Nape - Haha indeed, although we cant avoid Proctologists forever

[Uphold9887]

So, I dont have charts for last night as I forgot to re-insert my SD card into the machine.

However, I'm noticing that I seem to be waking up a lot with the nasal mask/tape and having difficulty falling back alseep. Its rather strange, as I'm still tired, but I just can't fall back asleep. Finding myself tossing and turning a lot. I probably slept only ~3h last night. However, this was also was the first night attempting to sleep without melatonin, which I had used the first several nights to get adjusted to the new mask/tape weirdness...

Could this be somethign related to my machine settings? Or just not being used to the mask/tape?