Help me understand CA

[taha]

i didnt mention i turned off EPR. One night without it and it didnt feel any different. So EPR stays off for me now.

Going back to your “Thread Title”......no CA’s on this graph to worry about!

Yes its quite a relief. We will see how this goes for a few more nights. But today i'm feeling much more optimistic than yesterday.

[OpalRose]

i didnt mention i turned off EPR. One night without it and it didnt feel any different. So EPR stays off for me now.

Going back to your “Thread Title”......no CA’s on this graph to worry about!

Yes its quite a relief. We will see how this goes for a few more nights. But today i'm feeling much more optimistic than yesterday.

That’s a good thing. Just take one day at a time!

[tmoody]

I'd just like to add that I know how easy it is to get anxious about CAs when you first detect them and start looking at stuff on the Internet. I went down that road and really wound myself up over it. Like you, I thought there must be something seriously wrong with my heart or brain, and I was getting more CAs than you at the time. Indeed, yours are so low in number that you can ignore them, as others have already pointed out.

Here are a few other things to keep in mind about CAs:

1. They can sometimes be caused (and alleviated) by the settings on your APAP machine. Again, your numbers are so low it's not worth fiddling with settings to get them to zero.

2. CAs can be caused by many things, including medications, PTSD, obesity (yes, obesity is implicated in CAs as well as OAs), and sleep position.

3. CAs in general are not that well understood. There are still plenty of cases of "idiopathic" CAs.

4. This one is just my personal reflection. I think anxiety itself can cause increased CAs.

[taha]

So this morn i had the longest CA event since I started using my APAP machine, 18s long. I know everyone is telling me not to worry, but I see 4 events bunched in about 30 minutes, 2 of which are CAs. I need to figure out whats causing this. Any insight? For some reason, most of my events occur during daylight. Maybe this is because of events happening during REM. I have never been able to keep the mask on for more than 5 hours straight. 

Below are the expanded screenshots. Interestingly, the second CA woke me up i think, and i adjusted the mask, hence the leaks. I dont remember it thought, just deducing from the graphs.

[Walla Walla]

You won't like my answer. You need to just stop looking at your data. Give it a month without looking. Your numbers have been where they should be. Now it's time to stop looking and relax. Check in a month to make sure your on track. Just work on keeping your mask on for 7 to 8 hours a day.

[taha]

You won't like my answer.  You need to just stop looking at your data. Give it a month without looking. Your numbers have been where they should be. Now it's time to stop looking and relax. Check in a month to make sure your on track. Just work on keeping your mask on for 7 to 8 hours a day.

This seems like sound advice. its hard enough to keep the mask on without worrying about "performance". I will try and see how long I last without peeking. Mostly I just look to see if there were leaks and to see what time i took the mask off in my sleep. The AHI is displayed on the machine so theres probably no avoiding that.

[Spy Car]

You won't like my answer.  You need to just stop looking at your data. Give it a month without looking. Your numbers have been where they should be. Now it's time to stop looking and relax. Check in a month to make sure your on track. Just work on keeping your mask on for 7 to 8 hours a day.

This seems like sound advice. its hard enough to keep the mask on without worrying about "performance". I will try and see how long I last without peeking. Mostly I just look to see if there were leaks and to see what time i took the mask off in my sleep. The AHI is displayed on the machine so theres probably no avoiding that.

Your AHIs would be a cause for celebration for almost anyone. Really. 

You had consistently great scores. 

It does seem you will need to experiment with different masks. That's not unusual.

You are doing great!

Bill

[sonicboom]

An 18 second CA is nothing to worry about given that you have very few of them. Also, it is very typical to have events of any kind during the early AM hours. Its called sleep-wake junk and if you search the forum for that you will find many comments regarding this phenomenon. I agree that your scores are so good I would really concentrate on keeping the mask on and controlling any leaks. At your scores performance on the AHI is not an issue.

[taha]

Thanks everyone. I feel rotten about complaining of the few events I have like a spoilt child when I should clearly be rejoicing.

I am going through a phase of anxiety and depression. I apologize for sounding like a broken record. I'll hopefully try and relax like so many of you have suggested.

[sonicboom]

It's all good taha. Glad you're with us.