Just started 6 days ago!

[benjaminjaquith]

So apparently I set the pressure range but never changed it to CPAP. Whoops. I was going through my cleaning regiment reassembling and I checked the setting. I changed it and verified it for tonight's sleep. Thank you for catching that coutherino! Still not sure what happened with the lapse in data. Will upload tomorrow and see what it looks like.

[coutherino]

It happens lol, no worries. It'll probably take at least a few more nights to optimize everything (at least on the settings end) but yea, definitely good so far.

If I find that I cannot for whatever reason stay off my back I think I will try the above recommendations along with a different (flatter?) pillow and/ or a soft cervical collar.

If you expect to be staying on your back, in general the flatter you are, the more obstruction you're going to experience. Preferably as elevated as possible, for some people that means an adjustable bed to sleep at an incline. Staying on your side should be fine though if it's comfortable.

Ultimately I would like to keep the pressure limits lower (lower pressures avoid centrals?)

It depends, it can. There comes a point in raising the pressure where you stabilize your airway and/or fix the obstruction, and going any higher just means you're just over ventilating. CPAP naturally has a ventilatory effect. Meaning you expel more CO2 than breathing normally, and it is the buildup of CO2 in our bodies that triggers the drive to breathe. If you expel enough with each breath eventually the drive can go away for a period of time, resulting in your body not even trying to breathe (a central apnea). Having more pressure than you need can certainly cause this to happen. Centrals really aren't a problem unless you're seeing them back to back, or constantly throughout the night though. Transient centrals are normal, especially in REM.

Like always, I hope this helps. Hopefully you feel more rested tomorrow. I'll make sure to check on your data and see how it looks afterwards.

[benjaminjaquith]

For some reason I can't get the CPAP mode to stick in the advanced menu. I will keep messing with that. Slept last night and felt good, woke up once to use bathroom. Didn't sleep much though as I got to bed really late. Hopefully data is good enough. I uploaded to sleephq this morning.


https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_l...476970cbb1

[coutherino]

Your breathing looks perfect before you got up to use the bathroom. Like, actually perfect. Whatever you did when you put your mask back on... didn't really work lol. I'll post the screenshots below just to show you. First screenshot is when there's no leak, second screenshot is when there's lots. If you can prevent things like this from happening I can almost guarantee you will be able to feel the difference when you wake up. Somewhere between 12-13 seems to be the optimal pressure for you just based on the section of your breathing before all the leak, and a few other small sections of the night where there is no leak either.

   

   

[benjaminjaquith]

That is such a great news! That is fantastic! Maybe I should wash my face again before I place the mask back on. I do sweat a bit in the night so that may contribute after moving things around. I do have a few nasal masks I can try if I can get over my claustrophobia of taping my mouth. At least there's progress being made. Thank you for the in depth diagnostics!

[benjaminjaquith]

So I was meticulous last night about making sure the mask and my face were super clean/ oil free and for some reason I didn't wake up until my alarm went off. Data looked good when I checked it briefly and I even feel better this morning, not 100% rested but I know that takes time. (Especially with the decade of apnea damage I've probably done.) I think this looks much better and I haven't changed anything, what do you think? If I can keep this trend going maybe I can start healing sooner than I thought!

https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_l...476970cbb1

[coutherino]

This is probably your best night so far in terms of how much undisturbed, consolidated sleep you got. Leak looks very good for most of the night, same for breathing too. There are definitely some periods where you switch to your back, though. You might not even remember switching. It was probably a good 2 hours dispersed throughout the night where your breathing was just kinda terrible, not even because of leak but because of obstruction. At this point I recommend trying to stay off your back at all costs. It's very clear how much your breathing deteriorates the moment you switch. It might be good to try wedging yourself between some pillows to make sure you don't roll over. 

Maybe it's not necessary, but I feel the need to show examples of what I'm talking about every time. The top image is on your side, and the bottom image is on your back. I see you got CPAP mode to work on 13 cm, and your breathing genuinely looks perfect yet again when you're on your side. Imagine every little spike you see on the bottom image as you waking up. Because that is, in essence, what is happening, and it's even worse without CPAP. That entire time is guaranteed to be restless sleep. Now imagine a night with none of that—a night that looks entirely like that top image. If you can both stay on your side, and keep leak at bay, that is what awaits you. You're already there with the pressure.

   

   

[benjaminjaquith]

Yeah I definitely have to stay off of my back. I will look up some ways to do that with my current bed setup. If that's all that's holding me back and just keeping the leaks in check then I think I'm in a good place. Mask and pressures are comfortable. This is very exciting! Thank you again and also for taking the time to pinpoint on my graphs what's good and what's not. I've learned a lot in a short amount of time. I appreciate your knowledge, thank you!

[coutherino]

Hi! Just wanted to check in to see how everything is going.

[benjaminjaquith]

Good morning! Have been sleeping pretty well last few days. Wanted to get a few days worth of data to kind of plot my trends. Here's the latest as of this morning. 

https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_l...476970cbb1

Excited to see what you think. I still think I'm on my back some but I do feel more rested in the mornings as the days go by.