Last night's charts scary! Apneas of 150 seconds?

[tedburnsIII]

Would appreciate comments from those who are knowledgable.

These are the absolute worst charts I have ever obtained in more than 3 months of therapy.

Hx: have been in 'misery' with severe cold/cough/allergic sneezing, all but bedridden. Extremely fatigued, have not felt feverish, no real 'chills', have not seen a doctor because I feel that it's viral and allergy related and did not feel the need to even take my temperature. 24 hours or so after I deplaned I started to feel a cold coming on, but I've been told by a few people it seems everyone is sick in San Diego, so I don't know if this is related to the flights from the East Coast.

I started to improve somewhat yesterday after four days of this misery, but I was so congested that I was unable to use CPAP at all for two of the last three nights.

Last night I was able to use CPAP. I was using the P-R Wisp, a nasal mask I had started to use the last few weeks to good effect. I am glad that I was able to use my CMS50D+ overnight oximeter.

So, opinions and comments would be appreciated.

[Sleeprider]

The length of apnea suggested by your RESmart chart does not seem to be corroborated by the degree of SpO2 desat that I'd expect, nor is there a spike of heart rate. On a Sleepyhead graph you could view the flow chart and see respiration breath by breath, including recovery breaths that would be present following extended apnea. I'm not buying that you held your breath for 2-1/2 minutes with these results. Looks anomalous to me, and I would not put much faith in that chart.

[tedburnsIII]

The length of apnea suggested by your RESmart chart does not seem to be corroborated by the degree of SpO2 desat that I'd expect, nor is there a spike of heart rate. On a Sleepyhead graph you could view the flow chart and see respiration breath by breath, including recovery breaths that would be present following extended apnea. I'm not buying that you held your breath for 2-1/2 minutes with these results. Looks anomalous to me, and I would not put much faith in that chart.

Your comment is insightful and I thank you for it.

I am glad that I chose to do oximetry last night, though it's the most eventful oximetry report thus far. The number of Sp02 and pulse events is 'mind-boggling'.

And it's hard to correlate the extremely long apneas with a 0.0 leak rate.

If I were sleeping with my mouth open and not breathing through my nose during those periods could that explain the lengthy apnea events?

I did have my mouth taped, though, but finding it very difficult not to mouth breathe over the last 5 days. I could've been breathing through the Gorilla tape because my nose was still bothersome last night, though improved enough to use the CPAP.

Note: A 'downside' to my machine is that it's not compatible with SH, but I find it to be adequate enough for my general purposes. SH in this instance might have been welcome.

[Sleeprider]

It's nice to compare events with other factors in a more high-resolution data field.

Man, the things people will do to sleep! Gorilla tape?

The leak rate looks questionable based on past graphs that show 0.0 isn't generally your number. I really can't speak to what's going on with the data, only that it does not appear reliable based on the fact you're still here and apparently not severely impaired after very long events.

Sorry about the bad cold. It can play havoc with the machine's data because of congestion, flow limitation, swallowing and other things that usually accompany a bad cold. I'd just hit reset on this one and not take action on what appears to be questionable data.

[tedburnsIII]

It's nice to compare events with other factors in a more high-resolution data field.

Man, the things people will do to sleep! Gorilla tape?

The leak rate looks questionable based on past graphs that show 0.0 isn't generally your number. I really can't speak to what's going on with the data, only that it does not appear reliable based on the fact you're still here and apparently not severely impaired after very long events.

Sorry about the bad cold. It can play havoc with the machine's data because of congestion, flow limitation, swallowing and other things that usually accompany a bad cold. I'd just hit reset on this one and not take action on what appears to be questionable data.

Thanks for the words of support and encouragement.

Had I not done oximetry last night I'd be in a doctor's office right now.

Will repeat the process tonight. This must be an anomaly due to the illness, but the CPAP data on my machine in the past has always seemed reliable.

A severe cold is 'misery' for me. It completely knocks me out, and seems almost never-ending when it occurs, which is relatively rare for me.

I do believe that it 'wreaked havoc' on the machine, but I don't know the true reason for the anomalies yet.

[trish6hundred]

Hi tedburnsIII,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I hope you get to feeling better, soon. Hang in there for more responses to your post and much success to you with your CPAP therapy and fine tuning it.

[TyroneShoes]

Once you are feeling a little better, put the clothespin on your finger, and hold your breath for 150 seconds. My best guess is that this will drop you well below 88, and this little test may validate or invalidate the earlier readings.

And yes, SH is a good move, especially for this situation.

[quiescence at last]

please please please - do not use tape to ensure mouth stays shut. it may be very effective, but it just isn't safe. look into light chin pressure using a chin strap, or look at the tongue seal instructions in these forum posts.

Your oximetry looks ok, but detail will likely show shifty respiration and it is causing many many repeated desaturations. none of them are damaging, likely this is due to the CPAP treatment.

QAL

[tedburnsIII]

please please please - do not use tape to ensure mouth stays shut. it may be very effective, but it just isn't safe. look into light chin pressure using a chin strap, or look at the tongue seal instructions in these forum posts.

Your oximetry looks ok, but detail will likely show shifty respiration and it is causing many many repeated desaturations. none of them are damaging, likely this is due to the CPAP treatment.

QAL

Thank you for your comments and concern, but I am a mouth-breather converting to breathing through my nose.

What in particular isn't safe about taping the mouth?

My AHI's are seldom above 1.0, mostly 0.3-0.7, and I usually feel good, very good, even terrific at times.

I do wear a chin strap, place a NightGuard in my mouth, and then tape my mouth with painter's tape or Gorilla tape.

[tedburnsIII]

Still ill yet less 'lousy' with cold- cold also now in chest (mild bronchitis or other respiratory infection), cough, etc.

Saving grace was CPAP full night of sleep. Did not use pulse oximter. Temporarily changed mask to ResMed FX nasal mask (wide). Hate to think how I'd be feeling without the CPAP last night.

Only 1- 10 second minimal apnea, the rest were inconsequential hypnopneas.

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