My Better Sleep Journal

[Himm]

First night with P10 and it was kind of a mess. Testing it out for a few hours before sleep went really well, so I was confident that I could sleep late and wake up in 7 peaceful hours. That didn't quite happen. I think it detached somehow in my sleep. When I tested it out sitting up right it was really quiet, even at higher pressures, but when I laid down it was much louder and I didn't know why. Turns out the clip was loose     . This messed with my pressure and now I don't feel like how I wanted to feel today. 

I'm also thinking that I should try the large instead of the medium so I don't have to tighten the strap around my head so much. This is possibly what caused the seals to break. 

I still already feel slightly better than with the F20, though. I really believe once I get my nasal breathing right 24/7 I'm gonna be unstoppable.

This morning is the worst it will ever be. It's only up from here : ) 


I will give myself more time to adapt not just at my desk, but in my bed as well. 

Even the tiny mouth straps worked! I really thought I would be waking up with spouts of air streaming from the sides of my mouth like a steam engine, haha.

[UnicornRider]

As Dormeo said give FloNase a chance, I would suggest a saline rinse first to flush out the allergens and irritants before you use the FloNase.

Your Flow Rate looks good from a distance, We will want to see some zoomed views of your Flow Rate, here fairly soon. So I thought I would share some reading material.

https://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph...limitation

https://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph...Rate_graph

Your AHI is low enough that from here on out "how you feel" will have more weight than AHI score. We will need you to scroll through the Flow Rate graph to look for oddities, or things that do not look normal. ad post examples of things you do not understand.

Post back when you get a chance.

[Himm]

Will do. I've been learning how to track that on my own. I'm satisfied so far but always appreciate another set of eyes.

[UnicornRider]

The more you know, the easier it will be for us to assist you, to improve your therapy.

[Himm]

Thank you. I have a lot of wiki reading to catch up on. 

I did checkout the flow limit article a little bit. Is my zoomed in screenshot a good example of what you might be looking for? 

I think it's an example of inspiratory flow limit + leaks

   


I had a lot of leaking last night. I'm disappointed. The medium and large pillows fit fine when I put them on, but then I wake up and see this. 

The last day I used the F20 I had 0 leaks.

   


I was recommended by either Unicorn or Dormeo to buy a firmer pillow, but it's a very specific pillow I really like and I don't think I'll be able to find anything else similar (pillowcube classic)


In much better news, I saw my sleep doctor for the first time since she prescribed me my machine. She says I'm doing great on compliance which was a big surprise for me. 

she seemed to use a different metric then the ones I'm used to seeing from Oscar and the ResMed machine and app - I think she just counted the last two weeks or something? Or maybe they gave me more leeway because I just started. Either way I don't mind at all. 

She wasn't mad that I was playing with the clinical settings either. She encouraged me to adjust for my own comfort. I'm really happy about that because man I hate the idea of having to set an appointment months away just to tap a couple buttons on my screen. 

I think pulmonologists get a bad rep here but I really appreciated the support and cheering on she gave me. While she seems to be very AHI-focused, if she's not worried then I don't think I have to be either. I just gotta stay the course. I see her again in the fall. 


I'm so glad I found this community and chose to take charge of my health. Just a few short months ago I knew almost nothing about this condition.

I even said no to my first referred sleep study thinking I could lose weight on my own and fix it. It wasn't until after getting my machine that I found out from Dr. Vik Veer that sleep apnea makes gaining weight easier and losing weight harder. Everything made so much sense after that. 


Now that I know what to fix, I know what to focus my time and energy on. Even though I'm not the best at staying consistent, I was proactive with my treatment from the beginning. I'm was and still am unemployed so I had plenty of time 

[Dormeo]

That zoomed-in snippet looks like awake breathing to me. Awake breathing tends to be deeper and more ragged than asleep breathing.

It's always hard to know, but I think those large leaks might be mouth leaks. Try taping all the way across your mouth, paying special attention to the sides, where the natural folds of the face tend to provide places for tape to loosen.

Also, try fitting your mask while you're lying down in your preferred sleep positions and while you shift positions. You may find that something needs tightening or loosening, and you may find you do better with M or with L.

You really, really need to be using the machine while you sleep. Tell your couch to let you go!

[Himm]

I was in bed actually. I took a clip of the beginning where I probably wasn't sleeping yet. I'll take a different one. 

You might be right about the mouth leaks, which makes me concerned about my small mouth tape again. I'll try taping more. 

I took a clip of a point where I'm pretty sure I was asleep. Looks like it matches to the mouth breathing graph. 

   

I think I noticed some dry mouth this morning and maybe another time, which also makes sense, even though I woke up with my mouth closed. 

My pressure is high enough that I'm pretty sure I would have woken up if one of my nostrils were unplugged and blowing air into my eyes. They didn't feel loose when I woke up. Thank you so much for the suggestion and potentially saving me a lot of time figuring it out.

[UnicornRider]

For pillows generally a low pillow is recommended to prevent a positional apnea called "chin Tuck" a very common cause of obstructive apnea events but other events may be scored under Chin Tuck conditions.

  Your pillow, when I looked it up, is designed for side sleepers, The CPAP Pillow I utilize has a depression in the center for back sleepers and the corners are elevated for side sleepers, The idea is that most people rotate during the evening so will learn to utilize the pillow for both back and side sleeping.

  I respect Dr. Vik Veer, but the word "Generally" perhaps should precede the statement about weight gain/loss. I hate to discourage anybody because I have seen people so restored with PAP therapy they are more active, so they lost weight. I have also seen people who gained weight but lost fat and added muscle mass so their appearance was greatly improved. Although they did gain weight.

   Not all medical personnel are tossed in the same basket. I happen to have a very good sleep doctor & sleep clinic. This is not my first sleep doctor or clinic. So I guess I did chuck the first ones in the bucket, they deserved it. I have chucked a couple of DME providers in the same bucket, they deserved it. Now, I will say I am back to one of my original PAP DME suppliers for O2 equipment, they have replaced all of their staff in the DME field. I will stay with the DME I found for PAP supplies, until i am no longer satisfied, then I will look around.

    You will do well on your PAP therapy, just remember it is a journey, you will be on pap for a very long time, unless like my nephew, who was in his teenage years when he started CPAP. After graduation he was able to start loosing weight and eventually was able to drop the CPAP therapy, but he lost well over 200 pounds over the course of five years. Most people will remain on PAP therapy for life.


  Yes that is an example of the type of view I would like to see, except I generally like to see the whole OSCAR Report so that I can see what is happening in other graphs at the same time. I will guide you when that time comes.

   

  This display is using the standard format, looking for some of my best wave shapes for Flow Rate.

   

   This view I captured an OA Event, but I also Pinned my Mask Pressure and brought up the graphs for Motion, Pulse and SpO2. AND I also pulled the slider on the Left Hand Panel so that information not visible in the first OSCAR Report, is brought up to be visible.

 What can you determine from the two OSCAR Reports I submitted?


  You have plenty to review, I will be working with other forum members so I will check back with you tomorrow.

[Himm]

Thanks for all your help so far. 

That pillow sounds good. I do roll around sometimes and it has caused issues both before and after I got my machine. Can you please share a link to it? There are so many brands and kinds that it's hard to decide. 

I also want to share that my goal is to one day move on from needing PAP therapy. I've been reading about some other invasive and non-invasive treatments and methods on how to make that happen. Weight loss is the first step I can try. 

If it turns out I can't? Fine. I still want to give my best shot. 


I'm still getting large leaks no matter which nose pillow size I use. Hopefully a new pillow will help. I'm the kind of guy that will optimize myself to death so I'll just let it go for now. I'm happy with my progress overall and am sleeping comfortably. 


Things that stood out to me in your graphs

[*]One of the first things I noticed in your images is that you have an Oximeter. I saw your SpO2 graph. 
[*]I want to assume that your flow rate graph falls under "expiratory mouth breathing with normal inspiratory flow morphology." reminds me of mine
[*]Your mask pressure faltered at the same time you had your OA, which may have caused your pulse rate to rise. 
[*]Your total time in apnea is under a minute, which sounds great to me. 



I'm now wondering why my graph looks like yours when I've been using mouth tape. Haven't had any mouth dryness last night. 

   


Last thing for today, I just noticed that ever since I started the carnivore/animal based way of eating less than a week ago, I've been sleeping much longer without any wakeups. At least 6 hours or more. This is great! 

Just a month ago I couldn't stay asleep longer than 4 hours, with or without CPAP. I was hungry a lot more often, too, which would wake me up and make me have to eat. My experiment is going great so far

5 years ago when was on my best diet and exercise behaviour and had no apnea, I was waking up in 6 hours bursting with energy and INSANE morning wood   I want all of that again.

[Dormeo]

The snippet in your post #27 shows expiratory mouth breathing. You can recognize it by the very small flow-rate trace for expiration; the rest of the air is flowing out of your mouth.

It's great to hear you're doing so much better -- keep up the good work!