Need help. Fatigue/Daytime sleepiness even with low AHI

[THEVGE]

As for the collar, I had some pain for 3 days but it went away. So if you want, it just takes some time and you will get used to it. It helps me a lot.

[FindingCourage]

Okay then. Will stick with this setting and collar for a week and will report back.
Thanks everyone :')

[FindingCourage]

Okay then. Will stick with this setting and collar for a week and will report back.
Thanks everyone :')

[FindingCourage]

Have a simple doubt.
With SCC can i sleep in my back or still recommend to sleep by my side?


I got neck pain when i slept on my side with the collar

[staceyburke]

If the collar is keeping your chin from tucking toward your sternum, you should be able to sleep in any position.  We will take a look at the next OSCAR and see if you still have positional apnea.

[FindingCourage]

Hi.
Coming back with an update
Changes I did :
1) Pressure 7-12 and EPR 3
2) Went back to Rio nasal mask. I bought a new dreamwear nasal pillow since the tubing is above head, hoping to reduce rainout. But i had leaks nomatter what i tried. It doesn't just fit properly. I was given size M but the pillow nostril seems bigger than Rio nasal pillow's. Leaks reduced after i went back to rio.
3) Bought a new neck collar with XL size (Previosuly had L) Fit it as loose as possible.

I think the numbers are better , but I need your guys opinion.

Oct 2nd: I felt like i woke up better compared to previous days. AHI was less than 1 too.
   

Oct 4th: I slept without setting an alarm, since i felt i had some sleep debt and want to get more time on the machine. Slept for 8 hours. But woke up bit groggy. Does this means I overslept?
   

Oct 5th: I just couldn't sleep on time. I went to bed on time but didn't feel sleepy. I only used CPAP for four hours. AHI was zero. I never got zero AHI, so curious what does this mean?
   

In this there are some spikes in flow rate (and correspondingly in flow limit). I have included the zoomed photo. There are some incidents where flow rate gets flat and some irregularities. Is this how it is supposed to be?

Overall I feel I am on the right track, but need to get consistently good amount of sleep using it. Any tips on how to feel tired/sleepy by bedtime ? And how to find how much time of sleep is good for me personally.


Thanks a lot. Grateful for this forum.

---

Zoomed photo.

   

[staceyburke]

I would try to move the min up one (8) and see how it feels and how it effects your sleep. But things LOOK good, it does take a while for anyone to start feeling better. You had apnea for a long time, most likely and it will take a while for the therapy to make a difference.

[Phaleronic]

Hello FindingCourage, that zoomed in graph looks like a bit of sleep junk, and you do need to raise your minimum pressure up to 9cm gradually, but go slowly as suggested. You can do this or drop EPR down.

I personally (and others) do not like how EPR feels nor do we like how it curtails the return of ipap pressure-so I always suggest turning it down or off if someone is not sleeping well.

There is no reason not to try turning it down/off but please do that slowly too as turning it down by 1 will increase baseline epap by 1cm. I suggest turning minimum pressure to 7.8cm and turning EPR down to 1 as you have it at 3 fulltime.

Since your charts look very good we can just focus on how you feel during the night with the therapy.

[FindingCourage]

Thanks for the reply. Yes i think i have had apnea for wrong time and probably have need mroe time to feel better.


Any tips on:
1) How to avoid rainout? My humidity is on maximum since i feel it helps me with my clogged nose. The roon temperature is 72 F and machine temperature is 86 F. I also have a hose cover and use a hose holder to elevate. Even with that i get rainout and water droplets in my mask and nose when i wake up.

2) Any tips on how to reduce RERA? If i wake up during sleep it is almost certain i am gonna have a bad day. i am sleeping by my side. use a nasal dialtor and mouth tape (And cervical collar now ) what else can i do to decerease nasal blocking/congestion.

[Phaleronic]

Thanks for the reply. Yes i think i have had apnea for wrong time and probably have need mroe time to feel better.


Any tips on:
1) How to avoid rainout? My humidity is on maximum since i feel it helps me with my clogged nose. The roon temperature is 72 F and machine temperature is 86 F. I also have a hose cover and use a hose holder to elevate. Even with that i get rainout and water droplets in my mask and nose when i wake up.

2) Any tips on how to reduce RERA? If i wake up during sleep it is almost certain i am gonna have a bad day. i am sleeping by my side. use a nasal dialtor and mouth tape (And cervical collar now ) what else can i do to decerease nasal blocking/congestion.

1. Move the machine close to the floor and use a room purifier.  There is more dust close to the floor but that's irrelevant if you change filters and use a purifier. How high above your head is the hose?  Here's a picture of my setup and I can crank the humidity without rainout:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/5353...4945_b.jpg

2.The main tips to curtail reras are to raise minimum pressure and to turn off or down EPR (as it decreases min epap pressure)..  There are a few books I've read that also explain this issue, reras are basically low level airway collapse events (under 30 percent collapse of the airway but still contribute highly to UARS and RDI). 

Reras and EPR go hand in hand and cause many arousals and microarousals, and that sleep junk is part of the issue as they aren't flagged by Oscar.