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Post a few 3 minute duration zoomed in views showing some examples of the central apnea.
That will help determine if they are real centrals, have an obstructive nature or are occurring after an arousal.
Other than that overall my gut thought is just stick with current settings and keep letting your body adapt to the machine, it can take weeks/months to see full benefits.
Sounds good Geer1, I'll keep with the current settings other than changing out the chin strap. Here are 3 min interval shots of some of my CA's from last night
I would imagine that sleep talking would make an FFM the better option if it's going to continuously break the mouth seal and wake you up (as well as impacting therapy). I don't know if taping your mouth would help (if you don't already). Just a couple of options to consider if the sleep talking proves to be an issue.
I tried a dreamwear FFM initially but I found that it was much harder to sleep on my side with it because it would leak easier.
I’ve tried 3M micropore tape but the feeling of your cheeks ballooning chipmunk style wakes me up .
I’m really hoping the dual band strap seals the deal! The nasal pillows are really comfortable and need less pressure to treat my OSA’s. If not, I may have to go back to FFM.
OK, all three of the centrals you showed I wouldn't worry about personally, but I'm sure Geer or somebody else will double check. The first shows you took a big breath before it, which means you probably simply didn't need to breathe for a little longer than normal. The second one shows that you potentially got disturbed or turned over or something, same thing. The third one, the obstructive apnea immediately before it triggered the central event and as long as it didn't go into a cluster of centrals with periodic breathing (which it doesn't seem it did) then it's the same as the others, something (in this case the obstructive apnea) caused some minor arousal, and that triggered the central.
The chipmunk cheeks are the worst. That's why I wear a soft collar (or a chin strap that also fastens around the back of my head and is generally not good for obstructives) - if I wear the collar, it stops the jaw drop that causes the chipmunk cheeks and potentially mouth leaks. It's such a fuss finding the right options for all things.
Do you prefer the SCC over the chin strap? That might be an option for me to try out. And yeah, it's a real pain figuring out what setup works, I've gone through 3 different masks for dreamwear, 2 frames, 3 chin straps, and 2 tapes within the past 2 weeks hah. Hopefully I can keep the dreamwear large frame + nasal pillows, it's my favourite so far. Hoping I can resolve the mouth leaks waking me up with it!
chin straps must work for some folks but imo the collar is far superior to a typical chin strap which pulls back as much as up, contributing to obstruction (I haven't tried the cap style though; idk but that sounds like even more apparatus to contend with than the collar).
the backward tension of the straps I tried didn't do much for my lip leaks; not near as much as the collar. I still have some lip leaks because I haven't mastered keeping my tongue against the roof of my mouth to stop airflow into the mouth. I try to keep pressure low enough to keep it from forcing my lips apart (with the collar's help). sometimes I get air circulating around the mouth drying me out and waking me up, but without much escaping from the lips.
the collar is the difference between excessive and acceptable leaks for me. can't say I like it but it's necessary. it isn't particularly comfortable but after a few weeks it isn't uncomfortable either. we can get used to most anything if it gets us the desired result.
I have no particular qualifications or expertise with respect to the apnea/cpap/sleep related content of my posts beyond my own user experiences and what I've learned from others on this site. Each of us bears the burden of evaluating the validity and applicability of what we read here before acting on it.
you'll have to read the reviews. as far as I know they're by whoever is motivated to write a review so not comprehensive or a systematic comparison / ranking.
I buy one or two a year from local pharmacies for about $20 usd each. initially I thought I needed a short height collar but whatever the standard size is that they sell (the one I'm using now measures about 3.5 inches high) has been fine. some people need more/less height or length; my understanding is that there are more sizing options online.
I have no particular qualifications or expertise with respect to the apnea/cpap/sleep related content of my posts beyond my own user experiences and what I've learned from others on this site. Each of us bears the burden of evaluating the validity and applicability of what we read here before acting on it.
The closeups of the centrals appeared to all have in common a large breath ahead of the CA event, which suggests an arousal or movement. I suspect they will diminish in time, and as long as you're comfortable, just continue as-is.
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