Newbie in need of help

[ApneaQuestions]

... I didn't include snoring because I can only fit 5 charts...

If you grab the horizontal separator between two adjacent graphs you can drag up and down to make any graph a bit less tall.
I find that the event graph takes up too much real-estate. With a bit of shuffling you can squeeze more graphs in.

Developer note:
It might be nice to save some real-estate by dropping the X-axis annotations for the graphs that are in lock-step
Just a thought. :-)

[zoraa]

Thanks so much ApneaQuestions! This is great feedback

I was hesitant to resize the charts (using the horizontal separator) or remove any seemingly superfluous information (i.e. repetitive x-axis labels) as I wasn't sure if that would cause issues for you all when reviewing the data, so this is great to know that it's okay to play around with that. That will definitely help with fitting in more charts and info. Thanks again!

[zoraa]

Status update: got about 1 hr 40 min with the FFM w/ soft collar last night. Surprised that my FL didn't seem to improve much with the soft collar. Though I had 0 events (I've been averaging about 2 to 4 within 2 hours), but that could have been a fluke since it was only 1hr 40min of data.

Included a visual comparison of FL (FFM w/ soft collar vs. FFM w/o collar) as well as last night's data. Didn't have any events or snores, so I removed the event flags and snore charts. I included tidal volume as it still seems to be a bit depressed even with soft collar

I am planning to also try a contour pillow and keep experimenting... but have a few questions for the board:

• Any additional suggestions to try and get the FL down? Right now I'm using FFM with min 7 and max 14, EDR 3. I am fine breathing out against the exhale pressure but am wondering if this is the kind of situation where it seems bilevel may be necessary (FL not improving with EDR of 3), or if there are other things to try and address first? *Note: sleeprider assessed my flow rate and confirmed moderate inspiratory FL, no evidence of expiratory FL (this was when wearing nasal pillows) in post #30
  
  
• Is there any way to calculate the number of flow limited breaths or the ratio of flow limited breaths in Oscar? I am curious about the difference in ratio when I'm wearing the nasal pillows vs. FFM.
  
  

Thanks!

[Gideon]

Your NUMBERS are great!!!  So. . .

How do you feel?
You should not be chasing numbers (flow limits) without a reason.
I see no stated reason to attack the Flow Limits.  

(I'm not saying that you don't have one)

Extensive resolving of flow limits frequently requires a BiLevel.  With your numbers, you need to be able to convince your doctor of the need, which means you need to state your symptoms and convince him/her that there is sufficient "medical necessity" to warrant a BiLevel.  This is what should be driving anyone's need to reduce Flow Limits at this stage.

There is no real numeric associated with Flow Limits and thus no solid way to quantify them.  The closest is RERAs which are a series of Flow Limits that end in arousal.

[Osiris357]

What Bonjour is trying to tell you is if you feel great then don’t worry about the small numbers. If you feel bad then take a hard look at other possible causes and eliminate them all till all you have is flow limited breathing as the culprit for your exhaustion early in the day

That is what I did and the soft cervical collar fixed it by keeping my airway from being closed off partially from chin tucking and stopping the flow limited breathing that wasn’t enough to register as a flow limitation.

[zoraa]

Thanks Bonjour and Osiris, that's really good advice

Unfortunately I just still feel completely unrested, despite sleeping probably 11 hours last night. BUT, that being said, I've only JUST begun this journey, so I definitely need to give it some time. I also have not been able to exceed 2 hours of PAP therapy, so I think I am going to shift my focus on getting to successful compliance throughout the night. That will also give me a MUCH better picture of what's going on throughout the night, rather than just the first 2 hours

There is also always the possibility that my fatigue/wakefulness issues are being caused by something not related to my breathing at night (I've been trying to figure this out for years). But your advice reminded me that I need to get to the point where I am being compliant throughout the night, for an extended period of time, and then assess how I'm feeling before I can really make an informed judgement

Thanks so much for the guidance!! This really helps a ton

[zoraa]

Hey all, I have a question for the board

I am in the process of focusing all of my efforts on trying to keep the mask on for longer than 1 or 2 hours a night, but it's been a struggle. I am giving it my best shot and taking all the great advice I've been given here, but also thinking of alternatives in case I simply just can't tolerate the PAP therapy

I am considering revisiting my oral appliance, which was custom made by a sleep specialist to help with bruxism, TMJ, and jaw positioning for optimal airflow

My question is, if I do revisit this, what is the best way to measure my sleep data (since I would not be using the APAP)? So far it seems sleep oximetry may be the best bet.

I am familiar with machines such as ApneaLink but not sure how accessible those are to rent for use outside of the typical sleep study type situation. I have seen some sleep oximetry software claim they can measure RDI, but I am a bit suspicious of this... regardless though, it seems like it might be the best option.

Any thoughts? I will continue to search th board as well

Thanks so much!

[cbailey1616]

Hey all,  I have a question for the board

I am in the process of focusing all of my efforts on trying to keep the mask on for longer than 1 or 2 hours a night, but it's been a struggle. I am giving it my best shot and taking all the great advice I've been given here, but also thinking of alternatives in case I simply just can't tolerate the PAP therapy

I am considering revisiting my oral appliance, which was custom made by a sleep specialist to help with bruxism, TMJ, and jaw positioning for optimal airflow

My question is, if I do revisit this, what is the best way to measure my sleep data (since I would not be using the APAP)? So far it seems sleep oximetry may be the best bet.

I am familiar with machines such as ApneaLink but not sure how accessible those are to rent for use outside of the typical sleep study type situation. I have seen some sleep oximetry software claim they can measure RDI, but I am a bit suspicious of this... regardless though, it seems like it might be the best option.

Any thoughts? I will continue to search th board as well

Thanks so much!

I'm a noob here but Im pretty sure you wont get any results by keeping your mask on for 1 hour a night. Have you tried other masks?