[CPAP] Suggestions & strange breathing

[Mike54]

Thanks again Ajack.

Will tighten the collar up a bit to further restrict jaw movement.

Re the bow tie pillow, something like this and is this how you use it?

   

Will try anything and everything to get on top of this. Yes there have been nights when I have felt great due to CPAP just want more consistent results while realizing there will always be the occasional hiccup.

Have roughly fashioned a bow tie pillow to try tonight.

Its 1130 pm in OZ, having been up for the past 18 hrs time to get some shut eye.   

Mike

[ajack]

central zone. same as me. I didn't realise you were AU. Do you have private insurance and doctor? You can also get on a public hospital list for free titration and treatment. They will even provide a jaw mandible device MAD, if you need it.

No you have the bow under your neck and your head hanging off the back. So that your head is positioned like CPR. This also stops you tucking your chin. It's more comfortable than it sounds.

[Mike54]

Last night was better statistically and feeling a bit better today. Had no problems with the collar being tighter, mouth now opens 1 inch max. Yes I have private insurance but not much help with sleep disorders. They paid $500 out of $2000 for the Dreamstation, but paid for the sleep study & titration.  Public hospital system is a joke with huge waiting lists.

[attachment=11970]

Am still looking for a good sleep doctor, have tried 5 they all say AHI is much improved on original sleep study. You're cured.

   

Will monitor my stats over 4 - 5 nights and see how it goes.

Mike

[ajack]

It was a better chart and worth seeing how it goes over the next few days.
I would fix the leak you have. There is the mask fit function that blows high pressure. As well as the link in my signature and youtube videos on mask fit. Roll around on the bed and wiggle and pull the mask. I'd have the hose going behind my pillow. To keep your arms away.

The collar may be ok now, but if needed....You can breathe through the mouth guard I've shown, A$ 3.50. You can then have your collar adjusted fully and choose the right size. The goal is to be able to sleep on your back. If you wanted to, without blowing the numbers.

If that was a common chart, I would have suggested a move to 14. 12 is fine, as you are looking for improvement in positional.

I'll also send a message. With that time zone, we could even live in the same city. I'm also private, The city I'm in has a long list of 6 months for a first sleep study, unless a priority. Once you're in the system though. The appointments and tests flow along. I know 2 people in the public system.

[Mike54]

Leaks are a bit hit & miss, some nights are fine other nights small periods of leakage and other nights terrible. I tend to thrash about in my sleep and on occasion I have disconnected the hose at the slip on fitting at the elbow. I do have the hose behind the pillow and away from my arms.

I do have REM Sleep Disorder, so when I go into REM my body is not paralyzed but goes the opposite and I thrash about, sometimes worse than others.

Comments from my tritation study at Burnside July 2017:


" During both Lateral REM and NREM sleep, 6cm H20 proved sufficient, however, during supine NREM sleep, obstructive events were still occurring at 18 cm H20. No supine REM sleep was observed. Patient should be advised to use supine avoidance in addition to CPAP. " 

Don't think I would be able to handle a mouth guard. When I saw the Respiratory specialist at the Lyell Mac it was noted that I have excellent respiratory function for my age, 64, despite being a heavy smoker, probably due to all the swimming I do. They also checked if I have any jaw or mouth defects that could contribute to the OSA but that all came up good

Am working on a more permanent bow tie pillow at the moment.

Mike

[PoolQ]

Hey Mike, looking at your plots as far as I can tell your numbers are fine. The problem is (I think) that you are not getting good sleep? I have no experience with the Dream Station, but on Resmed there are settings in the clinical menu that I have never heard of a doctor adjusting. these are "comfort" settings, remember if you are not comfortable you will not have a good nights sleep. Look at the clinicians manual and look for things that adjust how sensitive the Dream Station is to detecting your start and stop of the inhale. Mine is very slow (long) and the machine was having trouble detecting my start and then cutting my inhale short. Disturbing as all heck to me. My numbers were just fine like yours, and yet I was not getting restful sleep. Guessing that the Dream Station has similar settings, worth a try

[Mike54]

Thanks for the reply PoolQ.

Always been a lousy sleeper. I have slept better since starting CPAP, 2 years ago. It's just that there are far to many nights when my AHI creeps up (over 6.5) and I feel exhausted the next day. My AHI was 2.4 last night and I slept for 4 1/2 hours, I have been awake for the past 13 hours and feel as fresh as a daisy.

Have trialed all the comfort settings, cfex, aflex, humidity, ramp, heated hose etc etc and apart from heated hose in cold weather and cflex (3) it has not made any difference. Occasionally I will sleep for 6 - 7 hours but anymore than 7 and I wake up feeling tired and grumpy.

If you look at my Overview graph posted yesterday at 2:24, you can see a downward trend in my AHI since 18th April on advise from forum members to raise pressures. It appears to go up a bit from the 9th May when I increased the pressure to 12cm.

I am working on a whole heap of positional stuff now to try and get my results more consistent. maybe if i can do that then longer sleeps may happen.

Mike