Pattern of diminishing flow

[Sn00zeAlarm]

I am getting a lot of this, especially before waking. Any ideas what is going on? If it was not for this happening for about an hour, my AHI would be 1.0, but this cluster of 'events' pushes up the average, variously classified as CA, H, or as nothing at all.

EPR=3 and CPAP=6.

[Sleeprider]

Sleep / Wake junk. During periods of transitional sleep when awakening or falling asleep, it is not unusual to see some periodic breathing and central apnea. This occurs as the autonomic breathing transitions to conscious breathing and vice versa. We tend to see more of it in new users, and it usually goes away in time.

In your example, your breathing effort reduces to a near hypopnea or CA, and the sudden increase in flow indicates recovery breathing. This appears to be on a cycle of about 1/minute. It is unlikely to be a problem unless you were to see this pattern throughout the night.

[robysue]

I am getting a lot of this, especially before waking. Any ideas what is going on? If it was not for this happening for about an hour, my AHI would be 1.0, but this cluster of 'events' pushes up the average, variously classified as CA, H, or as nothing at all.

EPR=3 and CPAP=6.

Are you clearly asleep at the time this is happening?

Or are you just dozing---i.e. lying in bed drifting in and out of sleep?

It matters a lot:

If you're just dozing, then it's most likely sleep-wake-junk. And it's best to just not worry about it.

If you are pretty sure that you are sound asleep at the time this is happening, it could be that you are sensitive enough to the pressure that it's causing a bit of a problem with your brain sorting out the CO2 levels in your blood. In other words, these could be central hypopneas and wannabe hypopneas rather than obstructive ones.

[Sn00zeAlarm]

The time scale on that graph shows this happened at 5am. I would have been really asleep then. Since starting CPAP I rarely wake up any more during the night unless a sore shoulder or something is uncomfortable.

If I am just dozing lightly, that would be 6-7am

I see the Dr next month and am thinking about suggesting a change to APAP mode, 4-7 or so.

[OpalRose]

If you are able, post us a screenshot. Include the events graph, flow chart, and the stats to the left.

Maybe we can help you with what to talk to your doctor about.
I think switching to APAP mode is a good idea. You can always set back to Cpap mode if needed.

[Sn00zeAlarm]

Here is a screenshot for the same night as the previous details graph. That detail was from the cluster of events starting just after 5am.

[OpalRose]

I wouldn't worry too much about the cluster of events.
Often we are pretty sure that we're asleep as a certain time, but in reality we're not. I sometimes experience the same clusters (usually clear airways) in the early morning hours.

Also, I see you have EPR set to 3.
With your straight pressure of 6, the Cpap can't drop 3cm on exhale. In other words, the Cpap can't drop past 4. Also, some have reported more clear airways with EPR set high.

I would still talk to your doctor about APAP mode. My 2 cents......try a pressure range of 5-8 and watch your data for awhile. I would also try EPR set to 1.

Good luck and let us know what your Doctor thinks.

[PaytonA]

I would not call that a cluster of events but that is me. Looks to me like your sleep got pretty light during that time. Almost looks like sleep/wake junk. The moral of my blathering is that I would not worry about it.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

[Sn00zeAlarm]

I wonder if similar sleep/wake junk is what happened during my sleep study. They don't share the timeline data, though I suppose I could get it if I asked. On the other hand, they do not let you really sleep late enough that it would show up. Maybe that is on purpose, if they know that data collected in the last hour of sleep is suspect anyway.

I know that with CPAP I sleep better than before.