[CPAP] CPAP Data Help

[Velderes]

Hello all,

I would love some guidance and eyes on my sleep data, as I still suffer from tiredness and fatigue.
I had a sleep study done and my AHI was 23 so I started my APAP journey 3 weeks ago.
The first 3 weeks of APAP were awful, because I was always feeling like I needed more air when I'm breathing with the machine and I was also waking up in the middle of the night gasping for air. I would say my sleep was maybe 2/10. I reached out to my CPAP technician 2 days ago because of my poor sleep, and they turned the EPR off (from 2).
It has been 2 days since the change, and I don't have any more of those feelings of breathlessness or episodes of gasping for air in the middle of the night, but my sleep still remains overall poor. 
I have included 4 nights of SleepHQ link here along with my written sleep quality summary. Please have a look and let me know what you think I should do to improve my sleep quality.


Machine configuration
Pressure: 5-15
Ramp: Off
Mask: N20


Recording 1: EPR on 2. Pretty poor sleep. Felt tired all day. Low energy. Overall sleep quality: 3/10
https://sleephq.com/public/3927732c-3e52-4fa6-af24-501b16c80715


Recording 2: EPR on 2. Awful sleep. Felt extremely tired and down all day. Overall sleep quality: 2/10
https://sleephq.com/public/d1860780-cad8-47d9-a757-2128e96f6fdf


Recording 3: First night with EPR off. Slept pretty well. Felt decently energised during work. Overall sleep quality: 7/10
https://sleephq.com/public/b8e279c7-45c9-4a45-9f24-885e3e01a2e1


Recording 4: Second night with EPR off. Feel tired like I used to before CPAP where I am just sleepy during the afternoon. Overall sleep quality: 5/10
https://sleephq.com/public/dac7e869-7474-4798-b266-24093391c1ba


One thing I cannot figure out is: My OA has always been quite low, but my CA has always made the majority of my AHI. Now with EPR off, I had 2 nights without an OA, but just CA’s that disturb my sleep. What is causing my CA?


Thank you all in advance!

[staceyburke]

I don’t have an answer for the centrals but I want to explain EPR.

You have a min that is your inhale AND exhale pressure until you turn onnEPR to full time and set it to 1, 2 or 3.

Then your exhal pressure is the min - EPR= exhale pressure. BUT the absolute lowest pressure a pap machine can go is 4.

So this is what your exhale pressure is at different min pressures.

Min 5 - EPR 3 = 4
Min 6 EPR 3 =4
Min 7 EPR 3 = 4
Min 8 EPR 3 = 5

The first 3 the exhale pressure is 4 BECAUSE THAT IS AS LOW AS THE MACHINE CAN GO.

[Jay51]

When a person first begins sleep apnea therapy, they can develop treatment emergent central sleep apnea.  Because the person is breathing much better at night, they may be exhaling more CO2.  Co2 levels are what trigger the brain to send the signal to breathe.  

Usually, the Central Apneas (CA's) go away within a few weeks or so or month as the person adapts to pap therapy. 

A rare few have diagnosed central sleep apnea (I did from my sleep study).   Do you have a copy of your sleep study?  If you could get it and post it here, then that might tell why you are having CA's.  

If you had a lot of CA's during your sleep study, then that may be the reason you are having so many right now.  

You can download OSCAR and upload some charts for us to look at also.