I wanted to thank you all in advance for any help you're able to provide me. This forum is great and I've found a lot of helpful info in navigating this new APAP journey .
Brief background summary for context:
- I'm 29 years old and historically very healthy (have always exercised and have never been overweight - I run a couple miles about 2-3 times per week).
- I never used to have any issues staying asleep at night (though I did used to nap a lot and feel tired). However, around 3 years ago, I started having multiple awakenings during the night and noticed myself waking up gasping for air sometimes. Around that time, I also started developing pretty hard PVCs on a daily basis, which have continued until this present moment. These PVCs were to the point where it would almost be impossible for me to fall asleep some nights.
- I was diagnosed with Mild Sleep Apnea end of 2021 (redacted Home Sleep Study attached).
- I just started APAP two months ago and have been 100% compliant. I will say this: since I started APAP my PVCs have decreased/been suppressed SIGNIFICANTLY, which is great so far!
- When I sleep, I often end waking up several times briefly throughout the night (sometimes 3-5 times that I'm aware of) during deep dreams. Though it's less common, sometimes I also pop awake after only sleeping 4-5 hours and can't get back to sleep. So I feel like I often don't get into a sustained deep sleep and this usually leaves me feeling fatigued and foggy headed (tired and wired), as opposed to being groggy.
- I've had some really good nights on APAP where I have felt great the next day (a couple days the best I have felt in years!). However, I still seem to be in this weird consistent pattern of having maybe 3-4 great nights of sleep, followed randomly by a stretch of nights where I wake up briefly a lot during those nights and then I feel awful the next days (sleep deprived and wired). So it's a similar pattern to what I've been experiencing pre-APAP over the past few years.
My Questions:
- I recently started using a Viatom Wellue ring pulse oximeter. My resting heart rate is usually quite low when I'm awake, around 50-60 and sometimes even falling below 50 at times. However, per the OSCAR charts attached, my pulse rate is jumping up higher than my normal awake rate (at some moments spiking to 100-120+). Is this kind of pulse rate variability in these charts normal while sleeping?
- My AHI has remained under 5 the entire time I've been on APAP. I'm guessing the CAs are treatment emergent/SWJ, as I didn't have any in my Home Sleep Study. My CAs tend to hover at 0.5-1.5/hr (these CAs were about the same if not higher even at a min pressure of 8 and without using EPR - the current settings have given me my best numbers to date, and I find I breathe better on a higher pressure). I also have yet to really find a correlation on CAs affecting how I feel the next day. In fact, even though my CAs/AHI on Night 8.13 were higher, I felt MUCH more well rested following that sleep, whereas after 8.14 Night I felt awful the next morning (which is today ). Are there any changes you might suggest making or anything that sticks out?
Thanks,
Wes