What to look for in data

[PaulaO2]

So I have an Autoset now. I am using both Sleepyhead and ResScan. I prefer SH and am probably going to use only that.

And I have the data which is cool. Graphs are pretty but for the most part I haven't a clue what it all means nor how it all relates.

Event Flags, Pressure, Leaks, Mask Pressure - those I get. AHI and snore, too. Resp. Rate I assume is how many breaths per minute. In SH, I hide Minute Vent, Insp. and Exp Time.

Flow rate - I assume this is the breathing in and out since the graph has that kind of wave to it. No clue about the numbers.

Tidal Volume - this is the lung capacity, right? Or the amount of air I took in?

Flow limitation - No clue.

As for how they all relate, I can see that sometimes I have a peak in snore when I have an OA event. And I can see the Flow Rate flatten out during OA and CA events.

- So what I am asking is what should I look at and why?

- Since you can only see 4 graphs at a time in SH, what are the top four to see?

[jdireton]

Paula,

I've only got the Elite, much less data than the Autoset. I've used ResScan and Sleepyhead and prefer ResScan. I'd say give it a try.

To your question, the only graphs I look at are events and flow. I put events in the top "big picture" window and zoom the flow to about 5 seconds in the bottom "detail" window. I can then run through the events of any night and see the flow patterns. Real surprise for me, which I've commented on several times, is the number of "near" events (< 10 seconds) which don't show in the numbers. That's just me, but why we review the data.

The other thing is the ResSan summary really has good data. Percentile leaks, pressures, etc. are a good long term indicator. I print out my summary page for the last 30 days every time I go to my doctor. Gives him a good view of how I'm doing right now. A year ago, who cares now.

Like any information, get rid of the stuff you don't want to see or it just becomes a giant blur. Best of luck.

[zonk]

- So what I am asking is what should I look at and why?

proof of the pudding is in the eating ....

its xmas but what I,m trying to say the best sign to look for is : how do you feel

I don,t use SH. if using Resscan ... the interpretation and data guides would answer some of your questions
http://www.apneaboard.com/ResScan_Interp...-Guide.pdf
http://www.resmed.com/au/assets/document...ow_eng.pdf

[PaulaO2]

I find ResScan too confusing. And I don't understand how it works. I like the simplicity of SleepyHead.

I am using both for now and hoped that the more I understood what I was viewing, I would understand ResScan more. Nope.

[archangle]

Flow rate is probably the most "powerful" graph. It shows your actual breathing. Almost everything else is just an interpretation of the flow rate graph.

Flow waveforms rate an entire book on spotting what various patterns mean, but you can see a lot of things without having to learn a lot. If you have a full apnea, it's a flat line. If you have reduced breathing, like a hypopnea, it's smaller from top to bottom.

It gives you a lot of info on how bad the event was. You can see if you stopped breathing completely during an event, or if you breathed a little some of the time. You can see how long you stopped breathing. Without airflow waveforms, you just know you had an apnea, not how bad it really was.

Get the simple parts and worry about picking out the fancy things later. If you zoom out, you'll see nice smooth areas where all your breaths are the same, with spikes or fuzzy areas where something happens. If you zoom in, you can see nice rounded patterns where you're breathing freely, or square wave patterns where you have flow limitations, which are sort of like incomplete apneas.

Your brain can see patterns of "pretty" vs. "ugly" breathing.

Waxing and waning where, for instance, you breathe heavy and shallow in a repeating pattern tell you some other things.

I've found I can spot some patterns where nothing is really wrong, but the machine will think it sees a hypopnea. I can also see times when, for instance I know the apnea was "important" because I breathe heavily afterwards.

However, don't worry about it too much. Look at a few events, and visualize how you're breathing during the event.

Probably the most important thing to understand is that the graph shows the rate of flow, not the amount of air in your lungs.

You start to inhale slowly, and the line goes up from zero. When it reaches the peak, you're in the middle of an inhale. It slowly drops back to zero again, but you're still inhaling until it drops back to zero. Your inhale looks like a hill. Your lungs are empty at the start of the "hill" and full at the end.

Then you start to exhale, the airflow goes negative as you start to exhale. At the bottom of the "valley," you're still exhaling. At the other side of the valley, your breathing stops, and your lungs are empty.

One confusion factor. Sometimes SleepyHead doesn't put "zero" at the right point on the label. However, it's pretty clear where it is visually because it's in the middle and your exhale cycle tends to flatten out to zero just before you start to inhale.

[PaulaO2]

Ah. Now that's what I was looking for.

It's the one I zoom in on the most because it shows the actual event.

Here's sections from last night.

(and yes, I slept for 12hrs. the night before, I slept for 3 so I guess it evens out eventually)

   

[archangle]

Ah. Now that's what I was looking for.

It's the one I zoom in on the most because it shows the actual event.

Here's sections from last night.

(and yes, I slept for 12hrs. the night before, I slept for 3 so I guess it evens out eventually)

First analysis. Note that there's not really a lot of time in which you're not breathing. 10-20 seconds events, and not too many events.

Deeper analysis.

1:50 graph is very irregular, but you're not stopping breathing for that long.
3:33 is also a little weird, but there aren't a lot of pauses.
8:45 the "square" tops indicate your airflow is somewhat restricted. Your airway is partially closing off as the peaks get lower and lower. Note how the amplitude gets smaller around 8:45:40. Not a lot of air flowing in and out around there.
On the last graph, look at how it gets narrow at around 5:30. There's probably something happening there as well.

None of the above look particularly worrying, I'm just pointing out how they differ from "normal."

[PaulaO2]

The longest event so far has been about 19 seconds. The rest are for 10-15.

And thanks for the analysis. I mostly picked those randomly based on there was an event happening.

I get the flat tops a lot. That means there's a pause between when I finish the inhale and start the exhale?

[archangle]

I get the flat tops a lot. That means there's a pause between when I finish the inhale and start the exhale?

No, that would be a flat line after the hill and before the valley.

The flat top means your flow rate is low while you inhale. Think of it as inhaling through a narrow straw.