[Treatment] New User Seeks Guidance

[Gideon]

I would like you to set your EPR = 0. Critically see if this feels better and repost your daily chart

[Sleeper396]

Thanks all.  

Gideon - I will try EPR 0 and report back with data.  Much appreciated.

[Sleeper396]

Thanks all.  

Gideon - I will try EPR 0 and report back with data.  Much appreciated.

Good Morning, 

Tried Gideon's suggestion of 0 EPR, and here is the data for last night. My sleep sessions were short (under 2 hours per session), and that has been the case since starting APAP. I struggle to get more than 6.5 hours total for each night (and even less last night).  Waking up to use bathroom 3 times per night, as I continue to have a nocturia issue, albeit much better than before I started APAP therapy -- when my wakeups were substantially more (5-6). I am hoping that eventually the APAP therapy will further reduce the bathroom trips, as I have been told by my urologist that they are likely due to the O2 decrease and CO2 increase resulting from sleep apnea. 

Please let me know if anything jumps out at you on my Oscar report. Again, I feel as if I am making progress, but of course my goal is more restful, uninterrupted sleep, and even lower AHI. 

Thanks so much to all who have responded to me. I feel empowered to now be viewing my Oscar data, and to have this incredible team of knowledgeable and caring people on the Apnea Board.

[Ratchick]

Mmm... It hasn't really made a big difference to your numbers, and would probably take longer to see if the small reduction in centrals is permanent or just usual variability, but if you're waking up more, that seems perhaps a backwards step. I wonder if some of that is discomfort from the lack of EPR rather than necessarily the nocturia last night (i.e. you feel the need to go to the bathroom because you are awake rather than waking because you're desperate for the bathroom) - I'd love to see what your oxygen levels are doing during the night, even with so few events. If only because I managed to have a massive O2 drop last night just from less-than-ideal breathing without actually triggering much in the way of events.

[Sleeper396]

Agree with your deduction, Ratchick.  I wonder myself if the bathroom visits could be triggered by awakenings unrelated to bladder issues. I do think that using a low EPR could possibly add comfort, as the night before was marginally more comfortable with a 1 EPR. I'll probably return to that. 

And based upon your previous suggestion, I will be monitoring my O2 periodically, beginning this week (I ordered a Wellue/ Sleep U Wrist Oxygen Monitor arriving mid-week).  So, thanks for that excellent advice.  I'll keep you all posted until you all  get tired of me.  

[Gideon]

With your numbers, comfort is king, You do not need EPR therapeutically, so it is optional and, for you, purely a comfort feature, Based on your comments, put it back at 1, then try 2, again seeking to optimize your comfort.

[Ratchick]

Excellent news, and I can't wait to see how things go over the next few days or week. I hope that you'll like the SleepU (I am definitely getting one when I need to get a new one, and I adore the sensors).

Without mine, I wouldn't know that in my nap a few hours ago, during the "quietest" period of data and despite my apparently really good AHI (for me), I just had the longest O2 drop that I've ever had. I kind of feel like starting an Off Topic thread to play "guess my longest desat" to see if anyone gets close - you have to laugh or you cry, right? And yes, I'll be sending that to my sleep people too.

[SarcasticDave94]

Yep, attempt to maximize comfort and see what data comes of it. Keep notes on how you feel after sleep sessions and try to begin noting any trends, good or bad.

[Sleeper396]

Will do. Thanks, Gideon.

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Thanks, Ratchick. And good luck on your desat.  We can play guess my desat levels soon.

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Yep, attempt to maximize comfort and see what data comes of it. Keep notes on how you feel after sleep sessions and try to begin noting any trends, good or bad.

Thanks, Dave.  Will do.

[Jadazu]

Sleeper,

I, as Ratchick does, am wondering about your sleeping oxygen saturation percentages.

I am not at all an expert here, I'm just a beginner. I am a long time CPAP user, but just a few months ago, with help here, i have started to improve my PAP treatment. My treatment reports look similar to yours. I have significantly reduced the obstructive apneas that I have, but I still have clear airway apneas, like the ones on your reports. In my case, they are sometimes isolated, irregular occurrences, usually a larger breath followed by an apnea. The issue with all of them is if they cause oxygen de-saturation's or arousals. For me, the isolated events don't often do that, but when they are part of a pattern of cyclical breathing, I have depressed oxygen saturation during those periods. And, for me, I can correlate those periods of low oxygen saturation with poor sleep quality. (And for me, that can often occur when there are no flagged events, too.)

For me, using the pulse oximeter all of the time I'm using the cpap is very informative.

I hope that helps.