8 hours ago
Understanding My Oscar Data - Improving Usage, Possible CSR
After two sleep studies, I was diagnosed with central sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation. I was consistently having 100 to 139 events an hour during both studies. I've been using a BiPAP machine now for just over 3 months now. Started out with a nasal pillow mask and switched to nasal mask. I have a full beard and wasn't ready to shave it. Also felt like the nasal pillow was blasting the air into my nose. Definitely feeling the positive effects/benefits of using the machine. I'm typically under 10 events an hour with infrequent nights less than 20. My AFib is also gone with the help of an anti-arrhythmic drug.
That said, I'm wanting to ensure that I'm getting the most out of setup that I can. That led me down the rabbit hole of installing the myAir app then ResScan then OSCAR. I'm consistently getting a score of 90 plus on myAir. When I looked at the data with ResScan, I was seeing very consistently timed events. That led me to download OSCAR. Looking at the flow rate on OSCAR, each of the events was at the beginning of what looks like a Cheyne-Stokes breathing pattern. Reading a bunch of posts here, I see that it can be machine induced events rather than CSR. Although, my family on both sides have a history of heart attacks, strokes and other heart related nasties. I also read that it could be position induced. A few weeks back, I bought one of those sleep apnea pillows to help reduce the leaks and the possible CSR. It seems to be helping some but still seeing the CSR type breathing patterns.
I started with a ResMed AirCurve 10 VAuto and now I have an 11 VAuto. Both are set to BiLevel-S mode. I was originally at 15.0 and 20.0. That was dropped to 13.0 and 18.0 to see if it helped with the air flow from the pillow mask.
Do I start with dropping the values incrementally or try a different mask or sleep hanging upside down from the ceiling like a bat? Wouldn't CSR be detected during the sleep studies?
Attached are some random screenshots of my data.
That said, I'm wanting to ensure that I'm getting the most out of setup that I can. That led me down the rabbit hole of installing the myAir app then ResScan then OSCAR. I'm consistently getting a score of 90 plus on myAir. When I looked at the data with ResScan, I was seeing very consistently timed events. That led me to download OSCAR. Looking at the flow rate on OSCAR, each of the events was at the beginning of what looks like a Cheyne-Stokes breathing pattern. Reading a bunch of posts here, I see that it can be machine induced events rather than CSR. Although, my family on both sides have a history of heart attacks, strokes and other heart related nasties. I also read that it could be position induced. A few weeks back, I bought one of those sleep apnea pillows to help reduce the leaks and the possible CSR. It seems to be helping some but still seeing the CSR type breathing patterns.
I started with a ResMed AirCurve 10 VAuto and now I have an 11 VAuto. Both are set to BiLevel-S mode. I was originally at 15.0 and 20.0. That was dropped to 13.0 and 18.0 to see if it helped with the air flow from the pillow mask.
Do I start with dropping the values incrementally or try a different mask or sleep hanging upside down from the ceiling like a bat? Wouldn't CSR be detected during the sleep studies?
Attached are some random screenshots of my data.
