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RE: My Better Sleep Journal - UnicornRider - 06-21-2024
The pillow I use is an Ikstar, I bought it from Amazon, I see they are have a sale right now, they are not cheap, but after I used mine I decided to keep it. They even give a very long trial time, to get used to it, six months or longer I believe, to return it. I never even thought about returning it, I am normally a back sleeper, but on occasion when I nap, I side sleep.
I could not find the particular pillow I use on Amazon. They have newer models out.
Search the Amazon site for "CPAP Pillow for back and side sleeping" That particular brand is not the only CPAP Pillow out there.
Mouth expiration vs nasal expiration.
If you were to look at my profile you would see that I also mouth tape and in addition to tape I use Full Face Mask (FFM). Belt & Suspenders.
Expiratory mouth breathing would have a more vertical rise to the base line, then a flat horizontal line until inspiration commences. Both you and I have a gradual return to base line indicative of normal nasal expiration. Take a look at my scaling on the Y-Axis for Flow Rate, if you were to change the scaling to a higher scale it would make the tapering off look a lot more gradual. Quit worrying about your mouth leaking while taped. You are doing fine, I posted my normal Flow Rate Wave Shapes, after I saw your post about mouth expiratory breathing, so I could put you to rest about that one.
A hybrid FFM may be your next option if you can not get the nasal mask to work. Getting a good mask compatibility is one of the toughest obstacles, They are not cheap and just when you get comfortable with a mask you loose a lot of weight and it no longer fits.
I started wearing an Oximeter when I started scoring 0.0 AHI, yet still did not feel restored. Then I found I was having some serious O2 de-saturations. We actually found that after we contracted a nasty respiratory illness last September, all four members of my household were de-saturating, my mother ended up on supplemental O2, the rest of us because we could respond to the audible and vibratory alarms by hyperventilating and restore our O2 levels, were offered the opportunity to go on supplemental O2 but with a recommendation not to as most people recover their respiratory drive after several months. I have almost totally recovered, Very few serious de-saturations these days. I still think SpO2 is a better indicator than AHI for evaluating effectiveness of PAP therapy.
The mask pressure can be used in conjunction with Flow Rate and other graphs to get a better understanding of what is going on, during the OA Event I was hoping you would notice the fuzzy area in both the Flow Rate and Mask Pressure graphs. Goggle "ResMed FOT", that is what you are seeing.
The OA caused the pulse rate disruption and initiated the FOT, the FOT detected a blocked airway and flagged the event as OA.
The second OSCAR Report I slid the slider on the left hand panel so information not visible in the first screenshot would be brought into view for the second shot. For a third screenshot I would try to include the Notes or Bookmarks Tab if they had information that was pertinent.
Hang in there if you have a desire to get off CPAP we will work with you, and still treat you better than the average DME.
.
RE: My Better Sleep Journal - Himm - 06-25-2024
Dormeo:
Thank you. I'm getting there. I have my good and great days but my sleep schedule is still not ideal. Gotta cut the video games. Since my job prematurely ended I have to create a daily schedule for myself all over again. I could be feeling a bit sad and nihilistic as well. This is one of the worst things that ever happened to me, and after an already tough 18 months as well.
RE: My Better Sleep Journal - Dormeo - 06-25-2024
Sad and nihilistic, yes, I hear you. You are smart to try to create some structure for yourself.
I've found that two other things have helped me. One is to walk outdoors for a while every day, or even just sit somewhere outdoors, not using my iPhone, looking at trees and people and whatever else catches my eye. The other is to try to help someone else, even just schlepping someone's groceries in from their car. Of course there are other, more structured, volunteer opportunities.
And ... I obviously don't know you or your tastes, but on a friend's recommendation, I recently watched a slow-building movie called Perfect Days. (Japanese, with English subtitles.) In its own way, it's about sadness and nihilism and how we live despite them.
RE: My Better Sleep Journal - Himm - 06-25-2024
Thank you. At least these tough months have forced me to drastically reorganize my life goals. Some great books I finally got around to have helped as well. It's only up from here.
When I got laid off from my first job, one of the first things I did when I left the building was help an old lady on the street
RE: My Better Sleep Journal - Himm - 06-25-2024
UnicornRider:
Some of your posts are still going right over my head. I'm just not there yet.
I do get what you mean about the x-axis scale, now. And thanks for teaching me about ResMed FOT.
I still really like the nasal pillow and believe I can make it work. I wake up with clear nostrils every morning and often hours after. Feels great.
Last night I tried a bit of medical tape around the top of my nose, careful not to block the bottom vents of the P10. The P10 felt the most secure it ever has so I was really hopeful that I wouldn't have any leaks. But I checked the chart and saw the same amount of leaks or maybe more. I will keep adjusting. I checked my main hose by blowing water through it into it and there were no holes.
I seem to have settled on my ideal fixed air pressure of 12. It's not too low nor too high. Just comfortable. I barely touch my machine anymore and just go straight to bed.
[attachment=66167]
Maybe I can force myself to become a back sleeper. Going pillow shopping now. Thanks for the recs.
What were your other symptoms from low oxygen?
For example, I probably couldn't have ridden 6 miles on a road bike on Sunday night if sleep oxygen was a problem for me, right?
When I first got tested I was told my O2 got as low as the 80s for maybe a few seconds. I still have the lab tests if needed. My daytime oxygen levels are fine.
RE: My Better Sleep Journal - Himm - 06-27-2024
Fragmented sleep last night. It's been a few weeks since I've had that.
As soon as I ate my poorly cooked, bad tasting steak I couldn't resist passing out on the couch.
Then I woke up a couple hours later at 1am because I didn't eat enough of my steak, because it fucking sucked.
Tried to go back to bed at 2am but couldn't get to sleep.
Took me until like 5am to realize I didn't eat enough for my body to want to sleep. I then ate some leftovers I didn't make that tasted way better.
And just like that, I was sufficiently tired again.
This is one of those days where I'm glad I don't have a full time job.
[attachment=66263]
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RE: My Better Sleep Journal - UnicornRider - 06-28-2024
I worked rotating shifts and back shifts for so long it took me a very long time to re-establish my circadian clock.
Looking back, I sometimes wish I had made different choices in life. But I now value my sleep more because of it.
So now that you have some time on your hands, take some cooking lessons, volunteer at the community senior center as a cook, There are lots of opportunities for self improvement. Don't beat yourself up too much, instead get mad, and get motivated to make change happen.
Hang in there, we all want to see you succeed.
RE: My Better Sleep Journal - Himm - 06-28-2024
Thanks so much, Unicorn.
I've had plenty of time to cook. I've gotten so much better over the past year and a half.
I may be the brokest I've ever been
, but I now care about my time and health more than ever. I've gotten the chance to rebuild a better relationship with my body. Looking on the bright side. Man, I felt like dogshit this morning. Not sure why. Maybe I didn't eat enough the day before. After a drink and a bit of food I felt a little better.
[attachment=66318]
[attachment=66319]
I've also been feeling some unusual chest pressure and discomfort the past few days. A part of my chest feels a little tender today too. I think it's due to the CPAP machine air pressure. Maybe lowering it would help. My pulse is fine (-10 beats lower than usual, actually?), and I went for a brisk 20 minute walk yesterday not experiencing any abnormal issues, breathing through my nose the whole time. No shortness of breath unless I run up the stairs too fast (because I'm fat lol)
I think it's just one of those CPAP adaptation days. I consider last month my CPAP trial month, and this month my first real month, so my discomfort could just be a consequence of using the machine much more than last month and with a different mask.
On the topic of leaks, I'm still getting them, but today was the first time I noticed that my graphs hardly changed at all during the large leaks. No drastic, consistent change in snoring, flow, nor any airway events. I think I've only had an airway event just one time during a large leak.
[attachment=66317]
Even when there is a slight deviation in my flow rate, it's so short that it doesn't seem to matter.
I think this is great. Like Dormeo or Unicorn noticed earlier, I'm less worried about my high leaks now. I'll keep paying attention.
RE: My Better Sleep Journal - Dormeo - 06-28-2024
Glad to hear you went for a walk and didn't encounter problems. I'm working on regular walks too, so it's good to know I have company.
It's possible you chest discomfort comes from breathing against pressure. I think it'd be fine to try lowering your pressure to 11 to see what happens. If you were having a lot of snores, flow limitations, and obstructive apneas, I might advise you to tough it out, but you're doing so well with all those metrics I think the experiment is worthwhile.
During very high leaks -- say, over 30 -- the machine will have trouble detecting events. But the snippet you supplied shows an uninterrupted flow rate, so you're probably doing OK.
RE: My Better Sleep Journal - UnicornRider - 06-28-2024
I think Dormeo is on to something with her suggestion of chest discomfort, I read a NIH document the other day that tied TECSA to stretching of the lung tissue during the first couple of months on PAP Therapy. It could be that you are still in those early days and your body needs time to adjust.
As Dormeo pointed out your important markers are low, so you have room to experiment, I always try to be conservative on therapy pressure, sometimes we trade AHI scores for comfort, even if your snores, flow limitations, and obstructive apneas increase a little, for testing purposes it is worth it. Later, after your body has had time to adjust, if needed we can increase your pressures.
Be sure to make note of the pressure adjustment, the reason why, and what changes you expect to occur in the NOTES Tab of the OSCAR Daily view. Then keep notes over the next several days to include your sleep quality and any external factors that may be involved.