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+--- Thread: srwilsn3's therapy thread | APAP -> BiPAP (/Thread-srwilsn3-s-therapy-thread-APAP-BiPAP)
RE: srwilsn3's therapy thread | APAP -> BiPAP - TechieHippie - 09-04-2024
Just random thoughts.
It might be interesting to see what those correlate to with an oximeter, it will also show movement and heart rate. You could also try Flonase for a few nights and see if it helps, if so I think that might point to airway resistance.
You could simplify your sleep space, relocating electronics or covering up all lights, which would help you know if it was external disruptions.
Another option is to set things up in the morning, get your mind off of it, make sure you get a walk or some gentle exercise that day, and then meditate or something non media to relax before bed. This may tell you if there is a body tension component that can be improved.
RE: srwilsn3's therapy thread | APAP -> BiPAP - srwilsn3 - 09-04-2024
Several good ideas.
I'll look into an oximeter for the movement/heart rate. My initial sleep study a couple years ago showed very good oxygen saturation however. I had been recommended to record my sleep to correlate my spikes with what I was doing. I imagine I'm moving, as I am generally aware of lightly waking up 4-8 times a night.
Flonase doesn't seem to help my subjective experience of restedness. That said, many nights I will wake up with a stuffed nose, which why I use a face mask.
I am pretty much constantly occupied by my fatigue and tiredness, and thus my sleep, unfortunately. It's very difficult to get my mind off of it. Otherwise, I do exercise ~4 times a week and I have quite good sleep hygiene.
RE: srwilsn3's therapy thread | APAP -> BiPAP - TechieHippie - 09-04-2024
I like the sleepU myself as an oximeter. For myself, I found that there there are a few metrics I look at. I feel a lot better with an average of 96 or 97 than I do 94/95, even though that's technically still a good average. I also look at time under 90%, and anything more than about a minute and I feel it during the day. Lastly, I look at how variable the oxygen is. A wiggly line is a lot better than a jagged one.
I do understand about the obsession with tiredness and sleep, but I'm also realizing that it's part of the sleep disturbance itself. Getting everything set up in the morning helps. See if you can start only downloading your data every few days to a week. Pick a setting, and leave it there for a while without analyzing it. This will give better data anyway, because there's going to be variability from night to night anyway. I'm going for improving the average, not fine-tuning each night on its own. The alarm on the oxygen meter helps because then I can relax.
Personally, I'm trying to wean myself off of media as a coping strategy when I'm tired because I think it's actually contributing to the problem. And when I find myself feeling upset, I look around for things to be grateful for... It's more effective than it sounds. I wish you luck and good sleep.
RE: srwilsn3's therapy thread | APAP -> BiPAP - srwilsn3 - 09-04-2024
I'll look into sleepU. Appreciate the advice on what to look at as well.
I agree with your point about the obsession being part of the disordered sleep itself. Without a doubt it influences sleep, even if it's beneath awareness. I try not to tweak settings too much. What is important are trends, not single nights, and there is a lot of noise in the signal from one night.
Thank you for your supportive words. I wish you good fortune on your sleep journey as well.
RE: srwilsn3's therapy thread | APAP -> BiPAP - srwilsn3 - 09-08-2024
Checking in again. I would really appreciate if anyone could look over my posts the past few weeks and give me therapy advice.
Sleep is still pretty poor-to-fair. Headaches most days, dry eyes. Ready for sleep after usually 10 hours awake.
My pressure is bumping up to my maximum during my REM sleep, where there's a moderate amount of weird breathing. I'm thinking of continuing to increase my EPAP by .2 until I start seeing CAs again. Could someone give their thoughts?
RE: srwilsn3's therapy thread | APAP -> BiPAP - Sleeprider - 09-08-2024
flow limits are really not a factor with 95% being 0.00 and 99.5% at 0.07. Leaks look more disruptive to me. Something I have had to communicate to many members, is that when the therapy is optimized to this extent, a lack of satisfactory sleep may be unrelated to the PAP therapy. I suffer from poor sleep from time to time, and it has become much more frequent as I grow older and add stress (like moving from Pennsylvania to Florida) to the mix. There are many causes of poor sleep, and it appears that the ones that related to sleep apnea or respiratory issues have been resolved. Your last few screen shots show plenty of time available, but that doesn't mean you don't lay awake for hours waiting for sleep to return. If you find a good solution for that, I'm first in line to hear your solution.
RE: srwilsn3's therapy thread | APAP -> BiPAP - srwilsn3 - 09-08-2024
I'll focus exclusively on the leaks at this time, then. Thanks for your attention on this.
I recall waking 4-8 times a night, typically, with the sense that I'm uncomfortable. No nocturia since PAP treatment.
I guess at a certain point I have to trust that my therapy is effective and begin to chase other things. My sleep is very unrefreshing.