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+--- Thread: 7 Months in, Still Struggling, asking for any advice. (/Thread-7-Months-in-Still-Struggling-asking-for-any-advice)
7 Months in, Still Struggling, asking for any advice. - swampbastard99 - 04-26-2020
Hey whats up, honestly I have no idea how to read these charts. I only recently discovered this forum and got Oscar so I am trying to learn. I have made the mistake of changing my settings too often and not grabbing enough data before changing again.
Once I saw that I had high leak rates I started using a chinstrap and mouth tape. This has helped but I still have trouble keeping the mask on throughout the night (I wake up and have torn it off).
I suspect may have positional apnea but am not sure. I know when I woke up gasping before the mask I was always laying flat on my back with my head on the pillow, I prefer to fall asleep on my side so Im obviously rolling onto my back. I have tried a neck roll but I kept waking up and ripping it off, I may need to try again.
Posting 3 days readings from the past week in which I had the mask on for most of the night. Any and all advice welcome.
I appreciate everyone's help on here and I appreciate this free software Oscar, this is amazing! It is criminal my doctor cannot provide me with information like this - but that is a whole other conversation.
RE: 7 Months in, Still Struggling, asking for any advice. - Sleeprider - 04-26-2020
Welcome to the forum. Your charts offer a lot of insight into your therapy and settings, and as you maly have noted the events that you have are clustered, which makes us think of positional apnea. Some of us have a different take on what causes positional apnea, and we more often view it as a tucking of the chin that can occur in any sleep position. A couple wikis for your consideration are
Positional Apnea http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php/Optimizing_therapy#Positional_Apnea
Soft Cervical Collar http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php/Soft_Cervical_Collar
Your pressure is set at 7.8 to 15 cm with no exhale pressure relief (EPR). You do have flow limitations that would likely be helped with some EPR, but a lot of flow limitation coincides with the clusters of events. With a very low FL, clustered events and higher FL during those events I think that definitely points to the positional apnea you suspected. A pretty significant leak rate on 4/21 is also possibly related to movement. Other than that everything looks pretty good. I think you would benefit from a gradual introduction of EPR in your settings. It will help with flow limits and hypopnea and should feel comfortable, but you don't want to increase CA events. Start with Full-Time at EPR 1 and add more while observing results and focusing on comfort. A soft cervical collar would stay with you better than a neck roll, and will help with both neck position/airway alignment as well as mask stability. A lot of members use a soft collar for a while and eventually find they no longer need it after they "train" their night sleeping position. I think with some minor tweaks you should be able to enjoy a lower event rate and more comfort pretty quickly.