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+--- Thread: Not Sure if Setting Changes Helping - Help Appreciated! (/Thread-Not-Sure-if-Setting-Changes-Helping-Help-Appreciated)
Not Sure if Setting Changes Helping - Help Appreciated! - WiscoKate - 03-23-2024
I am a new cpap user, and after about a month of therapy I found OSCAR and this forum and tried adjusting settings to improve my treatment. I was still feeling a lot of daytime sleepiness, and while I know it can take quite a while to recover from untreated SA, I want to make sure I'm doing what I can to help the process. I've been inching up my min pressure, and lowered my max slightly. I'm realizing though, that I don't really know how to tell if it's helping - or even what my goal should be.
I've attached a screenshot of last night. I also zoomed in on a couple instances that seem very disordered to me but were not flagged.
I sleep on my back, though previous to cpap I was mostly a stomach sleeper and I can't rule out that I could be moving around. I don't have any issues taking off the mask and can usually wear it all night. I started out with a full face (f30i) but had issues with leaking when the pressure ramped up and am now using the n30i. I sleep alone and did an at home sleep study, so I am not sure if I am a mouth breather and whether that could be contributing to any of the events.
Thanks so much in advance for any advice, I've been watching all kinds of videos and reading other threads but I feel like I need someone with more expertise.
RE: Not Sure if Setting Changes Helping - Help Appreciated! - G. Szabo - 03-23-2024
Do you tape your mouth and use a collar? Or do you suspect a mouth exhalation?
RE: Not Sure if Setting Changes Helping - Help Appreciated! - WiscoKate - 03-23-2024
I don't tape my mouth or use a chin strap, so it's possible I could be exhaling through my mouth at some points. I honestly can't tell.
RE: Not Sure if Setting Changes Helping - Help Appreciated! - G. Szabo - 03-23-2024
(03-23-2024, 04:47 PM)WiscoKate Wrote: I could be exhaling through my mouth at some points.
This might explain the weird exhalation curves on your last file.
I suggest turning off the calendar and organizing your Oscar report according to the suggestions on WIKI. Then, repost some of your results so the forum's experts can comment on them.
Consider mouth taping and a cervical collar. Try to sleep on your side most of the time.
RE: Not Sure if Setting Changes Helping - Help Appreciated! - WiscoKate - 03-23-2024
Thanks for the suggestions. I turned off the calendar and reattached last night here in case anyone does look.
Unfortunately, I cannot sleep on my side. It makes my arm go numb (regardless of the side I'm on).
RE: Not Sure if Setting Changes Helping - Help Appreciated! - Expat31 - 03-24-2024
Hello,
I think you are right you have been inching up your minimum pressure.
If you can tolerate it, try increasing to 10 which should clear up your current level of obstructive and hypopnea events.
If this is too sudden a rate of change, go up in gradual steps, say 0.4, 9.6 etc.
Watch for changes in events that should may occur.
Repost when you have reached this point.
Looking at your graphs, it appears you have no problem whatsoever with mouth leaking with your current mask. However, as pressure increases, mouth leaks could occur, but everything depends on the person. Keep an eye on your leaks graph. Leaking can cause significant arousals to the detriment to sleep quality, which is not reflected in AHI. You can have a great AHI <1 but a poor quality of sleep.
Supine sleeping is fine for you, as no evidence of positional apnea (indicated often by tight clustering of obstructive events). As a precaution, check back to your sleep study where hopefully there is a breakdown of AHI by sleep position.
The format of your charts are OK, but avoid posting zooms at this stage, as we need to see a full night's data. Later on it may be necessary. One step at a time.
Thanks
RE: Not Sure if Setting Changes Helping - Help Appreciated! - WiscoKate - 03-25-2024
Thanks for looking! I am going to keep increasing my min pressure and keep an eye on those sections.