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+--- Thread: Understanding OSCAR data (/Thread-Understanding-OSCAR-data--43970)
Understanding OSCAR data - BaldZoomer - 03-31-2024
Hello!
I have had a Resmed airsense 10 for several years now but have not had much success in my use so far. I've ended up only using it a few times a year and only for a few hours. I recently discovered OSCAR but have not had much luck understanding the data I'm seeing or how I should adjust my machine. Let me know if there is any other info I can share, and any insight you could provide would be helpful, thank you!
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RE: Understanding OSCAR data - UnicornRider - 03-31-2024
Is there some discomfort or other reason you only use it a few times a year and then only for a few hours?
Could you post a copy of your sleep report with personal information redacted?
RE: Understanding OSCAR data - BaldZoomer - 03-31-2024
Comfort has been an issue, but I believe I've got my mask sorted out well enough that it doesn't bother me much anymore. Recently, the air pressure has been the biggest issue. In the past I've woken up with the pressure turn up very high and feeling like I'm going to burst but I lowered the maximum air pressure and that helped a fair bit. Now, I just wake up in the night feeling stuffy from the air pressure and have trouble going back to sleep, so I just end up taking it off instead.
Unfortunately, I was not able to find my initial sleep report. I did an at home sleep study, my PCP at the time referred me to a sleep center but I never met with a doctor or medical staff there. I met with one person who showed me how to use the at-home equipment, then gave me a brief overview of my results afterwards (~10 event average) and sold me an expensive cpap.
RE: Understanding OSCAR data - UnicornRider - 04-01-2024
Zoomer, Welcome to ApneaBoard, we try to assist everyone gain knowledge, so that they may experience a better CPAP journey. So I will try to get you started both with equipment adjustments as well as guiding you through an introduction to OSCAR.
It takes most people Weeks, to get acclimated to the fit & feel of the mask under pressure. Infrequent use is like starting over from the very beginning, everytime you mask up. My recommendation is for anyone just starting with Positive Airway Pressure Therapy is to wear the mask under pressure during the day/evening while watching TV, reading, gaming, crafting, cards, while on the Computer reviewing OSCAR Wiki, anything distracting that will take your mind off the therapy session. Just as it takes anywhere from a few hundred to several hundred hours of exposure to temperatures below 20*F for our fruit trees to successfully set blossoms, it takes time for our bodies to successfully acclimate to the mask and therapy pressure. If we can knock off a good chunk of those hours outside the sleep sessions, the fewer weeks of acclimation it will take, the better we will sleep.
Sleep Hygiene is something we need to discuss, It really makes a difference.
https://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php?title=Sleep_hygiene
That information is from the OSCAR Wiki, it is a valuable resource I will refer to often.
If you look at your OSCAR Report your ramp is delayed until the machine determines you are asleep, then the ramp comences, Your therapy does not start until the end of ramp when your therapy pressure starts. That is a waste of time under the mask and therapy you are not getting. It is recommended people wean themselves off of ramp as soon as possible. Using the technique I discussed earlier of wearing the mask outside of the sleep session will expedite your ability to get off of ramp. One method to assist weaning is to gradually increase Ramp pressure a little at a time. Or I believe that your AIrSense 10 autoset, if you take it off Auto Ramp you can adjust time also, therefore you could start your therapy session with a timed ramp from the start of your therapy session. You can also wean off ramp by a gradually decreasing time of ramp.
Looking at your Flow Rate graph there are a couple of clusters of events, you may have some positional apnea in there, possibly due to chin tuck. A Soft Cervical Collar(SCC) may be needed to assist you in preventing that. But it could be due to too many or too thick of a pillow while sleeping on the back, or just a natural tendency to tuck our chin into our chest while side sleeping. Here are some more OSCAR Wiki to further your knowledge on Positional Apnea and SCC.
https://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php?title=Optimizing_therapy#Positional_Apnea
Additional information on SCC can be found here:
https://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php?title=Soft_Cervical_Collar
From the Statistics information of the Left Hand Panel , you may benefit by bumping your Pressure Minimum to 8 cmH2O.
Let us know when you have questions or doubts about anything. Post back with additional OSCAR Reports so we can assist you in your therapy.
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