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1 year and still tired!
RE: 1 year and still tired!
You may ask about some things like hemotcrit (number of red blood cells), and anemia.
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RE: 1 year and still tired!
(07-10-2017, 04:49 PM)Andy J Wrote: You may ask about some things like hemotcrit (number of red blood cells), and anemia.

Thanks Andy 3, Never heard of a "hemotcrit" before. Will add it to the ask Doc list!
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RE: 1 year and still tired!
Back from several days of various kinds of summer chaos.

Scott, several pages back you wrote:
Quote:Is it just me or is there a pattern??? Thinking about every 90 minutes or so i have issues. And this would be during REM sleep. Is this whats causing me to not get rest? Or is that when I totally relax and things go wrong?
REM sleep usually does happen about every 90 minutes or so, and the REM cycles usually increase in length as the night goes on.

Weird things can happen in REM beyond an increase in the number of events.  It is possible that in REM your mouth becomes much more relaxed, which could lead to the leaks.

That said: I don't see a significant difference in terms of the leak numbers between the nights you tape and the nights you don't tape.  And it's important to keep in mind that whatever you do to address the leaks has to not add additional problems for you to deal with.  In other words, if you keep practicing the tongue exercises, over time the leak problem will probably become less significant.

The data posted for the nights of July 6-9 look "decent enough" in terms of AHI. The leaks are what they are, but except for July 9 (collar yes, tape no, and new bigger nasal mask) they are not reaching official Large Leak territory.

That's not to say you're not having issues:

1) You are still waking up enough to turn your machine off and on two or three times each night most nights.  This may or may not indicate a long term problem. If the wakes are brief post-REM wakes, then ignoring them when they show up in the data may be the best thing. In other words, if it helps to get back to sleep quickly, turn the machine off and back on, but don't worry too much about the wakes that show up in the morning.  Notably, on July 9, the night you say was a fail, doesn't seem to have any places where you woke up enough to turn the machine off and back on.  

2) Given the overall raggedness of the Flow Rate curve, it looks to me like you may be having a lot of spontaneous arousals---arousals that are not related to the events that are scored by your machine.  Or it could be that you are lying in bed for long periods of time fighting for sleep rather than sleeping.

Now some questions for you:

Q1) Why do you describe July 9 as a "fail"?  Is it just the leak line? Or is it the marginally higher AHI? Or is the assessment based on how you actually felt the next day?

It's important to tease out what you mean by "fail" in order to make good suggestions on where to go from here.  


Q2) When do you look at your data, in particular your AHI data?  Any chance you are allowing the AHI (or leak data) to "tell you how to feel"?  

What I mean is by this is simple: If you look at the AHI first thing in the morning and it's higher than you were expecting, that can make you feel worse than you would ordinarily do. It's a lesson that I've had to learn (and relearn) the hard way.

Sometimes when I've actually had a really decent night's sleep---as in no wakes beyond normal post-REM wakes that I don't remember and I actually sleep 7 or 8 hours, my AHI is higher than when I've had a rougher night. In my case, I'm talking about the difference between an AHI < 1.5 and an AHI that is between 2.5 and 3.5ish. Deep sleep can mean more events, but if there really are not any significant clusters of events, the slight increase in the number of isolated events doesn't necessarily mean the sleep was objectively "bad."


Q3) In your opinion, which is more likely to be disruptive to your overall sleep: The leaks or an AHI > 2.0ish? Why?

If leaks are disrupting your sleep, then increasing the pressure (to eliminate a few more events) may not increase the quality of your sleep. Why? Because increasing the pressure may very well increase your leak problem, particularly if extra pressure causes your lips to partially separate even when tapped just enough to trigger a nasty, long leak.


Q4) I see you've switched from APAP to a fixed pressure. Does the fixed pressure make it any easier to fall asleep? Get back to sleep? Stay asleep?[/it]

If so, then continue using it. If not, you may want to try a narrow APAP range to see if that would bring down the AHI a bit more.

[i]Q5) Please ignore the CPAP data when you answer these questions. How continuous do you think your sleep is right now?
Do you feel like you're tossing and turning a lot during the night OR do you think you are sleeping reasonably soundly through the night? How long does it take you to fall asleep at the beginning of the night? How long does it take to get back to sleep after you wake up? And how do you feel right after you get up in the morning? Rested, even if it's only a little bit rested? Or exhausted right from the time you climb out of bed?
Questions about SleepyHead?  
See my Guide to SleepyHead
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RE: 1 year and still tired!
Here is last nights chart. It is 3rd night at Min. 11-Max. 11.And  Flex 1. With collar and no tape.

 This may be a silly question but, what does the smiley face mean? And why is my event chart blank. I'm guessing it is related.
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[Image: TPqdw57l.png]
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RE: 1 year and still tired!
(07-11-2017, 11:29 AM)Scott C. Wrote: This may be a silly question but, what does the smiley face mean? And why is my event chart blank.

If you look at the lower left section of the screen you will see the "Flags" are turned off.  Click on each to make them green.
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RE: 1 year and still tired!
Oh god, spelling...it's hematocrit. It's a measure of how many red blood cells you have. The more red blood cells you have, more the oxygen they can carry, the more energy you have (to an extent!). Having a low hematocrit can certainly cause some exhaustion. The important thing is to let your doctor know you're still tired even though you've been compliant with CPAP.
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RE: 1 year and still tired!
Hello, all.  Not sure this is right place to post  . . . but I am 15 days and still tired.  I know it might be too soon, but I'm not sure what I'm awaiting to make me feel rested and refreshed.

I have always been a "long" sleeper, nine hours minimum with a nap if I had the time.  I suppose it could be the apnea, but I've been like this since I was a kid.

So 15 days on and I am averaging 7 hours 45 minutes.  I'm thinking oh, I'm not sleeping much although sleep is supposed to be better. 

Here are the other stats I just received from the company that gave me the machine:

Leaks per min. 16.6 
Events per hr. 3.0  (I tested at 24 per hr.; events range from 27 at the start of using mask to 9 last night.)
Leaks 16.6 (From 27 day one to 9 yesterday.)
Pressure is 8. 

I don't have access to a graph chart; no sd card, so I can't figure out how to use the resmed program from here.

I can't fall asleep at night, a new problem, so sleep numbers could be an hour or two less.  Am I really sleeping 6 hours a night?  I now watch shows on my computer until I get sleepy enough.  I don't want to fall asleep to TV.  I don't think that is a good sleep routine for me; did that years ago when I was in high-stress/depression mode.

I can't fall asleep for a nap either.  What is happening? 

Thank you for your time.
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RE: 1 year and still tired!
Not a new reply.  Just me again.

I wanted to note that I have dark circles and bags under my eyes, which is unusual.   I think I am not sleeping enough. 

I have no recollection of waking up a lot at night.  Get up once to use the bathroom and that's all. 

The mask is comfortable enough.  I did look up how to end condensation from collecting and dripping into my face.  Going to put the machine on the floor tonight. 

I am considering using CPAP at night and then sleeping later in the day without it.  I am retired but still have stuff to do. 

I have an appointment scheduled with the doctor next month, but he is not a talkative guy.  He will likely be happy that I am using the mask and tell me to give it several more months to work.
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RE: 1 year and still tired!
If you copy what you posted here and start a new thread, you will get all the help you will need to set up your machine and help with any issues
the new thread button is on the right hand corner area, here is what the button will go to to start a thread
http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/newthread.php?fid=6
mask fit http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ask_Primer
For auto-cpap, from machine data or software. You can set the min pressure 1 or 2cm below 95%. Or clinicians commonly use the maximum or 95% pressure for fixed pressure CPAP, this can also be used for min pressure.
https://aasm.org/resources/practiceparam...rating.pdf
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RE: 1 year and still tired!
Thank you.  I will certainly try that.
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