(05-31-2015, 04:05 PM)storywizard Wrote: The irony for me is that I had noticed in the last few days, that if I awoke later in the night, say after 1am, it would feel as if the machine was not working properly, not enough air, so it is likely that I had my PS too low, and have been suffering as a result...
I have adjusted my pressures ...
EPAP: 8
Min PS: 4
MaxPS: 12
Hi Storywizard,
I think those two adjustments (+1 on EPAP, +1 on Min PS) will help, and after another week or so you might want to increase the Min PS a little higher again, unless you are getting painful aerophagia (air-swallowing) from the higher pressures, or are being awakened by high pressures, high pressures are causing some other problem.
Can you post for us a couple zoomed-in views (so that 1 or 2 minutes fills the horizontal scale), one view around 22:29 and another view around 23:26? I think these would be times when you were asleep and the PS was nearly max'ed out.
We would especially like to see the Flow and the Mask Pressure waveforms, while your PS was nearly max'ed out.
I think it will it make easier to see more detail in the Flow waveform if its scale is adjusted to show only +/- 75 or +/- 80. It is okay for the Flow waveform to clip a little, so that we can see small Flow amounts more clearly.
If the Flow during exhale is stop-and-go or jerky this would probably indicate an obstructive condition. Increasing EPAP tends to help avoid obstruction or partial obstruction in our airway.
Flow is the estimated rate of airflow entering (positive) or leaving (negative) our lungs.
Increasing the Min PS setting tends to raise our average Tidal Volume (average volume inhaled or exhaled in each breath), which tends to raise our average blood O2 levels.
Do you by any chance have access to a recording pulse oximeter you can wear, to see how your SpO2 (percentage
Saturation, as measured through the skin
percutaneously, of
Oxygen) is holding up throughout the night?
The wrist-worn type of pulse oximeter with separate finger sensor cup is more comfortable, especially if wearing it several nights a week. It helps avoid soreness to move the sensor to a new finger whenever you happen to wake, and having a finger sensor cup makes it very quick and easy to move to another finger, because no tape is needed to stabilize the finger sensor cup.
A finger clip-on pulse oximeter where everything clips onto the finger tends to cause soreness, and needs some tape along the sides of the finger to stabilize the unit, so it won't move or fall off. (The tape must be only along the sides, to help keep the unit centered on the finger, and must not cause the unit to clip on any tighter - not at all tighter.) Again - no tape is needed when using the wrist-worn type.
Take care,
--- Vaughn
The Advisory Member group provides advice and suggestions to Apnea Board administrators and staff on matters concerning Apnea Board operation and administrative policies. Membership in the Advisory Member group should not be understood as in any way implying medical expertise or qualification for advising Sleep Apnea patients concerning their treatment.