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APAP Newbie - Not feeling better yet
#11
RE: APAP Newbie - Not feeling better yet
Jake, the dry mouth is very indicative of a small leak from the side of the nasal pillow. Switching to a larger size pillow, as has been suggested may help. Another suggestion is somewhat counter-intuitive and that is to loosen the straps as much as possible to allow the pillow to maintain the seal as your head moves during sleep. Use the mask test function to determine that you can still maintain a good seal.
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#12
RE: APAP Newbie - Not feeling better yet
(03-22-2020, 09:05 AM)Jake B Wrote: Another relevant question:

Is there a way to identify mouth breathing through OSCAR data? Last night I woke up multiple times with dry mouth, and my wife verified that the air was leaking from my mouth a few times. I'm just curious if there's a way to pinpoint these moments by looking at the data.

As I mentioned in my OP, I'm scheduled to try a few more masks this week so I'm hoping I find one I can tolerate and that will help me more.

Jake,
You can usually tell by looking at the leak rate graph.  If you notice "spikes", that usually indicates mask movement, possibly from rolling over.  Mouth breathing is a more flattened area.  Look at the graph in the link below and compare to yours to see if you can spot similarities.  Or, just go by what your wife says. Smile

http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...Head#Leaks
OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

_______________________
OSCAR Chart Organization
How to Attach Images and Files.
OSCAR - The Guide
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing therapy
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INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE.  ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA.  INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#13
RE: APAP Newbie - Not feeling better yet
After you've looked at the resource OpalRose pointed you to, feel free to post last night's chart and we will try to help you interpret the leak line.
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#14
RE: APAP Newbie - Not feeling better yet
(03-22-2020, 09:40 AM)Grandpapa-G Wrote: Jake,  the dry mouth is very indicative of a small leak from the side of the nasal pillow. Switching to a larger size pillow, as has been suggested may help. Another suggestion is somewhat counter-intuitive and that is to loosen the straps as much as possible to allow the pillow to maintain the seal as your head moves during sleep. Use the mask test function to determine that you can still maintain a good seal.

I switched from a Medium to a Large within the first day or two of starting therapy. I'm assuming Large might be the biggest size? I am going to test some full face masks to see if they are tolerable for me.

(03-22-2020, 10:09 AM)Dormeo Wrote: After you've looked at the resource OpalRose pointed you to, feel free to post last night's chart and we will try to help you interpret the leak line.

I attached 3 screenshots. The first one is last night's regular chart. The second one is last night's chart with the leak rate enlarged for better detail. The third one is an overview of the last several nights just for comparison.

Something I noticed..last night my AHI was much higher than any other night I've had (although still low at 2.75). It seems as though when my EPR is set LOWER to 1 my AHI is higher. When I have my EPR set to 3 my AHI drops to around 1. May be nothing, just an observation.


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#15
RE: APAP Newbie - Not feeling better yet
I think you have a combination of mask movement leaks and mouth breathing.  The spikes are more then likely
from mask movement.  Toward the morning  hours, it looks to be mouth breathing.  If you looked at a 2 minute    view around 8am, you may see the flattened tops that indicate mouth breathing.

Either way, your leak rate is very low and doesn't affect the machine's ability to do its job.  But the leaks can be just enough to be annoying and cause several arousals during the night.

As far as EPR, it didn't make much of a difference in CA's, and your Hypopneas increased, so use EPR at 3 if that is more comfortable for you. Sometimes, it's just trial and error.
OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

_______________________
OSCAR Chart Organization
How to Attach Images and Files.
OSCAR - The Guide
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing therapy
OSCAR supported machines
Mask Primer



INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE.  ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA.  INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#16
RE: APAP Newbie - Not feeling better yet
Hi again folks. I've been using a full face mask for about 4-5 days and haven't noticed any difference. Still feel about the same, maybe a touch worse than I did before I started therapy. I wanted to stop back by and attach my last 3 nights of data and see if anyone sees anything I might not be seeing. Let me know if there's any other data I can attach, or if anything needs to be adjusted in the data.
Thanks!


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#17
RE: APAP Newbie - Not feeling better yet
Your charts look great, Jake. Your leaks with the FFM are minimal and probably just reflect a bit of mask movement. Just to be sure: you changed the mask-type setting to FFM, right?

I went to the Mayo Clinic web site and looked up the side effects of Cymbalta. I see they include sleepiness, trouble sleeping, and frequent urination. I wonder whether it'd be worth asking your doctor about tapering your dosage. (Don't change your dosage on your own!)

But it's likely you're still adjusting -- it's been just three weeks, right? Many people find that if they just hang in there, things start to get better, so don't feel discouraged. And improvement may be subtle, so don't worry if you don't wake up some morning feeling like a million bucks.
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#18
Arrow 
RE: APAP Newbie - Not feeling better yet
(03-28-2020, 10:54 AM)Dormeo Wrote: Your charts look great, Jake.  Your leaks with the FFM are minimal and probably just reflect a bit of mask movement.  Just to be sure: you changed the mask-type setting to FFM, right?

I went to the Mayo Clinic web site and looked up the side effects of Cymbalta.  I see they include sleepiness, trouble sleeping, and frequent urination.  I wonder whether it'd be worth asking your doctor about tapering your dosage.  (Don't change your dosage on your own!)

But it's likely you're still adjusting -- it's been just three weeks, right?  Many people find that if they just hang in there, things start to get better, so don't feel discouraged.  And improvement may be subtle, so don't worry if you don't wake up some morning feeling like a million bucks.

Thanks for the reply. I've actually just came off of the Cymbalta due to some other side effects, but I've also been having these issues for years even before I started the medication. I'm hoping that since I've began CPAP therapy, I may not need the anti depressants in the future.

I've only been on CPAP for about 2 1/2 weeks but I hoped I would have noticed a little difference by now. I'm going to keep with it a long time though and see if anything changes.

And I did change settings to reflect FFM, but since I haven't noticed much difference I will probably go back to the pillows since they are obviously much easier to tolerate  Shy
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