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CPAP for 10 Years - STILL HIGH AHI's!
#41
RE: CPAP for 10 Years - STILL HIGH AHI's!
(06-14-2019, 03:27 PM)jennie54 Wrote: I have been searching for one of those Soft Cervical Collars online and on Amazon - there are so many choices that I have no clue as to what would be the best for me. I am willing to try anything to help my breathing to be improved when I sleep. My neck measures at 15" - is that info I need when buying a collar?  Also, I have some more questions as to what these sections of my pie chart mean - I know I was informed that the pie chart does not offer significant data, but nonetheless I am curious. Thanks.

It's overwhelming for everyone at first especially if they try to take it all in at once. For the most part, all you need to pay attention to is in the pie chart. if there's anything peculiar in the other charts and graphs, the people here will point them out for you. I'll try to cover the basics below:

Firstly, the machine works like this: If it detects that you're not breathing for 10 seconds, it sends a small pulse of air to check your airways. This will allow it to determine the type of apnea event you're experiencing, There are 3 main events:

Central Apnea or Clear Airway: The machine finds nothing obstructing your airways. Central apneas are when the brain for some reason doesn't send a strong enough signal telling your lungs to breathe. More Info.

Obstructive Apnea: This is when your upper airways and throat are completely obstructed. The positional apnea mentioned here is one cause of obstructive apneas. More Info.

Hypopnea: This is when there is partial obstruction of your airways resulting in very shallow breathing. More Info.

The AHI or Apnea Hypopnea Index is the average number of all events you've experienced per hour. An AHI of 8 means you've had 8 events per hour throughout the night. The pie chart further breaks this down into the specific types of apneas.

I see your pie chart also has RERA's. These stand for Respiratory Effort Related Arousals and are when there is an increase in effort required to breathe for 10 or more seconds but cannot be classified as hypopneas or centra/obstructive apnea.
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#42
RE: CPAP for 10 Years - STILL HIGH AHI's!
While the pie chart can certainly give you a summary at a glance, for deeper analysis it's better to turn both the pie chart and calendar off. That way the full set of respiratory statistics and machine settings are visible, and they are of more value in working our exactly what's happening and why.

Jennie's chart are showing little or no central apneas - everything is obstructive. I believe that correcting her sleeping posture with a collar will make a tremendous improvement in her condition.
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#43
RE: CPAP for 10 Years - STILL HIGH AHI's!
Jennie,
I agree that a soft cervical collar could help.

Yes, there’s many choices out there. You said your neck circumference is 15”, so add 2 to 3 inches to that for comfort. The collar should not be too tight or too loose. You should be able to insert a couple fingers under the collar and be able to move your neck.

Also consider the height of the collar. If you have a short neck, a height of 2 to 3 inches should be sufficient, but if you have a long neck, then 3 to 4 inches would be needed.

There are many on Amazon. Also, look for a material that doesn’t cause you to sweat.
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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#44
RE: CPAP for 10 Years - STILL HIGH AHI's!
I actually took 2 pillows away from my head last night and tucked a small pillow under my chin to raise it up, but my AHI was still 9.4 this morning and my PB read 2%. I need to get that soft cervical collar ordered today and hope that helps make a difference. I can hardly function during the day with such poor quality sleep night after night.
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#45
RE: CPAP for 10 Years - STILL HIGH AHI's!
(06-15-2019, 09:34 AM)DeepBreathing Wrote: While the pie chart can certainly give you a summary at a glance, for deeper analysis it's better to turn both the pie chart and calendar off.

I get the sense that she's (unsurprisingly) feeling overwhelmed with the amount of information presented. at this stage i think it's important to convey that she herself need only worry about a fraction of the presented data (ahi, ca oa and hypopneas) and how she feels qualitatively, and that she can leave the deeper analysis of the charts to the more experienced eyes here.
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#46
RE: CPAP for 10 Years - STILL HIGH AHI's!
I agree that newcomers may need to be led gently through the process, and the pie chart can give a rough guide as to what events were experienced, but that's pretty much all it can do. In most cases (including Jennie's) you can get the same information and much more by looking at the event flags graph and the table of events in the left sidebar. For example, the pie chart only shows the percentage of events, not the actual number or indices. So even if you only had one event all night the pie chart will be a solid ball of colour, which makes things look much worse than they are. It also can't tell if the events were clustered or when they occurred through the night.

One of the issues Oscar inherited from SleepyHead is that there's no single-click way of turning the pie-chart on and off - you need to go through the menu system, open preferences, find the right page and check the right box. A future enhancement will be to have a simple on-screen button (similar to that used to turn the calendar on and off). In the meantime it's probably better to leave the pie-chart off as it just becomes a distraction and can also obscure more important information.

Note to Jennie: Please forgive us discussing these details in your thread. We all come at this from different backgrounds, so you may at times get conflicting advice. But in most cases we pretty quickly reach a consensus. It just shows that there are a lot of people here willing to help. Unlike some doctors you may have known, we won't take your money then say we can't understand what your problem is!
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#47
RE: CPAP for 10 Years - STILL HIGH AHI's!
These are my numbers from June 17, 2019.  I switched things up, got rid of my old pillows and used a CPAP pillow. Still haven't received my cervical collar yet through Amazon but will try that when I get it.  I was hoping to wake up this morning and see this data improved. I'm at the point where I don't think anything short of surgery will help my sleep apnea improve. My numbers with using CPAP are still worse than people who have sleep apnea and don't treat it. I'm stumped, confused and very frustrated.  What am I doing wrong???

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#48
RE: CPAP for 10 Years - STILL HIGH AHI's!
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Still having problems attaching my CPAP data; trying again...
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#49
RE: CPAP for 10 Years - STILL HIGH AHI's!
Hi Jennie

I edited your post to remove all the duplicates.

We'll have a look at the charts and get back to you as soon as possible.

Regards
Paul
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#50
RE: CPAP for 10 Years - STILL HIGH AHI's!
Hi jennie54,

Your charts need just a bit refined. You can get the most important information on one graph.
No need to post several.

Please disable the pie chart. There is statistical information after the pie chart that we need to see to help analyze your graphs.

Also, revise your chart layout before posting. We need to see the following graphs: Events, Flow rate, Pressure, Leak Rate and Snores. We would ask for more if needed. This way, everything fits on one chart.
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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