FOT (Forced Oscillation Technique) waking me up repeatedly

[logit]

I have an AirSense Auto an had some strange machine response early on, not sure if it was FOT.

Just a SWAG but you might try changing the "Response" setting from "normal" to "soft".  Made a huge difference for me.  Don't know if this is related to "Response".

If FOT is what I think it is, I see it in the Sleepyhead graphs when the machine is testing for obstruction but I never feel it.  You can see it here, this is with the "Soft" setting.  



Tim

Can you zoom in a little more on a CA with and without the soft setting?

[grubstake]

Can you zoom in a little more on a CA with and without the soft setting?

You should be able to right-click to open the screenshot link full size as its on an external host.  I looked back at some earlier dates with the 'normal' setting and it looks similar.  Perhaps larger or smaller volume masks might presented a different appearance??? My mask is fairly low volume.

Tim

[isuckatsleeping]

I wore my N20 for a few nights and couldn't feel FOT through the nasal mask, so it must be the full face mask that causes the disruption for me. I had to go back to the F20 because I can't control my mouth breathing, and FOT was back making my life miserable. It's crazy because my AHI is always ~.8 but I wake up 6-7 times a night, which makes me feel horrendous the next day.

I bought an Amara View because the FOT vibrates my nose right at the eye line, so maybe a full face mask that doesn't go up that far could be a solution for me. I also bought a comfycomfy buckwheat hull pillow that will be here tomorrow. I have positional sleep apnea, so almost all of my apneas occur when I roll onto my back (which is where I feel most comfortable ironically). Trying to be a nose breathing, side sleeper.. sigh...

[isuckatsleeping]

Wanted to provide an example of FOT waking me up well before I hit an apnea (10+ seconds). Last night I woke up after 4 hours of sleep due to a 20 sec OA (which I attribute completely to OA & not FOT). I was able to fall back asleep and 2 hours later I wake up again. This time I woke up to FOT pulsing on my full face mask. When I woke up that time, I was pretty sure that was FOT waking me up, and sure enough, Sleepyhead shows me waking up after a few FOT pulses, well before a defined apnea.

First image - me waking up after the short apnea. 2nd image - zoom in on FOT.

BTW this is with Responsive set to Soft (does not affect FOT)

[harre]

I was a mouth breather before but my nurse told me to tape my mouth and try out the nasal mask first. I was also given a full mask to evaluate which worked out best for me. I ended up having less events with the nose mask and just after a few days I feel like I can breathe better through nose durings days too.

[isuckatsleeping]

I was a mouth breather before but my nurse told me to tape my mouth and try out the nasal mask first. I was also given a full mask to evaluate which worked out best for me. I ended up having less events with the nose mask and just after a few days I feel like I can breathe better through nose durings days too.

Ok I'll go back to the N20 & tape my mouth shut tonight.

[harre]

I was a mouth breather before but my nurse told me to tape my mouth and try out the nasal mask first. I was also given a full mask to evaluate which worked out best for me. I ended up having less events with the nose mask and just after a few days I feel like I can breathe better through nose durings days too.

Ok I'll go back to the N20 & tape my mouth shut tonight.

Good luck and hope it will work out for you too, I'm glad I had an open mind to try out to tape my mouth.  I have been under 1 AHI for weeks now and I have even had a cold but have only had stuffed nose during days

[mesenteria]

I, too, am a tapist.     The only night I missed taping was the very first, and that was because I didn't know what I was going to experience that first night.  Never again!

My average AHI for the past year is 0.5.

It's not for everyone, and hardly recommendable except when the need is urgent and it's the only recourse short of sewing lips shut.

[isuckatsleeping]

Another horrendous night for me. I don't know what I can do anymore. I'm just giving up on my current setup. I can't stand it anymore. I woke up at 3am out of the blue, and the only thing I can see as an issue is FOT in my Sleepyhead data. From there I spiraled out of control. Fell back asleep and woke up at 3:50 due to an apparent leak (no idea how that happened with the N20 and my lips taped shut). I have my buckwheat pillow and a soft cervical collar on my lips taped shut and I'm still just failing over here. It's a disaster.

From there I couldn't fall back asleep. Noticing I'm suddenly having tinnitus as well, which gets very loud when I focus on it. Decided to switch over to the F20 around 4:30 and fell back asleep for about 40 min and then suddenly just popped wide awake again.

I guess I"m just going to try to sleep without my cpap tonight and just use a cervical collar and my buckwheat pillow. Just can't stand what is happening right now. And I'm lost on what to do next. I've been back and forth on quitting caffeine, and did have a cup of coffee yesterday around 9:30am, so who knows if that is affecting my sleep. I'm gong to quit all caffeine starting today.

AHI of 0 and it's the worst I've felt since I first went in to see a doctor about my sleep troubles.

[Sleeprider]

You are self-diagnosed and self-treating after a sleep test showed no apnea, but confirmed you have problems with persistent arousal or insomnia. Going without CPAP will not likely bring you the relief you hope for, but based on sleep test result is not the end of the world. Good luck, and hopefully good sleep.