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First post, asking for help
#11
RE: First post, asking for help
Hi all. So I tried the advice above, given by mesenteria. Overall, I slept very poorly. As so often, I did sleep well for the first few hours though. Woke up first time around 2 am, but went right back to good sleep. Then woke up for real at just after 3:30 and then never really slept very well after that. Do however feel better today than for a long time. Actually feel good. Completely normal. No fatigue, no brain fog. Which again proves my point that there is a very poor correlation between how I would score my sleep and how I feel next day (as I described above). That correlation is neither positive, nor negative I'd say. Just random. Perhaps, If I'd have to choose, with a small negative correlation. Meaning waking up frequently makes me feel better next day. But this is not a strong correlation. Maybe none at all.

And - mesenteria - I actually believe the pink shaded areas in the chart is Variable Breathing. I have a lot of those. And I looked closer to this night's charts. Maybe those periods of VB is my problem. They co coincide with my shallow sleep. I woke up at around 3:30 when I had a long period of VB together with CA and H. Then frequent VB from then on - and I never really slept well after that.
I am not sure what VB even is, but I did zoom in most of those episodes, and it is clear even to a novice such as myself that they always start with some interruption of the normal breathing pattern. And I also frequently get other events during those VB periods.

So what happens when I go into VB? Why? And can anything be done about it? 
I am hoping that someone will be kind enough to take the time to look at all these charts, which all show the period before most of my VB episodes and the first part of them.

First chart, the first VB episode. I seriously question this, since I was not even sleeping yet. I turned the CPAP on at 22:47 and the VB started at 22:49..? I know for sure I did not fall asleep in 2 minutes. It even flags a Hypopnea right before the VB. While I am awake. And I cannot see any pause in the breathing. Is this really a Hypopnea? Or is my machine giving false alarm?
   

Second chart, at 00:20. Some irregular breathing and then entering into VB.
   

Third at 01:39. A pause in my breathing prior to the VB. A pressure pulse and an H during the VB. Note how my pressure does not change despite the H. Is this because the VB algorithm in the machine I read about? 
   

More charts in next post.
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#12
RE: First post, asking for help
Skipping to the one that woke me up.

First one shows just before. Not much there. But still some increase in frequency I think. As I understand it, I suddenly move from exhaling to inhaling immediately without the normal pause in between. And then the VB starts...
   

Second one shows the whole episode, 18 minutes of VB. During which I had one CA and three H. Plus some other kind of irregularity at around 03:33. 
At 03:30, when I guess I could use my CPAP, it did not increase pressure.
   

Excuse if some of my statements, expressions, interpretations above are wrong. As said, I am new to this, but will do my best to learn as much as I can. I need to get this fixed.

Looking forward to your comments. Thanks.
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#13
RE: First post, asking for help
Stewe, it's very good to hear you feel normal today, despite having a period of so-so sleep. Sometimes during such periods we sleep more than we think we do, and the kind of sleep matters too (deep sleep and REM sleep in particular).

I think we are collectively unsure whether the VB measure actually measures anything of significance. If you find it doesn't correlate to much of anything, I'd say you can ignore it, even turn it off.

There isn't any way for the machine (or OSCAR) to tell whether you're awake or asleep. So you'll get event flags during waking periods if the criteria for the type of event are met. You should mentally bracket those; pay them no mind.
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#14
RE: First post, asking for help
(01-27-2021, 02:05 PM)Dormeo Wrote: Stewe, it's very good to hear you feel normal today, despite having a period of so-so sleep.  Sometimes during such periods we sleep more than we think we do, and the kind of sleep matters too (deep sleep and REM sleep in particular).

I think we are collectively unsure whether the VB measure actually measures anything of significance.  If you find it doesn't correlate to much of anything, I'd say you can ignore it, even turn it off.

There isn't any way for the machine (or OSCAR) to tell whether you're awake or asleep.  So you'll get event flags during waking periods if the criteria for the type of event are met.  You should mentally bracket those; pay them no mind.

Thanks for the feedback. I still don't understand though how it can flag an event when I am awake. I thought the criteria was >10 seconds without breathing. I assume I never take 10 seconds between breaths while awake..? And the chart shows nothing, right?

Anyway, I am still reaching out for more general comments/advice on my story and charts above.
Here is last night's chart:
   
Leaks increased noticeable when increasing min pressure from 7 to 8. Am I at an ok level, or should this leaking be dealt with?
Does anyone have any recommendations on pressure settings?
Mask type?
Machine type?
Effect of humidifier? Personally I feel it doesn't add anything while wearing a full face mask.
I do have a few other masks. Two different Dreamwear nose masks. One with a "cushion" with a hole for both nostrils and one with two "pillows" entering the nostrils.
I also have a Dreamwear Full face mask, which covers the moth and then has the same "cushion" as the nose mask.
I personally feel that the pillow nose mask leaks the least and feels most comfortable. My problem though is that it wakes me up blowing air out of my mouth a few times every night.
Any suggestions?

Pink shaded areas are Variable breathing as I understand it.
Thanks in advance.
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#15
RE: First post, asking for help
I still don't understand though how it can flag an event when I am awake. I thought the criteria was >10 seconds without breathing. I assume I never take 10 seconds between breaths while awake..? And the chart shows nothing, right?  You're right about the criterion, but while we're awake we often pause our breathing for ten seconds or more.  Awake breathing is a lot less regular than asleep breathing, and we often pause when we're concentrating on something, ruminating on something, exerting ourselves ... the list goes on and on.  You're correct that the chart will not show whether you're awake or asleep, though when you look at the respiration rate, you can often make an educated guess. 
Leaks increased noticeable when increasing min pressure from 7 to 8. Am I at an ok level, or should this leaking be dealt with?  Your leaks are fine; just one brief period of large leak.
Does anyone have any recommendations on pressure settings?  You could try a minimum of 8.5.  The algorithm for your machine is fairly conservative; as you can see, the pressure didn't change all night despite some obstruction.  But you could also just leave it where it is -- your numbers are very good and you wouldn't want to court wakeups from leaks.
Mask type?  Whatever works best for your unique face and sleep habits.
Machine type?  Do you have an option to get a different machine?
Effect of humidifier? Personally I feel it doesn't add anything while wearing a full face mask.  No need to use it if you feel it doesn't add anything.  You can also experiment with different levels.  This is entirely a comfort feature.
I do have a few other masks. Two different Dreamwear nose masks. One with a "cushion" with a hole for both nostrils and one with two "pillows" entering the nostrils.
I also have a Dreamwear Full face mask, which covers the moth and then has the same "cushion" as the nose mask.
I personally feel that the pillow nose mask leaks the least and feels most comfortable. My problem though is that it wakes me up blowing air out of my mouth a few times every night.
Any suggestions?  The trade-off between comfort and the occasional wakeup from mouth leaks is really up to you to weigh.  Your overall leak level is fine, so that's not an issue.

Pink shaded areas are Variable breathing as I understand it.  Correct.
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