Flow Rate / Leak Rate / Flow Limit Data Questions

[temperance]

No, I have not had another sleep test outside out a bipap titration to see if I could stay asleep longer with a bipap. I was able to sleep for about an hour and a half during that test before waking.

Again, why is this relevant to my original question regarding flow limit/rate and leaks recorded on my oscar data?

[Rubicon]

Because you may not even have sleep apnea, just PAT arousals from a different source.

[mesenteria]

Taping can be the answer, but only if it's the right tape and only if it's applied properly.  I found out the hard way.  

First, wash your mouth area well and dry it off.  Then, apply a strip of the tape in which you have confidence (or company stock), and make sure the strip extends much of a full cm past the corners of the mouth.  This is very important.

Even the height of the tape relative to the lip crease is important.......believe it or not.  You should experiment with this 'elevation' problem to see if your tape does a better job of sealing your lips when applied higher or lower.  In my case, I get leaks if the tape is mounted too high.  I find that if most of it is over and below my lower lip, with only two or three mm above the upper, I get no leaks. 

Press the tape firmly all over its surface at least twice, keeping the pressure for longer than a mere jab or dab.  You want to encourage the adhesive to work its way under pressure into the skin surface, press firmly with finger tips and hold for a second.

If you're at a loss for which tape to use, I have been using 3M NexCare 'water resistant' surgical style tape that comes on a spool, widely available at drugs stores. It's white and about an inch wide.  It's easy to remove, but NOT so much if you don't fold over one end of it in a small tab for easy grasping.  If it's all flat, clean ends, you'll possibly have some initial trouble lifting the tape.

[temperance]

Because you may not even have sleep apnea, just PAT arousals from a different source.

I figured that's what you were getting at, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding you, in the event you were suggesting something in addition to the sleep apnea.

Do you think I would waste time, money, and resources chasing feeling better if I didn't have obvious symptoms for sleep apnea? Would you like a recording of my snoring? How about a detailed account of all the times I woke up choking or not breathing when sleeping on my back before I decided to take the test? Maybe my ex can tell you how loud I snored and how she couldn't sleep in the same room, or perhaps I can provide you a history of my surgeries to open the airways to help prevent snoring? Would it help if my mother explain how loud I snored as a child, and how I've always had mental health issues that fall directly inline with the diagnosis of sleep apnea/uars? Did you look at the RDI on my watchpat study and see how high it is? I mean, technically I fall into the UARS category, so maybe you're not too far off suggesting that I don't have sleep apnea. Either way, your suggestion is not helpful, and again, has nothing to do with my original question.

There is clearly something else at play causing my arousals at night, and I'm looking for to find out if the data on my oscar helps shine light on what that is. Leaks, flow limits, flow rate, perhaps PLM, that's not something I've looked into. If you have nothing to offer other than to question whether or not I have sleep apnea, please stop replying to this post. You're not helping, you're just irritating me.

[Rubicon]

OK no prob, looks like that's all I have anyway. I can't get into my Photobucket account that I maintained a while ago. I had a bunch of screenshots from when I was running the WatchPAT probe on a Sandman polysomnography system doing a correlation study on the accuracy of WatchPAT in certain clinical situations. Basically, when it works, it works.

CYA.

[Rubicon]

Did you look at the RDI on my watchpat study and see how high it is? 

Oh right OMT.

I absolutely did look at that, and WatchPAT does not (can not) report RDI.  They have to report pRDI, and then the assumption is those events are probably respiratory in nature.  In a normal NPSG in the case of RERAs, you would have a respiratory event (FLs) that is supported by an arousal.  In WatchPAT all they have is an arousal.

[temperance]

I don't know what your goal is my man.

I'm not here to argue with someone on the internet on whether or not I have sleep apnea.

I came here looking for answers on how to control leaks and info on flow rate/limits.

You decided to go through my post history and pull up my watchpat test and question whether or not I have sleep apnea and I have no idea why.

Move on my dude, you're wasting your time and mine.

[OpalRose]

Administrator Note:  
Please try to stay on topic.  Look at the Title of this thread.  
The OP (Original Poster) would like the discussion to stay on topic.  
If that can't be done, it's wise to move on.

[Rubicon]

Well, I'm trying but apparently some people only hear what they want to hear.

Thus far 3 pieces of helpful evidence have been presented:  the WatchPAT report, Oscar screenshots with leaks and FLs but only one Oscar screenshot with pressures.

IMO (and for arguments' sake let's say I have some skilz in this area) the WatchPAT maybe shows some signs of UARS.

If we look for FLs in the Oscar shots there are like none.  If so, the pressure provided is unnecessarily high, or at least deserving a look-see.

In the single shot that show pressures, the increased pressure seems to be the cause of all (not some, all) the leaks:


Therefore, if worse case scenario is that there's a touch of UARS;  UARS is composed of FLs; and there's never really any indications of FLs in the screenshots, then it would seem the easiest solution would be drop pressure to like fixed 7 cmH2O and see if it solves the leak issue without allowing FLs (and those tiny isolated FL blips are irrelevant).

Further, give 5 or 6 cmH2O a shot to see if even lower pressures are effective.

[Rubicon]

And where FLs might be suspected, get out of SkyLab view and confirm Fls are really Fls and not some artifact that sends the machine off on a tangent.