RE: Help interpreting event in Sleepyhead?
Hi! Thanks for replying!
Here's a copy of the sleep test. The thing is, I was awake a lot of the time it said I was asleep on that first night. Also, when I was awake and just breathing deeply for a minute, it flagged an apnea. The point is that I think much of this needs to be taken with a grain of salt. What it shows me is what I already know, which is that I have multiple arousals a night. It also shows lots of breathing events, but, again, given how easy it is for my regular breathing when relaxing to flag as a full apnea, shallow breathing can and does easily show up as hypopneas. So, there's really no telling how real any of these breathing events are, meaning if they were while asleep or awake, or as a result of obstruction.
But what this test also shows me is that if I do have apnea, it is likely very, very mild. It shows an AHI of 3, but that's obviously inaccurate, given what I stated above. It also means the real RDI is very likely much lower, too. This is why I continue to suspect that I don't really have apnea, or if I do, it is simply not bad enough to explain my restless sleep, and why I do not want to continue subjecting myself to this horrible CPAP experience. Yes, I know that RERAs might be causing my arousals...I have done a ton of research, but, again, given my experience with is so far, I am not at all sure that this machine is actually going to help me. I am not convinced that my arousals are caused by obstructions, is the point.
The machine is disturbing because it is unnatural breathing. I never feel like I am getting enough air, no matter the settings, higher or lower, EPR on or off, whatever. It's subtle, but I am a very sensitive person, and my body knows, and is distressed by it, even if I go in with a calm, positive attitude. Could I maybe eventually get more used to it? Maybe. Maybe not. But, again, a few hours is enough to see that if I do have apnea, is it very mild. You said it looks like my machine is doing a great job controlling my apneas, but if there are no apneas to control, it would look like this, too.
Oh, I don't have full night charts, as I couldn't sleep a full night with it. And the point is that I do not think that forcing myself to get used to this thing over a period of months would necessarily even help me, given all the evidence, so, it's a pickle.....