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Losing the will to fight
#51
RE: Losing the will to fight
Well done!  I dream of an AHI that low.  Since starting therapy in early May, my average AHI until a few days ago was over 17.  After seeing my doctor last week, my pressure was adjusted to a lower, constant 8 cm H2O in an attempt to deal with my CAs. My AHI has consistently been below 10 since then, but more tweaking is needed.

I asked about ASV, and he was pretty against the idea, at least for now. Which was fine by me, because they’re crazy expensive, and our provincial health plan here in Ontario doesn’t cover any of the cost. Sad
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#52
RE: Losing the will to fight
JesseLee: I hope I start to heal soon. All I can do is keep on keeping on. I'll try not to chase numbers so long as they don't jump up dramatically.

Allanri: I'm glad to here you're making some progress. Hopefully you can keep making consistant improvements. I was shocked as well when I saw the price of ASV machines, I'd have to pay for one myself if I needed one like you. It looks like I won't need one now which is a relief as I'd be surviving on rations for a few months if I had to pay for one of those!

Went to bed later last night as I was out with friends. I planned to have a lie in but couldn't get back to sleep so decided to get up. My AHI was under 2, the cluster of central events at the beginning of the night happened when I'm pretty sure I was still awake so I think they can be discounted.

Is there anything at all I could do to help with the night time wakenings? I'm waking up 5-6 times every single night.


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#53
RE: Losing the will to fight
You are completely free of obstructive events and any pressure changes are driven by minor flow limitation. Your pressure range of 6 to 10 can be narrowed or made fixed if you want, and it might improve your sleep. At this point your settings can focus entirely on what makes you most comfortable. Whether that is 6 or 7 cm, or includes EPR 0, 1 or 2 is entirely up to you. At this point it looks like you could use auto pressure at 7-8 and keep your EPR and it would just stabilize pressure. Treatment doesn't get much better than zero events and a few stray centrals.
Sleeprider
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#54
RE: Losing the will to fight
Sleeprider, I may try some slightly different settings from tonight onwards (I'll only change one thing at a time). What would you recommend I change first, the pressure to a range of 7-8?
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#55
RE: Losing the will to fight
As I said, the objective is to reduce potential sources of disruption, and move towards comfort. The pressure range limit of 7-8 seems like a good start.
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com

____________________________________________
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Organize your OSCAR Charts
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How To Deal With Equipment Supplier


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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#56
RE: Losing the will to fight
Ok, I'll try that. Thanks for the suggestion.
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#57
RE: Losing the will to fight
I tried the new settings last night and had a great AHI score. However, I woke up 5-6 times throughout the night. I think I'll try the same settings tonight, hopefully it's a success.

Is there any part of the sleepyhead data that may give more insight into why I wake up so often? Could I zoom in on a time period where I know I woke up to try to see what triggered it? Which charts would be worth looking at in more detail if I did this?

I feel I'm within touching distance of getting really great sleep. My AHI numbers are really low, if I can stop the frequent wakenings I will be in a truly great position.


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#58
RE: Losing the will to fight
You have to know the time of the arousals to analyze the minutes preceding that. The easiest and least disruptive way to do that is to cause a brief intentional leak. You wake up, pull the mask away for a couple seconds to mark the time, then try to get back to sleep. The sudden full leak will tell you where an arousal happened so you can go back to look at that specific time.
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com

____________________________________________
Download OSCAR Software
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing Therapy
Organize your OSCAR Charts
Attaching Files
Mask Primer
How To Deal With Equipment Supplier


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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#59
RE: Losing the will to fight
That's clever sleeprider, I'll try it tonight and report back.
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#60
RE: Losing the will to fight
It sure can be a struggle at the start, and benefits might seem vanishingly minor. I had clear symptoms (waking up to choking, interruptions of breathing noticed by prior partners, regularly nodding off during even short stretches of driving, nodding off during sex etc) since 1999, went to doctor late 2014, got CPAP early 2015 for a severe OSA (75 events/hr) and have missed 9 days of treatment after that - seven of those due to rfa done to my turbinates, two when I was camping before getting suitable li-ion batteries. For me, the first year was a struggle, first trying to find a mask that works (still haven't found the perfect one, but a few I tolerate well) and then coming to terms with the fact that despite awesome response (long term AHI under 3) I was dead tired.

I do believe our brain doesn't ever really forgive the mistreatment it has received, not unless it has been reimbursed fully. It took me more than two years to get rid of dozing off during a red light or in a movie theatre. I hope you do recover way, way faster than I did, but I'd also like to remind you that you are paying a debt - CPAP makes it possible for you to pay it, but it's not able to grant you a jackpot of 30,000 pre-slept hours to erase the debt. Yes, some people are lucky to get drastic results fast (or at least get placeboed to believe it so which is just as fine), but for others it all comes gradually, and for some it is an excruciatingly slow process of healing. The key is indeed patience, and understanding both what is at stake with untreated apnea and what there is to be gained eventually by treating it are great motivators, just like the support and help from this community.

A tad more closer to the point - I have tried on several occasions to switch from FFM to something else. Each and every time my numbers got way, way better (AHI well under 1 with 90% pressure ~11 compared to 2-4 with ~16.5 using a FFM) but my overall tiredness increased to hazardous levels during the time (a week, usually) - pretty much a definite indication that I wasn't having proper sleep, even though I didn't notice it during the nights. Any and all methods of trying to keep my mouth shut during sleep didn't change it either. It could be sensible to try out if a full face mask wouldn't be a better fit for your sleep and help eliminate the arousals. Don't worry of it going to waste even if you dislike the idea, you'll find it useful when you've got the flu anyway Wink
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