DURATION OF APNEA, THIS DOESN'T SOUND RIGHT

[archangle]

I notice that if I have an Apnea event, it can last sometimes for 16 to 25 seconds, the average is about 10 or 12, but I can't even hold my breath for 25 seconds without almost passing out, so this 25 second event makes no sense.

Have you looked at the actual airflow waveforms? Do they look like you're not breathing at all, or breathing shallow, etc.?

As for lasting 25 seconds, you'd be surprised. Many of us have apneas that last much longer than you'd think you could have without waking. It's not uncommon to have 60 second or longer apneas during sleep tests. Apparently, you can put up with a lot more while sleeping, especially after your brain has gotten used to apena over many years.

Here is the event, I am not sure what you mean????

If you look at the flow rate waveform around 00:32:00, the portion of the graph where it's flat is zero flow rate. i.e. you're not breathing at that time. The flat portion of the line is about 20 seconds or so.

You have another apnea (OA) after that starting around 00:32:30, but it's not as long and you have a few little bumps in the graph, so there was a little breathing going on. There's another event that isn't flagged starting around 00:33:10, but it's even shorter and less "total" in terms of completely stopping breathing.

The first OA is sort of on/off in terms of breathing. The second OA is a little less total. Sometimes, your airway closes completely and you stop breathing. Sometimes, you'll still get a little air through, but not as much air as your body needs. You can look at the flow rate graph and get a bit of an idea whether you're completely stopped, breathing normally, or somewhere between.

It's a bit like breathing through a straw. Sometimes, the straw is big enough to get enough air, sometimes it's closed off, sometimes, it's somewhere between the two extremes.

You can pretty much trust the data in terms of what the waveform of air flow looks like, especially when it's a flat line like this. There's sometimes a bit of a judgment call in terms of where the apnea starts and stops. Sometimes, it's a little difficult to decide exactly where to draw the line in terms of an apnea starting and stopping. The waveforms just aren't as clear as yours. Even human experts don't always "score" the apnea events the same in a sleep test.

[Marnid2014]

Thanks for the explanation, these graphs drive me nuts, I can't interpret them. I just look at my leaks, AHI and that is about that. Is there a site we can go to so we can learn what all this data means?

I wonder if I should try the Auto set? This was an unusual event for me.

[archangle]

Thanks for the explanation, these graphs drive me nuts, I can't interpret them. I just look at my leaks, AHI and that is about that. Is there a site we can go to so we can learn what all this data means?

I wonder if I should try the Auto set? This was an unusual event for me.

It's not that difficult to understand the flow waveform. Remember that up is when you're inhaling, down is when you're exhaling. The top of the "hill" is right in the middle of your exhale when you're breathing the hardest. The bottom of the valley is when you're exhaling the hardest. You can sort of visualize how heavy you were breathing for how long and guess how much air you're getting. Shallow breathing has smaller peaks, etc.

I sometimes look at the waveform and breathe along as I scan to the right to give me an idea of what my breathing is like.

Your AHI numbers are pretty good, and your individual events aren't terribly long. Just looking at the data, most of us would be pretty happy with that. Are you having any other problems?