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New member, would like help analyzing results
#1
New member, would like help analyzing results
Hello!

I'm a new member so I'll start with some background info. I was diagnosed with mild/moderate sleep apnea (I believe an ahi around 14) via a sleep study in early 2018, and was given a cpap machine at that time. I felt so much worse on the machine however that I gave up before the first week was over. I have since been continuously sleeping poorly and the same symptoms that prompted me to seek treatment have continued. So fast forward to today and I have seen a new doctor/clinic and have been setup with a new machine, the Dreamstation dsx500, which was prescribed based on the data from the 2018 sleep study.

I started sleeping with it on the 12th (two nights so far) and as it was the first time around I have felt absolutely abominable. The first night was actually not so bad but I had alcohol in my system so I'm sure that had an effect. Waking from the second night however (this morning) I felt like I was run over by a bus and caught a fever at the same time - headache, cold sweats, head pressure, brain fog like nobody's business, aches all over my body, jaw tension and teeth pain. A lot of the normal symptoms dialed up to 11 with the addition of those feverish qualities. I can barely function today.

It's a bit disheartening but I've read repeatedly for most it takes some getting used too. But I thought it better to reach out for some expertise and guidance which this forum provides.

Some details about me -
  • Mid-twenties
  • 5' 9"
  • 160 lbs (Same weight as when the study was done)
  • Mildly allergic to most things under the sun
  • Small nasal canal (I believe, allergy specialist asked me open wide and said just that nearly induced snoring)
  • Due to the above two statements am often a mouth breather, struggle most of the time to breathe through the nose.
  • This is an odd one but the front side of neck is extremely sensitive - I cannot have anything touching/blowing on it, which causes me to unconsciously tuck my chin all the time.  I only mention this because I've read that chin tucking can effect sleep.
I am having the results of my original study mailed to me so I won't be able to post those atm, but I will include the data from the two nights sleep below.

I guess I'm wondering if I'm on the right path and just need to stick it out (which I will), or if there is something I could be doing to make the adjustment easier or more effective. And also it seems there are some data wizards here and I have just a vague idea of how to interpret the results, so any help on that front would be great.


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#2
RE: New member, would like help analyzing results
Welcome to the forum.

8/13 you are tucking your chin and it is affecting your sleep.   On 8/12 there is an indication that this may be happening but nearly as severe. The indicator is the clustering of obstructive events.  The normal method of correcting this is to wear a soft cervical collar to maintain your cervical alignment.  See the SSC wiki article linked in my signature and the positional apnea link within that article.

On 8/12 you have RERAs contributing 4 to your RDI, ok, only 3.98, which makes your RDI =8.27 which is too high.  With your machine, the way to treat this is to increase pressure, I suggest to 8.  If necessary we can alter that later.
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#3
RE: New member, would like help analyzing results
Awesome, thank you for the reply! 

I'll give 8 a go tonight and report back, and I'll look into an SCC. It's amazing what you can see from the data, is there a specific thread that helps with understanding it or just years of experience?
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#4
RE: New member, would like help analyzing results
Yungbill, I know I am late to this thread but I was curious to se how you are doing. With some of those symptoms you mentioned (fever, aches, cold sweats), I was going to ask if you had had a COVID test. I hope you are feeling better by now. Let us know. I am new to this as well and would love to learn from others!
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#5
RE: New member, would like help analyzing results
Hi davidmadow!

Thanks for reaching out, the well wishes, and please excuse my delayed response. I did not have Covid, thankfully. The cause of the fever was an infection of a minor injury to my left foot I received while hiking (on the same day I started CPAP, coincidentally). I had to spend two nights in the hospital! Not fun. And no CPAP. But I count my blessings, everything being fine now, body intact, so I'm just refocusing on getting adjusted to the CPAP.

I will post an update with some data soon, hopefully tomorrow, I am making progress but I don't seem to be quite there yet (AHI still averaging above 4).
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#6
RE: New member, would like help analyzing results
Been on PAP since 2007....Just upgraded my machine, I did not realize there was software that could drill down data from my nights. I am going to have to download this and check it out.

(bear with me on this useless post, apparently I cannot post anything meaningful until I transition to "member" status)...so I need to up my post count.
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#7
RE: New member, would like help analyzing results
Anyone here can attach their OSCAR Screenshot, F12 to take the screenshot.
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