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Periodic Breathing
#1
Periodic Breathing
[attachment=6214][attachment=6214][attachment=6214]
I have been a CPAP user since my diagnosis of mild to moderate sleep apnea in Jan 2017. I have been 100% compliant during that time. I have used many different type masks but, because of my being a mouth breather, the nasal mask works best for me. The downside of this is as a mouth breather, I have tried everything you could imagine but the only thing that really works for me is taping. Although this generally works, it has become quite tedious so, beginning in late April I decided to give the FFM a try. My first night was with the new Dreamwear FFM, which, because I had success with the nasal Dreamwear, I assumed it would be an easy transition. That night was quite fitful and I anticipated a high score but it was much higher than I had expected- 16.95 AHI with a 8.5%PB score.
From that time, I have continued having elevated scores and high %PB- not quite sure of any correlations- even when I use the nasal masks, my scores are not as good as they were before I made that first attempt with a FFM.
My main concern though is what has been happenning with the %PB. Those numbers have been consistently elevated- sometimes as high as 10%. What prompted me to write  to the forum however was my score from last night. Although my AHI was an ok-1.93, my Periodic Breathing was at 32.87 percent. The breakdown of the other components were OSA .48, CA-1.29 and Hypopnea .16. I have attached several screenshots showing last night's Daily, the Statistical averages for the past year as well as the SPO2 Oximeter review chart which, by the way, showed my oxygen levels to be fine throughout the night, I think?
One other thing- last night I wore a Respironics P-20 FFM. I also had my SomnoDent Classic dental device and I taped my mouth. In addition, because I have not been sleeping very well, I took 1/3 of a 10 mg ambien to help me sleep- not sure what effect that may have had. Anyway, I would really appreciate any help or insights as to what you guys may think is going on. Thanks very much!

Haynbo
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#2
RE: Periodic Breathing
I strongly suggest that you speak with your physician about your episodes of periodic breathing. Forst, to put your mind at ease about the impact on your health; and second, to rule out any underlying physiological conditions such as congestive heart failure or kidney issues.

Best of luck.
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius
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#3
RE: Periodic Breathing
... and while waiting for your doctor's input, you might benefit from switching back to the nasal mask for a few days to see if the horrible results persist.


I'm not knowledgeable about the DreamStation but I expect that it needs the mask type to be set in the machine — you did change the mask type, right?  (Seen posts of folks' saying that failing to do so produces horrible results.)
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#4
RE: Periodic Breathing
The machine may be highlighting some thing that in not a big issue, can you zoom in on one of the areas of periodic breathing so we can see the detailed breat wave form a period of about two minutes shown in the screen would be useful
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#5
RE: Periodic Breathing
Your AHI is actually pretty good, and the periodic breathing is exactly that; an oscillating volume change, but without any associated CA or H events that would point to a central issue or CSR. If you want to zoom in on a periodic breathing episode, we could see the actual period of the breathing rate. In my mind this is not serious at all and is more related to your sleep disruption that you describe from using the FFM. Your oxygen levels are good, your AHI is good and pending a look at a closeup of the periodic breathing, I think it is insignificant.

It would help if you didn't include the monthly calendar. What is your Flex level? One other thought is that many people find they need a little extra pressure moving from nasal to FFM. If you want to try 0.5 additional minimum pressure that might stabilize things.
Sleeprider
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com

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