RE: Some strange flow rate curves
I am glad you are at least getting some help with therapy, though it is not entirely fixing the problem. I know it is quite a process. You seem to know a lot about what is going on, which is half the battle.
I fall asleep reading sometimes, so my naps are accidental, otherwise I would put the cpap on.
I check my oxygen sometimes with a simple finger clip throughout the day. It averages 95/96 usually. My heart rate is often in the mid-high 50s, which seems low. And when I take deep breaths, it goes lower. I am looking forward to checking stats at night though.
RE: Some strange flow rate curves
Ahh yes, those sneaky "I'm reading something and now I'm asleep" naps. Or the "I'm watching a video and now I've missed ten minutes" ones. Or "I paused in my dinner to let my food cool down a little, and now it's room temperature" naps. Those are the most annoying. LOL Though at my worst, I was on a medication for nerve pain that made me insanely sleepy (this was prior to my current apnea and dysautonomia issues), and at the time I was a smoker... I was outside my office at work, taking a smoke break, and I actually fell asleep standing up and leaning against a fence. That was probably my most impressive "unwanted nap" moment.
If it's any consolation, I find that I do that much less now, after ten months... I've been so conscious about always putting it on that now I wake up after a minute or so if I don't have my mask on, earplugs in, machines on, eyemask and pulse-ox on - because it feels wrong, now, to sleep without them. I probably have the most regular bedtime routine now that I've ever had, which no doubt is helping too.
A pulse in the 50s isn't necessarily too bad, it's going to depend a lot on your fitness, medication etc. It's a good thing to record it for a while as you're just doing things quietly, just for 15 or 20 minutes. That's usually going to give you a good reference. And yeah, things like holding your breath, straining, etc they can all alter your pulse (you can google Valsalva manoeuvres and the diving reflex in humans if you're interested).