Attached is last night's sleep data from Oscar pulled from my Resmed Airsense 10 cPAP, as well as my initial sleep study.
A bit of background, I took the watchPAT sleep study January this year but didn't start tackling the issue until may/june. I figured because the AHI was just shy of an average of 5 I wouldn't be able to get treatment. I went ahead and scheduled an appointment with a sleep doctor around the end of may/beginning of June after I posted my results on Reddit. Someone advised me that I fall into UARS category and to seek treatment.
So far, I've had a cpap for about 3 months. I started with a dreamstation and took some time getting used to the machine, buying any and all masks I could to try to find the most comfortable one. During this time I saw an ENT had septoplasty/turbinate reduction to help open the airways in my nostrils. This has helped me switch to a nasal pillow mask and reduce my overall pressure, but I think the pressure might be too high for cPAP.
About a month ago I picked up an Resmed Airsense 10 (dreamstation recall) and have been putting as many hours into as I can to acclimate myself to it. Historically, I've always been a mouth breather due to severe sinuses/allergies. I had my tonsils and adenoids removed as a child, as well as a chin strap, to try to reduce my snoring.
I've gotten to the point where I can fall asleep quickly and consistently with my nasal pillow mask. It took me some time to get used to breathing through my nose and keeping my throat closed in a way that didn't allow air to escape my mouth while wearing the cpap mask. Since I've been able to fall asleep with it on, I stay asleep for about 2-3 hours and then wake up repeatedly during the second half of my sleep. The crap airsense app doesn't give much info, so I did some research and found about oscar.
Last night I fell asleep around 1. The early info is me awake, wearing the mask before bed/trying to fall asleep. I've been using melatonin to sleep and did not take any last night, so it took me a while to fall asleep. It looks like I slept for a few hours just fine, and then just like the past few weeks, it all goes to sh*t after about 2-3 hours.
Can someone assist in advising why these central apneas might be happening? Or perhaps what I can do to narrow down the issue? It looks like there's some correlation between leaks and the central apneas. I'm wondering if the pressure gets so high I can no longer keep the air from escaping my mouth. When I first started using the cPAP I used a full mask. I would wake up when the pressure would increase, and the machine would usually be around a 10 or 11 on the pressure. With the nasal pillow mask, I tend to see 9's on the cPAP when I wake up.
I've got an appointment next week for a bipap titration since cpap has been unsuccessful. I was told early on that this would be the ideal treatment since my sleep test indicates UARS and early stages of OSA. I'm hoping they can get me to sleep and keep me asleep, but any info/insight/advice on what to do over the next week before my titration would be much appreciated.