[Treatment] May be Too Late for Me Too

[Tubaman]

Thank you for the quick reply!  Unfortunately my CMS50I does not seem to cooperate (no change from my previous attempts).  I managed to import its %SpO2 data which started at the proper time and should only have been about 7 hours 7 minutes long.  Instead SH showed it to be over 38 hours long, distorting that sleep period's data accordingly.  When I purged that day's data (both the sleep data and the oximeter's data), from SH and then re-imported only the sleep data, the SH graphs looked OK.  However when I closed down SH and relaunched it, the sleep time had again returned to 38+ hours long.  I tried various ways to correct this by purging several days of sleep periods in advance and including the affected sleep period but after re-importing only the sleep data for those periods, the 38+ sleep period would always return after shutting down and restarting SH.  No oximetry data is shown, just the 38+ hour sleep time -- which should be only 7+ hours.

Initially I tried to import the oximetry data using the ' .spo2 ' data file, both where the SpO2 Assistant software placed it and also by copying the .SpO2 file to a different location, including copying to my other computer drive.  SH would not read the file and said something about failing to sync with the .SpO2 data (something like that).  I was, however, able to read the data directly from my CMS50I pulse oximeter's memory (using USB cable) with no indicated import errors (other than the 38+ hour session time which subsequently occurred).  This is the only way I could import the oximetry data into SH, albeit with the 38+ hour error (which I cannot get to go away for that sleep session as I mentioned above).

Musings:
Maybe my weird sleeping schedule?  I purposefully got up / stopped recording data before 12:00 noon. to try to avoid the noontime rollover to the next day.  Maybe my Win7 operating system?  Maybe the CMS50I has some differences from other CMS50? oximeters?

One final comment: I have an older CMS50EW oximeter which has become un-useable due to its display becoming too faint.  My CMS50I is also gradually dimming its display and I've only had it since January 2017 and I've only used it for overnight recording so the display is automatically turned off after maybe a minute once it's set on 'record'.  I learned the CMS50EW is prone to the display dimming problem but I haven't heard anything about the CMS50I having the same problem.  Since the displays on both oximeters appear to be illuminated the same way, I guess the dimming is to be expected.  Not good if that's true (also kind of expensive over the long run).

Thank you!
frustrated Tubaman (Carl)

[Tubaman]

Here are graphic examples of what SH is doing to my sleep data for May 20.

What chart should look like immediately after purging & re-importing the May 20 data.
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What same chart looks like after shutting down SH and then restarting SH.
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For what it's worth...
Thank you!, Tubaman

[jaswilliams]

tubaman can you show the session data at the bottom left of the day you may be able to turn off the errant session by clicking it

[Tubaman]

Yes!  That works.  I always thought that selecting what is included in the graph using that method was only temporary and the displayed / omitted data would default to everything upon closing down SH and then relaunching SH at a later time.  As usual, my assumption has been erroneous.  Thank you for your suggestion!

It's too bad the oximetry data cannot be tweaked this way (see following).
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Oh well, at least it's a step in the right direction in the ongoing lessons of life.

Thank you!
Tubaman (Carl)

[Tubaman]

Hello!
Two questions:
For the past 2+ years my AHI values have mostly been below 1.0, occasionally up to 2+ but almost never higher.  Last night (November 12, 2018) I got an AHI of 5.30 -- highest since June 8, 2017 when I had a 5.90 (I don't remember why).

I've been dreaming a lot more lately (I think), kind of on the verge of nightmare quality.  Since I'm an insomniac (much of my life, I worry a lot), I've been listening to library audiobooks through earbuds when I go to bed, some are kind of scary (vampire, ghost stories etc.) to try to go to sleep.  I'm wondering if this could be playing havoc with my subconscious???  I've tried music but I find I listen to it and then I don't go to sleep (usually) so music usually doesn't work.  Sometimes I read for a while and that works occasionally, but again the subject matter is sometimes similar to my audiobooks -- with similar results.

Has anybody else had this kind of experience (increased AHI based on bedtime reading material).  Maybe this is a stupid question -- obvious answer is to change topics of audiobooks and regular books.

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Second question:
Does anybody know a way to merge %SpO2 data into the SH data?  I have tried several times over the past 2 1/2 years and I have been unable to do it successfully.  My %SpO2 pulse oximeter is a CMS501 (with fading display) and I believe this forum says it is compatible and should work with SH.  That has not been the case for me.  The data is merged but it is distorted when displayed even though I start the oximeter and the CPAP machine simultaneously (as close as possible).  Maybe my unconventional sleeping hours cause it to fail (bedtime around 6:00 AM, up around 2:00 PM).

Thank you!
Tubaman (Carl)

[Walla Walla]

It's common to have Dreams about the last thing plugged into your mind before going to sleep. Books, Movies or Life events can trigger dreams. I recommend reading Playboy. You'll have much more pleasant Dreams.      

No answer to the second question.

[Fats Drywaller]

It's common to have Dreams about the last thing plugged into your mind before going to sleep. Books, Movies or Life events can trigger dreams. I recommend reading Playboy. You'll have much more pleasant Dreams.      

"Reading", heh.  (I like the interviews and the features about politics!)  Pleasant dreams, yep.

For Tubaman:  About the various mental disturbances before going to sleep, yes, that can be a problem.  I think it's important to avoid anything that could be even mildly upsetting (like horror stories, including current events) for a couple of hours before.  What always works for me is to read something that's not only non-threatening but familiar, in other words to re-read something great.  Classics, sure, but not necessarily old; there are all kinds of classics including modern stuff and nonfiction.  I choose a nonfiction topic that I'm interested in and grab an especially good book on that topic that I already know well.  That's soothing: no surprises, no bumps. It's a sedative.

Or if you're into any of the less disturbing categories of genre fiction (mystery/detection, sf/fantasy, westerns, romances), something familiar there might work also.  I assume that everyone who is a fan of any genre fiction must enjoy re-reading the good old stuff.

[Tubaman]

Thank you "Walla Walla" and "Fats Drywaller".  My wife also thinks that reading / listening / watching something of a more pleasant nature might help.  Last night I had a better AHI (2.01) but not the best.  I had another CSR event (always scary for me) at about the same time as a period of high activity (dreams?) -- see attached chart.  I had listened to part of a vampire audiobook while falling asleep last night

I have loaded a copy of "Barbarella" into my phone which I will watch & listen to tonight.  Probably not as "effective" as a current Playboy but maybe adequate.  Certainly not as scary so maybe I'll have better luck.

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Thanks again!

Tubaman (Carl)

[Fats Drywaller]

I have loaded a copy of "Barbarella" into my phone which I will watch & listen to tonight.  Probably not as "effective" as a current Playboy but maybe adequate.  Certainly not as scary so maybe I'll have better luck.

There's got to be a streaming collection of Baywatch episodes out there somewhere ...

Or if you like Jane, you might try the movie Klute from 1971, for which she moved to New York City to play a hooker.

[Tubaman]

Thank you Fats.  I like some of Jane's old movies, (MS Fonda and I are almost the same age but she sure looked a lot better than me when we were younger). But that's the problem.  I watched about 30 minutes of Babarella last night and didn't get sleepy (too much fun to watch!).  I watched a few minutes of an old detective movie (can't remember the name, not Jane's) but that didn't work either.  I finally downloaded another true history audiobook from the library about the Lusitania and that worked quite well -- finally got to sleep.  I guess history books work best for me at this time.

I also tightened my CPAP face mask straps to the point where it became uncomfortable, since I have been getting a lot of leakage when the CPAP starts cranking up the pressure (max. of 17) to combat the AHI events it senses.  That worked better but I still had some leakage at one point.  Happened when I apparently had a group of AHI events, one right after the other (see chart attached).  I've found the only way to deal with that (if I'm awake when the leakage occurs) is to reach over my little dog gate and punch the start/stop button on the CPAP.  The pressure immediately drops and then the CPAP goes into startup mode again at the low end of my pressure settings (9.2) and the leakage stops (for a while, anyway).

I have a small dog gate between the CPAP machine and me because I occasionally have dreams where I start waving my right arm around.  The first time that happened I knocked the CPAP machine off the end table and onto the floor (I was dreaming that somebody had taken something that was mine so I was grabbing at him to try to get it back, ergo, swinging my arm and knocking the CPAP off the end table).  The 2nd time I had a dream I was throwing knives at somebody and my right arm was waving in the air (did not hit my CPAP machine that time, thankfully).  My wife saw my waving arm and asked why I was waving my arm in the air (and I immediately awoke).  After that I put up the dog gate and there have been no further incidents with the CPAP.  As far as arm waving -- who knows?

Does anybody have a suggestion for a full face (preferably) mask that doesn't leak as much?

Whatever works, I guess., Tubaman (Carl)

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