jdip - Treating UARS with AirCurve 10 V Auto

[jdip]

Hello everyone,

I have another question about my OSCAR data.  Could a mod please change the title of my thread?  Perhaps something like: jdip - Treating UARS with AirCurve 10 V Auto - or something similar?

While I'm sleeping, I usually have periods where my breathing waxes and wanes (doesn't result in apneas, just that flow rate diminishes a lot).  It usually lasts 30 min to 1 hour before my breathing returns to normal.  Is this kind of breathing behavior normal, and does anyone know what it is/what causes it?

Some screenshots of last night, where it lasted an hour:

[Crimson Nape]

Could a mod please change the title of my thread?  Perhaps something like: jdip - Treating UARS with AirCurve 10 V Auto - or something similar?

Done!

[jaswilliams]

I get similar waxing and waning during REM Sleep typically about 1.5 hrs after going to sleep mine is much more severe than yours and each low part on min leads to a CA. As to the cause my Sleep dr could not tell me so my condition was described as Idopathic Complex sleep apnoea, my fix was an ASV as I was seeing signifiant desaturations during the period.


Back to your data I don't think there is anything you can do about it just because we get this data from the VAuto it doesn't mean we need to act on it, there are no settings you can change on the VAuto as it follows your breathing cycle. I see nothing to be worried about our sleep changes from night to night and this breathing pattern looks fine. But I don't claim to be able to advise on the treatment of UARS you need to go on how you feel rather than machine data

[jdip]

Could a mod please change the title of my thread?  Perhaps something like: jdip - Treating UARS with AirCurve 10 V Auto - or something similar?

Done!

Thank you, much appreciated.

I get similar waxing and waning during REM Sleep typically about 1.5 hrs after going to sleep mine is much more severe than yours and each low part on min leads to a CA. As to the cause my Sleep dr could not tell me so my condition was described as Idopathic Complex sleep apnoea, my fix was an ASV as I was seeing signifiant desaturations during the period.


Back to your data I don't think there is anything you can do about it just because we get this data from the VAuto it doesn't mean we need to act on it, there are no settings you can change on the VAuto as it follows your breathing cycle. I see nothing to be worried about our sleep changes from night to night and this breathing pattern looks fine. But I don't claim to be able to advise on the treatment of UARS you need to go on how you feel rather than machine data

That makes sense.  Thanks for your input and for sharing your experience. Your waxing and waning does sound a lot more severe than mine. I'm glad you were able to solve yours with ASV.

In the OSCAR screenshots of my previous post, there's a whole bunch of Flow Restrictions of 50% Flags.  But upon zooming onto the Flow Rate, the shape (not amplitude) of the waveform is very smooth and curved - which I believe doesn't indicate Flow Limitations.  Does this mean that it's really just my body taking shallower breaths by itself, and has nothing to do with apnea/hypopnea?

[2SleepBetta]

Hello jdip,

Having been thinking about trying Epic-pen for marking up onscreen graphics such as OSCARS's--with bars, lines, circles, etc. and, hopefully alpha-numeric characters--it was fortunate I came to see your post on a subject that is a current interest and pursuit of mine and found that you used a special software tool I'd like to try. It's whatever you used to apply those red-colored rectangles to highlight your FR concerns on an OSCAR FR graphic. Which tool is that?

SleepRider has already answered your question about Palatal Prolapse, but since I had one of my occasional nights seeing episodes of it last night, I attach an example of what I think is PP. The first breath is one of my "normal" (always slightly flow limited) breaths that are below the VAuto's threshold for marking a FL. There is a fast transition into PP breathing. The areas above and below the zero FR line are (visually) equal and the leak rate does not change at the transition. The lower part of the usual exhalation "V" pinches in and nearly closes after 5 breaths.

In some of your graphs, those you thought might show PP,  we don't see the pinch inward at the peak rate of exhalation, but do see a large variation in the rate of each single exhalation otherwise, as SleepRider mentioned.

A side note on FL that is relevant to your topic and may help draw out more input to benefit all of us who are reading up on the subject in your thread: The "2-eared" peaks of my FR inhale half cycles, as below, are almost always accompanied by a FL lasting about as long or a bit longer than an individual breath. In this example, I was surprised to notice (only now) that there are no accompanying FL, even though there are 4 or more 2-eared inhalation peaks. Some researchers of UARS and IFL have characterized, as I recall, that general top-dished shape as among the worst of variant irregular peaks that do not always get noted by the xPAP machine like the flat topped half cycle form usually does. In my case, that 2-eared shape is most frequent , but usually it appears along with an attending, immediately following FL. As is typical for me, none of my peaks (below) are well formed, all are affected by some form of airway impediment or turbulence. 

Further, the second (the later) "ear" of a pair, I conjecture, often spikes way up from a slight dip on the top of the peak to double (?) the max FR for that inhalation, and then the spiked FR curve plunges sharply down in a large spike of exhalation after which my usual "normal" breathing continues. In my case about half of those single spiked cycles are immediately followed by a FL. Conjecture again: I believe those spikes, for a breathing condition like mine, are like  reflexive throat (airway)  clearings every 5 to 10 minutes: clearings triggered by ever present but variable mini "fl" (which don't rise to the machine's FL level). If the spike clears the airway enough there is no immediate FL, otherwise there is. Quite often there are more noticeable deformities just preceding the spike. Upshot of it all: other xPAPers show or describe such spikes and related things. Hopefully you and I and all focused on UARS kinds of topics can get more answers in your thread. We don't know if we have a problem with (a) flexible airways with walls or tissue waving like a flag in wind, (b) mucous or phlegm coated passages, which like wind-blown water have wave or surf like action, © a combination of the two or something else. I'm thinking phlegm is a likely culprit for me and diet change or, as discussed by members kappa and BB63 in recent thread, elimination of certain offending foods and food processes altogether could be the answer, once identified--a tough and long time thing to try.

2SB

   

PS
To me, your subject, thread and my discussion and theorizing are about sub-RERA, RERA and UARS related conditions (and what, if anything, can be done to reduce any detrimental effects on sleep). But after my going on and on, more than intended beyond the PP graphic, I can rightly be "called out" for hijacking this thread. Please excuse me. Getting back to the OP subject specifically, I hope to see more development of this aptly titled thread by others who know more about the new-to-me irregularities in your exhalation curve, which you began with, as well as the the variable breathing of your second matter--all things UARS related.  If not spanked hard for hijacking, I'll post examples of those peaks that start to dip just before spiking upward and then spiking downward, both spikes of that breath cycle being far beyond the neighboring FR maxima and minima FR peaks. 2SB