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sleepy head says AHI is good...but sleep is not..
#1
sleepy head says AHI is good...but sleep is not..
I still can't find out what I want to know. My dr. office is trying to get someone to work with to read my info, apparently he doesn't have many patients that are on cpap, though he is himself. But anyway - my sleep doesn't feel deep. I am sleeping a LITTLE better, but not much. Sleepy head says I have leekage issues, but ti's from when I take my mask off to visit the bathroom at night. Usually twice,...sometimes just once. But is this normal?? I've been on it since April...and I have a cloth mask which I LOVE...tried a plastic one one night and it was AWFUL...ended up pulling it off after 4 hours...
sigh.
Just would love some advise...anyone? Everyone told me I'd sleep better, loose weight easier, yada yada. Well...not really. Sad
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#2
RE: sleepy head says AHI is good...but sleep is not..
You at the right place, dog tired or I would talk with you. More on in the morning.
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#3
RE: sleepy head says AHI is good...but sleep is not..
G'day spazmom, welcome to Apnea Board.

Some people get instant results, but for most of us it's a process which usually has a good outcome after a while. How long have you been on CPAP? If it's only a few weeks then it may still be a bit early to see dramatic improvements. After all, you're learning to sleep in a new way, with a plastic alien strapped to your face and blowing air up your nose!

There could be a number of reasons you're not sleeping well, apart from natural adjustment to the therapy. The first culprit I look for is leaks. These aren't necessarily big enough to register on SleepyHead, but a constant slight leak up the side of your nose into your eye can be intensely irritating. Or the occasional "face fart" may be enough to rouse you.

Second is mask comfort. It sounds like you've got that one covered.

Third is pressure swings. If the machine is working hard bumping your pressure up or down, that can be unsettling. Your range of 6 - 16 is fairly wide, and it might pay to narrow that down a bit. Associated with this is that some Icon machines have a feature which drops the pressure dramatically if it thinks you're awake. Some users love it but others find it very disturbing. If you have this, it might be worth turning it off to see if that helps.

You're using SleepyHead which is an excellent source of detailed data. Perhaps you can post some screenshots, then we can refine the advice we can give.
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#4
RE: sleepy head says AHI is good...but sleep is not..
(06-21-2016, 12:37 AM)spazmom Wrote: I still can't find out what I want to know. My dr. office is trying to get someone to work with to read my info, apparently he doesn't have many patients that are on cpap, though he is himself. But anyway - my sleep doesn't feel deep. I am sleeping a LITTLE better, but not much. Sleepy head says I have leekage issues, but ti's from when I take my mask off to visit the bathroom at night. Usually twice,...sometimes just once. But is this normal?? I've been on it since April...and I have a cloth mask which I LOVE...tried a plastic one one night and it was AWFUL...ended up pulling it off after 4 hours...
sigh.
Just would love some advise...anyone? Everyone told me I'd sleep better, loose weight easier, yada yada. Well...not really. Sad

Turn your machine off when you get up for a potty break.. Won't disrupt your session will just show a break in the graphs and in the lower left panel will show multiple sleep sessions.

Read this thread and you may find you may have lots of "mini" arousals. http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...s-the-bomb

I had OSA for 40 yrs based upon life history and MUCH better now through the efforts of Jedi-Mark and SuperSleeper. Just hang in there and like DeepBreathing said put up some screenshots of your data and the good folks here will undoubtedly help you as they did me.like

I use my PAP machine nightly and I feel great!
Updated: Philips Respironics System One (60 Series)
RemStar BiPAP Auto with Bi-FlexModel 760P -
Rise Time x3 Fixed Bi-Level EPAP 9.0 IPAP 11.5 (cmH2O)
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#5
RE: sleepy head says AHI is good...but sleep is not..
Well good morning to you Smile
With CPAP you have at least three areas of effect:
1. First is the therapy and getting your numbers under control-it does not stop with this for most
2. You have a huge number of comfort settings that can make it very uncomfortable to sleep. Your machine and everyone else's is set to default and many people are not "default". No one but you can figure out what is comfortable for you. This is trial and error, suggesting to keep a journal so you remember what different setting felt like. None of this is therapy settings, although some people also fine tune those also. You may also find that even though you got one setting correct and comfortable, it may change after other changes, temperature in the room, humidity in the house.
3. This is a new one for me, but I have found that the therapy and comfort settings can be set right on the edge of where they need to be so the numbers look fine, but there is enough still going on to make it difficult to sleep. Sleephead is about the only way I know to figure this out.

Red up on taking screen shots in sleephead and post some areas of concern that look different than the rest. People will ask for zooming into specific areas also.
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#6
RE: sleepy head says AHI is good...but sleep is not..
PoolQ, I think I am likely at #3. I am usually below 0.5 AHI and sleepy. If you wanted to start a post about it, I think many of us would find it helpful. It is my next CPAP "project".
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#7
RE: sleepy head says AHI is good...but sleep is not..
Hi spazmom,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for more responses to your post and much success to you with your CPAP therapy and getting it fine-tuned to meet your needs.
trish6hundred
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#8
RE: sleepy head says AHI is good...but sleep is not..
thanks for the replies!! I'm working on the whole screen shot thing...going on vacation, so I guess I'll do it when I get back. Smile
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