CPAP noob. Help interpret OSCAR data

[trumpet19019]

   
   

I have recently started using a CPAP machine and I need help interpreting OSCAR data. For example, my AHI score is better this morning, but I feel more tired than yesterday. Does the data indicate why that might be? 

I also am using mouth tape, but as I get tired, my tongue seems to relax and then I get some air in my mouth. Will this go away as I get used to using the machine?

[Deborah K.]

I see a few changes that should help.  Your pressure range is too low.  I suggest you raise your low-pressure setting to 7.6 and raise your high-pressure setting to 15.  This is because your median pressure is 7.7, and you are bumping against your highest pressure.  So, set your range to 7.6 to 15.

Your flow limits are extremely high.  For now, turn EPR on full time, set at 3.  That will help, but it may not be enough.  Let's see what happens.

Again, welcome, and best wishes for achieving great therapy and comfort!  

[trumpet19019]

   

What do you think? Am I right in thinking everything got worse or am I misunderstanding the data?

[super7pilot]

A lot of folks will suffer from Treatment emergent Clear Airway events when first starting pap therapy. Those CA's can increase when you increase the pressure.
Also, Be mindful that when folks first start therapy. They will actually feel worse for a while. Why? because humans were not designed to breathe in higher than atmospheric air pressure. And doing so often results in sleep disturbances. Then when you add in strapping a mask and a hose to our face. That adds to the disturbance factor.

Make sure you are using good sleep hygiene. Your bedroom is for sleeping. it's not the dinning room nor the library or TV room.
It is important to have patience and stick with it. My Dr. said that I would have more bad than good nights at first. Then I would suddenly start having more good nights until I had more good than bad nights.

Please try and post your sleep study results with your personal info removed. Do you take meds? Many drugs can cause sleep issues and modern DR's hand them out like it's Halloween.

[trumpet19019]

I don't take any meds. I took an at home watchpat tests, initially because my wife says when I sleep I will randomly stop breathing. An in person sleep study is cost prohibitive at the time. I seem to have misplaced the watchpat test, but the main results were an AHI of 6.5 and an RDI of 20. 91 was my lowest oxygen. My min pulse was 48, average 59, and highest was 91. If more information will be helpful I'll try to find where I put the results.

Should I be concerned about the CSR result?

[super7pilot]

That was a low AHI score. At 5 you would have not been issued a pap machine.

True CSR is associated with Congestive Heart Failure and the CSR will go all or most of the night.

As a newbie you can go through periods of strange breathing (variable breathing) because breathing under pressure isn’t natural. And we have to adapt to it.

[Dormeo]

Just to follow up: Your flow limitations responded beautifully to the EPR. That's good to know!

You're experiencing treatment-emergent central apnea. It's pretty common, and both higher pressures and EPR can exacerbate it. The CAs often come in clusters that represent periods of unstable flow rates. This kind of central apnea generally goes away on its own as your body adapts.

I'd say you can either just leave things as they are for a week or two and see whether the CAs start to dwindle, or reduce your EPR to 2 and see what happens. You can also drop your minimum pressure back down to 7 and cap your maximum at, say, 10. But ideally you'll make just one change at a time, giving each one a few days before evaluating it. I'd recommend starting with the change in EPR.