Help request...

[Deborah K.]

Leaking or not does not affect CAs.

[zsearcher]

Hello again...

With all your help, I have been doing well with my therapy, having AHI numbers nightly between 1 and 2.  I have been mouth taping every night after waking during the night with a dry mouth.  After a night or two I tolerate the taping well.

This last week something has changed drastically...my AHI one night was 11 after a night o f arousals.  The next night was back to 1.6 or so, but since then the numbers are over 5, and most nights I experience aerophagia.  I am again waking periodically with a dry mouth, even though it's securely taped, with absolutely no mouth leaks.  Not sure how that can happen, but it does!

I will post my most recent charts.  

Please help...again!  Thank you!

[Dormeo]

Did you ever get a soft cervical collar? Have you tried using it? To my eye, you're experiencing positional apnea, for which a collar can be very effective. Take a look here:

https://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph...onal_Apnea

I don't know why this is cropping up now -- new pillow? Some other change in the physical sleep environment? A painful shoulder or hip that puts you in a new sleep position?

[zsearcher]

I ordered a c collar today and should be here Monday.

Nothing has changed other than lowering my humidifier from 6 to 4. 

I moved it back up to 6 and my AHI dropped to 2.59. I don't know it the humidity was the reason or not, but nothing else has changed. 

My OA's also changed to CA's.  Does this still seem to be positional too, or what could cause this? 

Thanks, I appreciate your help on this!

[BoxcarPete]

Humidity can affect your nasal passages, how congested they get. It may be that you have a positional issue that is only apparent when your turbinates are swollen up a bit. Have you had a scope up your nose yet? A good ENT can tell right away what's going on.

CAs are not likely to be positional, unless your machine is getting a false reading on a partial blockage. If that's what is happening, I think an airway evaluation isn't a bad idea in that case either.

[Dormeo]

CAs are consistently inconsistent, as people here sometimes say. I wouldn't place too much weight on their increases or decreases. If you zoom in on your flow rate, you'll probably see that many of the CAs follow arousal breathing, which tends to be deeper and messier-looking than asleep breathing. (Science isn't completely clear about why that happens; it may be that CO2 is reduced, which slightly delays the urge to inhale, or it may be due to a feedback mechanism from sensors in the rib cage.) You may be having somewhat more arousals some nights than other nights.

Your positional-looking OAs disappeared as quickly as they appeared! Keep an eye out for them, and next week see how you get along with the collar.

[zsearcher]

Thanks Pete and Dormeo... I will ask my doctor about the scope on my upcoming wellness visit and try the c collar when it arrives. Thanks again!