Looking for improvement in therapy

[zdupydomordyzaur]

Hi.
I'm looking for some advices about my therapy/settings etc. I'm on CPAP for about a year now, therapy made my life a lot better but I'm not completely satisfied with it so I decided to post here.
Most of the times I go to bed around 11 a wake up after 5-6 hours, then I go back to sleep for another hour or two. I'd like to sleep 8 hours straight because 6 hours is not enough for me and I'm getting tired easy during the day. I generally feel good, blood work seems to be fine and I have no idea why I'm waking up early.
Is there any way to determine wheter this early wake ups are caused by pressure being too high or too low?
Thank you.

Resmed Airsense 10
Pressure: 11.4 fixed
EPR on 3
Mask: f30 resmed

   
   

[zdupydomordyzaur]

Anyone?

[jdougc]

Can you supply a zoomed in chart of those 2 nights when you wake up? March 11th looks like a sizeable leak then.
It looks like you are in rem or deep sleep and move around or tuck your chin, cutting off your airway. No pressure will help if that is the case. You may need a soft cervical collar.
Are you a side sleeper?
Do you have any other health conditions that might effect your sleep?
Are you on any medications that could effect your sleep?

[zdupydomordyzaur]

Here are zoomed charts, I zoomed the hours when I wake up the most and when my breath pattern looks disrupted a bit.
Leaks are not the problem here I think, cause most of the times when I wake up my mask is sealed pretty good, seems like the leaks occure when I'm moving around in bed.
I'm a side/back sleeper. I fall asleep lying on my side but I must be moving in my sleep cause almost always I wake up lying on my back. Do you think I might be tucking my head and causing the airway cutoff?
No any other health issues so far, not taking any mediaction right now.
My sleep doctor have no idea what's going on, he sees nothing wrong with my charts. 
Let me know if you need any other information.
   
   

[zdupydomordyzaur]

what do you think guys?

[jdougc]

You could be tucking your chin and causing the airway cutoff. There are some flow limits in the zoomed in charts, maybe causing arousals.
A soft cervical collar may help.

[Deborah K.]

Your charts look great! You do not show positional apnea, so you don't need a cervical collar. Your leaks are too low to worry about, and the night you showed some negligible leaks, you slept 7 hours and 55 minutes, almost the 8 hours you are striving for.

I suggest you try a small range of pressure to see what you really need.  Most of us prefer a range of pressure because our pressure needs change throughout the night, just like throughout the day.  Set your machine to Apap mode and set the range at 10 to 14.  That might help. Try it for a couple of days, then post some charts so we can reassess.

Some people find that taking melatonin or valerian root extract before bed helps them sleep.  Others take a mild antihistamine such as a generic version of Benadryl.  For me, the generic Benadryl worked back when I needed it.

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

[Dormeo]

I agree with Deborah K's assessment and just wanted to add that it's normal to wake up during the night. We often don't remember short arousals, and studies suggest we commonly experience at least several of those every hour.

Longer periods of wakefulness can be problematic, though, if they deprive us of the total sleep time we need or disrupt our sleep cycles. About how long do you think you usually stay awake after your early wake-up?

[jdougc]

Because you are getting tired easy during the day, trying to minimize arousals is important , don't make pressure changes that  could  cause other issues .
I would only try the soft cervical collar for now.

[Deborah K.]

I disagree.  The pressure settings should be implemented now, and he does not need a cervical collar as he has no positional apnea.