New user, looking for ideas

[michaelb43]

New user, about 7 days used now. Looking for help on 2 issues.

Results of home sleep study:
Respiration:
Sleep Associated Hypoxemia: sustained hypoxemia was not present. Baseline oxygen saturation was 94%. Time with saturation less than or equal to 88% was 1.6 minutes. The lowest oxygen saturation was 85%.
Snoring: Snoring was present.
Respiratory events: The home study revealed a presence of 10 obstructive apneas and 0 mixed and central apneas. There were 48 hypopneas resulting in a combined apnea/hypopnea index [AHI] of 8.7 events per hour. AHI was 18.6 per  hour supine, N/A per hour prone, 7.4 per hour on left side, and 5.3 per hour on right side.
Pattern: Excluding events noted above, respiratory rate and pattern was Normal.



First 2 nights with nasal pillows, felt like I kept waking up for about 2 hours, took the mask off and slept without.
Next 3 nights, tried taping my mouth based on internet info, went really well overall.
Most recent 2 nights, still taping, but not full width, but waking up a couple times for some reason.

While falling asleep I do sometimes get a sense of not getting enough air, panic a bit, feel worse, and take the mask off for a few minutes to collect myself before trying to get sleep again. This is mostly separate from the cause of waking up, at least as I see it for now.

Equipment: AirSense 10, AirFit P30i nasal pillows, heated hose. Most settings still on Auto.
Prescription: 5-15

The 3 attached screenshots are 3 of the wakeups when I shut off the machine temporarily so it could ramp me up again when I was ready to try again. I've tended to hold the nasal pillows shut for the first little while after waking up to cut down the noise of it - the 45 seconds of totally flat flow rate is this, not a breathing problem.

As to the taping, I'm pretty sure my mouth drops open at some point. I'm fairly pleased with the seal on the nasal pillows, but when my mouth pops open its certainly a strange sensation. I'm generally good with taping, but need to find a good product. Currently it's just 3M Micropore. I'm a little nervous about my mouth being totally shut for obvious reasons, but also the ability to keep my head from exploding if I sneeze before I can get the tape off.

Many thanks,

-Michael

[jdougc]

Michael, welcome to the forum,
Please post a copy of the sleep report with your info redacted.

We need to see the full night instead of zoomed instead of just zoomed in screen shots.
3 minute zoomed in screenshots show much more detail, we don't need to see the breathing after you turn the machine back on, as that is "wake-sleep breathing junk" you are not asleep yet so it will be sporadic.

Your minimum pressure is very. very low for an adult, as is your Ramp pressure. Raise them up to at least 7 cm.

Your flow limits are high, try EPR of 3 to deal with this.
If you feel air starved when you turn the machine on, raise the minimum and ramp pressure a bit more.

You could try wearing the tape, use 2x5 in strips during the day to minimize your anxiety, nasal breathing is good for you. I like athletic tape, I also use a very pliable device, just inside my mouth to help seal mouth leaks, called SomnoSeal
You could try a chin strap that pulls straight up, not back at all. 
A chin strap that pulls the jaw back, will make your apnea much worse.
[attachment=78038]
[attachment=78039]

[michaelb43]

Does SleepHQ work for data? The forum is saying I don't have enough posts for links.


Sleep study results are attached as images.

I called the "sleep center help group" today to discuss my experiences as well. They remotely boosted the EPR to 3 and turned off ramping entirely - I'll see how that goes. I've seen how to go into clinical mode on the device, but does doing so cause me any hassles when this is remotely sending my data to my doctor's office? I'm presuming I shouldn't change the settings too much on my own just yet

Thank you.