Is this cheyne stokes breathing?

[palerider]

Normal respiration can vary widely and can depend on various factors and where you look
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respiratory_rate

The 95% number is not a number where you were at for 95% of the night...by definition it is where you were at OR BELOW for 95% of the night. People tend to forget the "or below" part of the definition and assume it is an overall average and it isn't.
It's the same definition whether we are talking about pressure or leak or whatever and it is easily skewed by any number of factors so I don't put it up on a pedestal.

I like to point people to robysue's EXCELLENT explanation of where all those numbers come from:

http://adventures-in-hosehead-land.blog ... de-to.html

[palerider]

I don't WANT to be sick dang nabbit.

I want someone to tell me that they've got this diagnosis all wrong, that I don't have to sleep with a dang mask that is causing me sores all night for the rest of my life, and I can go back to just the O2 that had I just finally gotten used to after 2 years. I don't snore. They couldn't even hear it on my two different sleep lab tests!

I want a paddle to get me up the river of de'nile, I guess.

<end pout>

don't make me get the 2x4.

if you don't want to do it, don't, your rapidly declining health is your concern, well, yours and whoever has to take care of you.

if it's causing sores, then you've got the wrong mask. (finding the right mask is often the most difficult part of this whole thing).

[palerider]

My husband is now concerned that I may need PAP with O2, though. Maybe I'll invest in an oximeter with usb that talks to sleephead. le sigh.

the good news is that oximeters that work with sleepyhead aren't too expensive, you can pick up a cms50F or I model for under 100 from aliexpress.com if you scan through their listings. takes a couple weeks to get one, but they're WAY better than the "all on the fingertip" models for wearing overnight.

and adding o2 to the cpap is very easy, if you've already got the concentrator.

[Pugsy]

4)My nose gets dry, and I woke with bloody boogers the first morning. I have Ayr that I used the first year with O2, so I pulled it out and shoved it up my nose last night - no bloody boogers this morning. Question though - would turning up the humidity help? It's currently at 4, but I live in arid CO.

Yes...adding more moisture to the nasal mucosa should help the dryness. I know what you mean about dry blood in the nose...I used to live in Las Vegas and it was something I dealt with all the time and I wasn't even on cpap back then.

For the back sleeping...with the DVT thing you are likely just as well off sleeping however you can sleep the best and let the machine deal with the apnea events because it is going to have to deal with the REM events anyway and the DVT thing takes precedence over supine sleeping events since the machine can deal with them.

The chipmunk cheek thing...I know that's annoying but that's happening because the tongue isn't keeping that back door closed and it's allowing air to enter the mouth and with lips closed the cheeks expand. Just need to practice keeping the tongue up on the roof of the mouth so the door stays closed. Easy to do while awake but once we go to sleep the tongue gets lazy but with enough practice it will learn to stay where it is supposed to stay. When I first started therapy I used to have the chipmunk thing but now it never happens.

The sore nostril thing...sounds like a clogged pore thing..resulting in sort of a pimple like thing. Combination of the oil in the pore and the silicone blocking the pore with maybe a little abrasion just from the nasal pillow....maybe made worse by having the straps too tight. With the P10 it isn't so easy to see how to loosen things up but try fiddling with the straps so that there isn't so much tension on the nostril area.
Maybe consider the Swift FX nasal pillow as the pillows are similar but there is more versatility to the headgear adjustments.
While the sore is healing...treat it like you would any sore or pimple and in this situation I would add hot/warm moist packs to the offending area.

Oh..if you look in the mirror with your P10 on...and the first thing that crosses your mind is "piggy nose" then those straps are too tight and need to be loosened.

[palerider]

What in particular about the mask and machine seems annoying to you right now that we could maybe improve on or make less annoying?

1) I'll get lanisoh today.

the lanolin was a *huge* help for me getting used to the P10.

I hope it's as much help for you.

[Drowsy Dancer]

(finding the right mask is often the most difficult part of this whole thing).

^^^Truer words were never written.

A couple of comments. There is not a 1:1 correspondence between snoring and OSA. Some snorers don't have OSA. Some people with OSA don't snore. Sorry, you can't use that to argue with the diagnosis.

Also: generally speaking I think people who need oxygen supplementation generally have more severe health problems than those who only need a little pressurized air at night. If you don't want to be sick, you definitely don't want to need oxygen.

Third: I noticed your sleep latency (the time you took to fall asleep) was about five minutes, and your REM latency was around three hundred. I believe that is a sign that you are sleep deprived (you fell asleep superfast) and your sleep quality was poor (it took a long time for you to get to REM sleep).

Fourth (geez, I'm chatty today): have you tried nasal pillows? Regular masks just tore up my face, but the pillows are fine.

Fifth (rolls eyes at self): for bloody boogers try more humidification at night and saline spray or neti pot during the day.

[palerider]

Oh..if you look in the mirror with your P10 on...and the first thing that crosses your mind is "piggy nose" then those straps are too tight and need to be loosened.

I just noticed on the p10s I just got, they're putting the "how to adjust tightness" on the back of the box now , as well as on youtube and in the manual itself.

I wasn't as impressed by the card that marketing had put in suggesting ridiculously short replacement schedules for the pillows and hose! it might has well have said:

DON'T FORGET OUR PROFITS!

[palerider]

Fifth (rolls eyes at self):

hey, no reason to hold back on the good suggestions!

[WildMtnHoney]

Umm..yeah, I didn't even LOOK at the *back* of the P10 box So, yeah, spread the straps for looser fit, got it.

Lanisoh, check. Will up the humidity a bit tonight, too, and I have a neti pot, and I may have Ayr spray somewhere too.

I do hear you on the sleep onset and slow to REM thing. I googled that, too, and what I found goes along with what you said - very sleep deprived, and not sleeping well at all.

Deep breaths. If all of you, and all other sorts of people (including my MIL!) can do this, there is no reason I can't, too. I just need to put my big girl panties on and do it.

[palerider]

Deep breaths. If all of you, and all other sorts of people (including my MIL!) can do this, there is no reason I can't, too. I just need to put my big girl panties on and do it.

that's the spirit! although underoos come in adult sizes now too