Sleepyhead Flow Rate - What's This?

All,

Just looking at my flow rates trying to see if anything can give me a clue as to why not sleeping well. At 1:49.45, there's a little period about 2 seconds at a time. Just wondering if this is small obstructions and what might be the cause if not the usual. I think I was asleep at this point. There was a little tick, very small on the flow limit during this period but not all of it.

Also, wanted to practice posting with Imgur. Used the instructions. Do you need to be registered to get the large thumbnail selection? Thanks a bunch.

You must have better thing to do than worry about that!

LSAT wrote:You are nit picking...

Just curious. I'm looking at everything, as I still don't feel like the sleep is working. I can't really find anything obvious, at least to a newbie like myself. This was a new something for me, and I felt pretty bad the next day.

I know it might just be something else or the random bad night, but still trying to understand as much as I can.

The one thing that still puzzles me is the flow rate graph. Other than events, I can't correlate much from it vs. how I feel or how I sleep. It seems like many of the experienced members can, and I would to be able to interpret better if one can.

Also, I did need a reason to try the imgur site .

Best,

Mike

I think you are grasping at straws in an attempt to figure out why you aren't sleeping well but I don't think you can blame that tiny little change in respiration.
Maybe time to look at factors outside OSA. There's a whole lot of other stuff out there that will cause or give us insomnia or poor sleep in general.

I know we hope to see something stand out and scream "fix me and you will feel better" but I just don't see it here.

Can you give me a Flow limitation graph instead of the snore graph? Maybe something there...but that's a big maybe.

Pugsy wrote:I think you are grasping at straws in an attempt to figure out why you aren't sleeping well but I don't think you can blame that tiny little change in respiration.
Maybe time to look at factors outside OSA. There's a whole lot of other stuff out there that will cause or give us insomnia or poor sleep in general.

I know we hope to see something stand out and scream "fix me and you will feel better" but I just don't see it here.

Can you give me a Flow limitation graph instead of the snore graph? Maybe something there...but that's a big maybe.

Thanks. I'm sure you're right. I know these few seconds are just that a few seconds. I'm just trying to learn what all the different things are on the flow rate. I see lots of different things. I guess most of the variation doesn't give much insight unless there's something obvious happening a lot. You guys have always steered me right! I'll stick to the obvious.

Flow limitations are really clear so nothing there. I've not had many issues with insomnia lately, but I do wake up a lot in the second half of the evening. I can't trace it back to anything. Perhaps, it is something other than OSA. It's just I've been looking for over a year and can't figure it out. Maybe it's just advancing age. If so, it must have hit me all at once!

Glad you're back!

Best,

Mike

You can read up on sleep maintenance insomnia (that's where we have trouble staying asleep) and see if anything stands out.
Take a hard look at any meds you might be taking because often they mess with our sleep more than we might think.
I take a pain pill that comes with a "may cause drowsiness" sticker but in a small percentage of people it cause insomnia..go figure that one and guess what it does for me...yep...If I take one at night I can go to sleep decently but in about 3 to 4 hours I am wide awake and have zero chance of getting back to sleep.
Evaluate your general health...any new aches and pains...another reason I don't sleep so great is some arthritis pain that is sometimes pretty bad and sometimes just annoying but still wakes me often...hence the pain pills which cause insomnia...damned if I do and damned if i don't...so I take something else at bedtime to help me not have so many wakeups due to pain.

You don't have to give up looking for ways to improve things....I still try new stuff if it even remotely might help.
I figure if I don't try then I know it won't work.. I have more failures than successes but even a tiny improvement is a small victory.

Talk to your doctor...he might have some ideas.

Something is squirrelly starting at 1:49:15, but I'm not quite sure what it is. However, it's probably not a big problem.

The flat line segment on exhale with no "pulse" downward is sort of strange. It's almost like you're exhaling through your mouth instead of the mask, but I don't see leaks, and you show to be using a full face mask.

Once again, it probably isn't a big problem. You are obviously inhaling pretty well because of the upward "hills" showing your inhale.

Just for people stumbling on this post (as I did today): AHI is less than 1! in 7 hours of sleep! I wish I could sleep like that at least a couple of times a year. The best I can do (over the last year) is about 3 AHI (which is still pretty good I think)...