Airsense 10 Vibratory Snore Index

Anybody know how to interpret the graphs?

I take the lack of replies as a no.

Have you seen the ResScan Interpretation Guide?
http://www.apneaboard.com/ResScan_Inter ... -Guide.pdf
They don't tell us much about how to evaluate the snore graph....page 43...the taller the graph the more severe the snore and in another manual it mentioned quiet vs louder...so the taller the graph the louder the snore.

In general for our evaluation purposes...we want minimal snoring and certainly not very loud because snoring is one of the warning signs that the airway is either trying to collapse or has already collapsed.
It's part of the algorithm that drives pressure increases when in auto adjusting mode.

SleepyHead shows the same data as ResScan would show but the overall presentation is different but the data is still the same data because SH just reports what the machine gathers...that's all that either software would do. If the snore graph is a bit ugly on SH then it is going to be a bit ugly in ResScan.

Snore graphs aren't easy to evaluate but common sense does play a big factor. An occasional snore isn't that big of a deal but consistent snoring that often reaches the loud level often points to sub optimal therapy pressure...and maybe a little adjustment is needed to better hold the airway open and prevent further airway collapse which then should better prevent the snores from happening in the first place.

Thanks

Pugsy wrote:Have you seen the ResScan Interpretation Guide?
http://www.apneaboard.com/ResScan_Inter ... -Guide.pdf
They don't tell us much about how to evaluate the snore graph....page 43...the taller the graph the more severe the snore and in another manual it mentioned quiet vs louder...so the taller the graph the louder the snore.

In general for our evaluation purposes...we want minimal snoring and certainly not very loud because snoring is one of the warning signs that the airway is either trying to collapse or has already collapsed.
It's part of the algorithm that drives pressure increases when in auto adjusting mode.

SleepyHead shows the same data as ResScan would show but the overall presentation is different but the data is still the same data because SH just reports what the machine gathers...that's all that either software would do. If the snore graph is a bit ugly on SH then it is going to be a bit ugly in ResScan.

Snore graphs aren't easy to evaluate but common sense does play a big factor. An occasional snore isn't that big of a deal but consistent snoring that often reaches the loud level often points to sub optimal therapy pressure...and maybe a little adjustment is needed to better hold the airway open and prevent further airway collapse which then should better prevent the snores from happening in the first place.

Sleepyhead always shows I have consistent snoring. What value is considered "minimal" or low enough that it can be ignored?

Sonnyboy wrote:Sleepyhead always shows I have consistent snoring. What value is considered "minimal" or low enough that it can be ignored?

This is the part that makes snore evaluations difficult...we are never given any sort of guidelines as to what is okay to let slip past the defenses and what isn't.

I am having trouble loading imgur at the moment (connection speed issues) so I can't show you an example of my snore graphs at this time.
If you want to share a typical snore graph that you are seeing we can get an idea what you are seeing.
To be honest...I don't even bother looking at the snore graphs.
My AHI is always nice and low...my leak rates are for the most part well within acceptable limits...I sleep fairly decently considering some other issues that are unrelated to sleep apnea and I feel decent during the day as long as I get around 7 hours of sleep...so I really don't care what the snore graphs show.

If I did care I would also look at the flow limitation graph (and mine are pretty boring) and take all the other factors into consideration before I target snore elimination.
My husband reports that on a rare occasion that he hears "soft" snoring...but nothing like the window shaking snoring I did pre cpap....add all the above (sleep quality and daytime feeling okay) into the evaluation along with we are never told just how these machines determine "volume" without a microphone...I don't know just how much is bad and how much isn't necessarily bad....but minimal activity that is low in the "numbers" I would assume is not worth worrying about.

So to make a long story short...we don't know how much is bad but I would expect that evaluation has to encompass more than just the snore graph and comes with the usual YMMV sticker.

If I can get imgur to load properly so that I can upload my examples I will come back and post them so you can compare yours to mine if you want to.

I looked back through the past 2 weeks and picked these 2 graphs to share.
The worst looking and the maybe best looking.
The bulk of the nights look more like the best looking though...I had to hunt for a bad one.

Pugsy wrote:I looked back through the past 2 weeks and picked these 2 graphs to share.
The worst looking and the maybe best looking.
The bulk of the nights look more like the best looking though...I had to hunt for a bad one.

Sorry Pugsy for not responding sooner. Got stuck all day on a computer helpline.

Here is last night's snoring. Looks pretty typical for me.

I'm working on the leak. I switched out everything from the water tank through to the nasal pillow with brand new items.
Everything looked great Thursday night and then last night the leak is not so good.
0.00 6.00 38.40 46.80
Time over leak redline 14.425%

Will be trying the Dreamwear Mask, in the process of exchanging for a small frame.
Just wondered about the snoring and if this is a problem?

Thank you

Sonnyboy wrote:Just wondered about the snoring and if this is a problem?

It looks pretty ugly and what I can see of the flow limitation graph it isn't so pretty either.
I can see why you were wondering. In all honesty I don't know just how critical either one actually is and this might be where clinical correlation plays an important factor.
The AHI numbers are great...leaks are obviously something you are working on but the time in large leaks isn't going to make that much of a difference in terms of greatly impacting the numbers even if some stuff was missed during the big leak time.

If you aren't having nasal issues which might be fooling the machine...if it were me I would probably try a little more pressure to see if the snore and flow limitation graphs got a little less ugly.
I see you are using minimum to equal maximum and I assume you are doing that for a reason.
If more pressure creates a problem (like bad aerophagia) then this might be something that a compromise has to be made on.
Since I don't have aerophagia issues and pressure changes in apap mode don't really bother my sleep I would probably open up the max and see what the machine wanted to do.

Up to you what you want to do about it....is it a critically urgent thing? Probably not but if you aren't feeling the good numbers in your AHI and aren't sleeping so great....might be worth looking at a little closer.

Pugsy wrote:

Sonnyboy wrote:Just wondered about the snoring and if this is a problem?

It looks pretty ugly and what I can see of the flow limitation graph it isn't so pretty either.
I can see why you were wondering. In all honesty I don't know just how critical either one actually is and this might be where clinical correlation plays an important factor.
The AHI numbers are great...leaks are obviously something you are working on but the time in large leaks isn't going to make that much of a difference in terms of greatly impacting the numbers even if some stuff was missed during the big leak time.

If you aren't having nasal issues which might be fooling the machine...if it were me I would probably try a little more pressure to see if the snore and flow limitation graphs got a little less ugly.
I see you are using minimum to equal maximum and I assume you are doing that for a reason.
If more pressure creates a problem (like bad aerophagia) then this might be something that a compromise has to be made on.
Since I don't have aerophagia issues and pressure changes in apap mode don't really bother my sleep I would probably open up the max and see what the machine wanted to do.

Up to you what you want to do about it....is it a critically urgent thing? Probably not but if you aren't feeling the good numbers in your AHI and aren't sleeping so great....might be worth looking at a little closer.

Hi Pugsy,
Thank you. Major computer problems today interfering with my responding. All fixed now.
Re: It looks pretty ugly and what I can see of the flow limitation graph it isn't so pretty either.
I agree.
Re: I can see why you were wondering. In all honesty I don't know just how critical either one actually is and this might be where clinical correlation plays an important factor.
Clinically: I continue to have abnormal fatigue. MD just started me on Provigil which I am not too happy about, don’t like pills, also excessively expensive.
Re: The AHI numbers are great...leaks are obviously something you are working on but the time in large leaks isn't going to make that much of a difference in terms of greatly impacting the numbers even if some stuff was missed during the big leak time.
If you aren't having nasal issues which might be fooling the machine...if it were me I would probably try a little more pressure to see if the snore and flow limitation graphs got a little less ugly.
No nasal problems right now but sometimes at night develop stuffy nose d/t allergy.
Re: I see you are using minimum to equal maximum and I assume you are doing that for a reason.
Wulfman suggested I try this months ago to help with AHI, fragmented sleep, fatigue and this has helped bring my AHI down. Provigil has decreased the fragmented sleep but still need one 30 minute nap a day d/t overwhelming fatigue and still takes me 2-3 hours in the morning to wake up. Provigil helps but it definitely is not a miracle drug. Nuvigil worked better but way way too expensive.
My sleep neurologist set my pressures at 7 and 9 in 11/2014. She was mad when I changed pressures to a straight 10 but she did not change them back. She has never addressed snores, limitations, or leaks except last visit in October she said I did not have a problem with leaks. She basically is useless.
I will do whatever you suggest. No harm in trying. No problems to date with aerophagia. Biggest problems have been fatigue, fragmented sleep and unaddressed PLMD and I have an appointment for PLMD in April with a specialist.
Re: If more pressure creates a problem (like bad aerophagia) then this might be something that a compromise has to be made on. Since I don't have aerophagia issues and pressure changes in apap mode don't really bother my sleep I would probably open up the max and see what the machine wanted to do.
Up to you what you want to do about it....is it a critically urgent thing? Probably not but if you aren't feeling the good numbers in your AHI and aren't sleeping so great....might be worth looking at a little closer.
Critical to me in that I want to feel awake. I am not saying CPAP is not helping because it has helped a lot but I can tell something is still not right.

I will try increasing the pressure tonight, give it a few days, and then post a screenshot.

Thank you, I appreciate your help.