Sleeping one hour without breathing for 22 minutes

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DeeCPAP
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Sleeping one hour without breathing for 22 minutes

Post by DeeCPAP » Sat Jun 10, 2017 8:29 pm

.
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Note: This a *one* hour graph from two months ago (April) and the pressure settings have since been corrected. It shows a *total* of 22 minutes without breathing (42 events of obstructive apneas very close together). I don't understand how this could happen without some damage occurring. Does anyone know?

Image


Same night, but the entire sleep, showing most of the 42 (obstructive) apneas were in the last hour or so.

[img]https://preview.ibb.co/cJaEyF/4_18_17_P ... RRIBLE.jpg[/=img]

Had this problem not been corrected, it may have caused some serious damage. I don't know for a fact, but I don't think my doc or my DME had as much data as offered on the SH software -- I wonder something like this happened to Judge Scalia!

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Last edited by DeeCPAP on Tue Jun 13, 2017 3:39 pm, edited 8 times in total.
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Goofproof
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Re: Sleeping one hour without breathing for 22 minutes

Post by Goofproof » Sat Jun 10, 2017 8:35 pm

You died, all problems over! Jim
Use data to optimize your xPAP treatment!

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TASmart
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Re: Sleeping one hour without breathing for 22 minutes

Post by TASmart » Sat Jun 10, 2017 8:52 pm

Looks to me like you maybe rolled onto your back or some other position and had insufficient pressure to hold your airway open. Both your pressure max and your EPR or too low, I would maybe raise your max pressure to 12 in steps, and reduce your EPR to 1 or 2 to try and hold the airway open, in what ever positon or sleep stage you were in.
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DeeCPAP
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Re: Sleeping one hour without breathing for 22 minutes

Post by DeeCPAP » Sat Jun 10, 2017 9:02 pm

TASmart wrote:Looks to me like you maybe rolled onto your back or some other position and had insufficient pressure to hold your airway open. Both your pressure max and your EPR or too low, I would maybe raise your max pressure to 12 in steps, and reduce your EPR to 1 or 2 to try and hold the airway open, in what ever positon or sleep stage you were in.
This data was from *before* I changed headgear and the settings on my machine, so the data (and my sleeping) are now better. Still, how does someone go without breathing for 22 minutes out of two hours? I didn't think it was possible to go without breathing for that long, even with the little breathing I did within that 22 minute period. I'm truly puzzled.

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Last edited by DeeCPAP on Sun Jun 11, 2017 8:15 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Soothest Sleep
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Re: Sleeping one hour without breathing for 22 minutes

Post by Soothest Sleep » Sat Jun 10, 2017 11:54 pm

DeeCPAP wrote: Still, how does someone go without breathing for 22 minutes out of an hour?
If the person stopped breathing for 22 continuous minutes, yes! game over! But your chart shows that you were breathing in between the apneas, every couple minutes, or so--it wasn't a continuous apnea of 22 minutes. Your machine was working hard for you that night; thank goodness you are under treatment! I understand you have changed equipment and tweaked your pressures in the meantime, but imagine if that change had been made before the night of this example--perhaps an increased max pressure would have been able to handle the situation so that you would not have experienced so many apneas in a short time. (Of course we can't know that for sure, hindsight being what it is.)

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DeeCPAP
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Re: Sleeping one hour without breathing for 22 minutes

Post by DeeCPAP » Sun Jun 11, 2017 7:36 am

Soothest Sleep wrote:
DeeCPAP wrote: Still, how does someone go without breathing for 22 minutes out of an hour?
If the person stopped breathing for 22 continuous minutes, yes! game over! But your chart shows that you were breathing in between the apneas, every couple minutes, or so--it wasn't a continuous apnea of 22 minutes. Your machine was working hard for you that night; thank goodness you are under treatment! I understand you have changed equipment and tweaked your pressures in the meantime, but imagine if that change had been made before the night of this example--perhaps an increased max pressure would have been able to handle the situation so that you would not have experienced so many apneas in a short time. (Of course we can't know that for sure, hindsight being what it is.)

Glad you're still with us,
Jean
Thanks, Soothest. The initial chart I posted at the beginning of this thread was from April. It seems to point out oxygen deprivation caused by the minimum pressure set too low, but it was corrected a few days ago by a couple of people on this site -- thank goodness. Below is last night's data from last night showing a vast improvement (pressure settings AND a chin strap). Wonderful helps at this website!!!

Curiosity lead me to ask about the older chart. I don't understand why I didn't pull off the mask because I wasn't getting enough air. Hopefully, the answers to this question will help newer members.

Image

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Machine: ResMed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet™ CPAP Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
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Last edited by DeeCPAP on Sun Jun 11, 2017 8:34 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Pugsy
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Re: Sleeping one hour without breathing for 22 minutes

Post by Pugsy » Sun Jun 11, 2017 8:09 am

Be careful when posting old charts and make it very clear that you have changed the settings since the old chart because not all people will know your history and probably won't even look at the date on the report and you will get the "change your pressure" response like you have here from a couple of people.

As to that ugly cluster....I suspect that there are times that your old minimum pressure of 5 worked well and times it didn't and the times it didn't the failure was very significant.

Now we wonder why the failure...and the 2 most common culprits when that happens are Supine Sleeping and REM stage sleep or maybe even a combination of the 2.. That's pretty much it in terms of causes for the rather dramatic need for more pressure.

So it came at the end of the night where we tend to have more REM anyway so maybe it was REM related...or maybe you were on your back and in REM too...or maybe just on your back.
We can't tell for sure which it was and since there's a good chance it's REM related and while we can some times control back sleeping we have no control over REM and I figure might as well just use settings that will cover all potentials and be done with it.

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DeeCPAP
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Re: Sleeping one hour without breathing for 22 minutes

Post by DeeCPAP » Sun Jun 11, 2017 11:47 am

Pugsy wrote:Be careful when posting old charts and make it very clear that you have changed the settings since the old chart because not all people will know your history and probably won't even look at the date on the report and you will get the "change your pressure" response like you have here from a couple of people.

As to that ugly cluster....I suspect that there are times that your old minimum pressure of 5 worked well and times it didn't and the times it didn't the failure was very significant.

Now we wonder why the failure...and the 2 most common culprits when that happens are Supine Sleeping and REM stage sleep or maybe even a combination of the 2.. That's pretty much it in terms of causes for the rather dramatic need for more pressure.

So it came at the end of the night where we tend to have more REM anyway so maybe it was REM related...or maybe you were on your back and in REM too...or maybe just on your back.
We can't tell for sure which it was and since there's a good chance it's REM related and while we can some times control back sleeping we have no control over REM and I figure might as well just use settings that will cover all potentials and be done with it.
Pugsy, thanks again! I owe you a lot for all your advice and alleviating a lot of my obstructive apneas by explaining the importance of increasing the minimum pressure. I also learned sleeping on my back causes apneas. (I took a short nap today *without* the tape on my mouth and sleeping on one side and it worked well because I didn't turn over.

As for sleeping on the back, last month I tried the tennis balls, but it hurt when I rolled over. I suppose if the balls are used a lot, one learns NOT to roll over to avoid the pain, but because of a problematic shoulder, I can't sleep on one side all night.

Things are getting better, but another hint for people who aren't sleeping long enough (and maybe this needs a post of its own), I tried Sleepy Time (by Celestial Seasonings) when I woke up after only five hours of sleep. I drank the tea, it made me sleepy, and was able to go back to sleep for another hour or so. I was surprised it worked! I'm sure I sound like an advertisement now, but this may help folks who needs that additional sleep.

Lastly, I sent a friend, who also uses a CPAP to this webpage. He had told me he felt like he'd been on a battlefield all night. He discovered his minimum pressure was set too low, too. So like I said, this page and the helpful people are absolute angels. Even though I'm not a particularly religious person, I believe people are blessed when they help others. Sarcasm can drive a lot of people away when they may be in dire need of help and could literally die without getting correct information. Sarcastic or nasty replies drive people away (this is a hint to those people!). Pugsy, you're one of the gems who put me on the right track. I can't thank you enough, Pugsy!

_________________
Machine: ResMed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet™ CPAP Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Mask: DreamWear Nasal CPAP Mask with Headgear
Humidifier: XT Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: My headgear varies (STILL!)
Resmed S9 with humidifier and in need of the right mask.