ResScan software trick

Hi Folks,
Probably everyone knows this, but I didn't so I thought I'd share it in the spirit of giving back some of what I have learned from this forum.

When I look at the detailed graphs of my apneas, all the lollipops are on top of each other and you can't really see them. (graph set on 8 hours) I set my graph on 30 minutes and then scrolled sideways and all the lollipops were separated. In the first hour I had 6 from 11 seconds to 26 and then I had 1 of 11 seconds about 3 hours later.

Now that I know this, I'm going to try to figure out why almost all of my apneas occur in the first hour of sleep.

Ed

I am sure you know all this, but just in case . . .

I think I remember reading a post by someone smart that said if you use the ramp feature for until you fall asleep, then the apneas and hypopneas that occur as you fall asleep don't count against you. But I don't know if they still show up in the graphs. Either way, I believe that apneas that occur just as you fall asleep are very common even in the general population, since the body is sort of switching breathing mechanisms from the awake version to the sleep version and it takes some time to transition. (Gross oversimplification, probably, but it's a way of looking at it.) Anyway, apneas that occur as you fall asleep may not be something you want to attempt to treat, if that is what you are seeing.

The one of 11 seconds long three hours later is barely an apnea and likely occurred as you entered REM sleep, since that stage of sleep can often come, or be attempted, about every 90 minutes or so. You probably didn't even desaturate. So again, no real biggie, I don't think.

Only an opinion. Maybe it will spark others.

Good tip on the ResScan. It is odd when you see lollipops on top of lollipops!

Good info on the first hour JNK, thanks. One more step on my way up the mountain.

What I'm really working on is that, with everything the same from one night to the next, one night my AHI will be 14.2 and the next 1.2. (Most of the time it's around 5) Looking at caffine, other foods, stress, physical tiredness, etc.

Ed

All of those things can have an effect. Eating late. Taking a harmless over-the-counter med. Etc.

Large swings like that can be position-related, too. Sleep on your side if you can.

With a ResMed, the main thing to watch is AI, not so much AHI. Hitting 14 should make you think, yes, but if you have a night of shallow breathing, a ResMed will rack up points all night like a pin-ball machine.

If your AI is consistently below 2 (best to get it below 1 if you can), that's pretty good, in general. The rest is experimentation and small tweaks to squeeze the last bit of treatment out of your machine. If you feel worse after a night with high AHI, that's worth taking note of. If on the other hand you don't, then just have fun tweaking. But be sure to ask yourself how you feel BEFORE you look at your numbers, not after. I don't know about you, but my mind is too suggestible if I look at the numbers before asking myself how I feel!