What am I looking at?

[jwood0087]

Hey, new user some of you may already know me.

I just got a card reader so I can look at the graphs from last night and the night before. This was last night.

http://imgur.com/a/ALcde

Can someone tell me what I'm looking at? I remember adjusting the mask at some point because I woke up and was drooling on myself so I remember there being an air leak at one point.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thank you,
Jwood

[Pugsy]

Can you hide the calendar and turn off the pie chart (Preferences/Appearance tab and remove check mark for show pie chart).
They are hiding the AHI bar graphs.

What you are looking at...read this and see if some things clear up and come back with specific questions if you need further explanation or clarification.
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... SleepyHead
and I have a little tutorial at the top of the Announcements section.

What position do you normally sleep in? You've got a little clustering of apnea events going on and a truckload of snores. During that time frame your pressure wasn't sufficient to keep the airway open optimally.
Were you by chance on your back during that time frame?

[jwood0087]

Can you hide the calendar and turn off the pie chart (Preferences/Appearance tab and remove check mark for show pie chart).
They are hiding the AHI bar graphs.

What you are looking at...read this and see if some things clear up and come back with specific questions if you need further explanation or clarification.
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... SleepyHead
and I have a little tutorial at the top of the Announcements section.

What position do you normally sleep in? You've got a little clustering of apnea events going on and a truckload of snores. During that time frame your pressure wasn't sufficient to keep the airway open optimally.
Were you by chance on your back during that time frame?

I usually sleep on my side or stomach, although sleeping on my stomach with the mask I have is more challenging than I thought it would be based on the hose position. (I have a mask not listed on our list). I definitely snore heavily and I suspected I needed a higher pressure which may also have something to do with why I woke up.

Most times I don't remember waking up.

I haven't actually met with my doctor to go over my home sleep study yet, but I meet with him tomorrow actually. I'm fired up to actually be getting somewhere with this. And yes, when I get home I'll turn off the calendar and the pie chart. Thank you for your input.

[Pugsy]

The 2 most common reasons for needing more pressure sometimes are supine sleeping and/or REM sleep or a little of both.
The timing of the cluster is a little early for REM but not necessarily impossible for it to have been REM.

When you talk to your doctor make sure to ask if your OSA is worse in REM or when you are sleeping on your back. My OSA is worse in REM...like 5 times worse. Both REM and supine sleeping are quite common for making OSA worse. Knowing if yours is that way might help with understanding what you are seeing on the reports.
For some people when they have times where more pressure is needed for a short period of time (like REM) it is handy to use auto adjusting pressures (apap) so they can use a lower pressure for the periods of time when lower gets the job done and only use higher when need...let the machine sort it out.
A good argument for apap over cpap.

You may or may not need a lot more to better prevent those snores and events (whatever the cause of the worsening).
It might be that just 1 cm more would do the job quite nicely or you might be like me and need about 6 cm more.
Increasing cpap fixed pressures 1 cm isn't so bad....but for me it meant I would have to use 16 or 17 cm all night instead of around 10...not much fun so I opted for apap so I only would be using the higher pressure during the REM time which is only about 20% of the night.

Something to talk to your doctor about.

[jwood0087]

Awesome, thank you so much. I've kinda figured that I needed more pressure during rem because I haven't dreamed in a while. I have done plenty of research and thought an Apap machine would be a good option just based on how they work, and was going to ask for one, but after this, I will definitely discuss it with the doc. I feel like I'm actually getting somewhere now that I have this forum to help me with my sleep results.

[palerider]

I needed more pressure during rem because I haven't dreamed in a while.

you *can* dream in any sleep stage, depending on how desperate your brain is for whatever benefit that dreaming gives it.

remembering dreams is a sign that your sleep is disturbed, because your brain can't form memories while sleeping, the only dreams you remember are those where you wake up either during it, or immediately afterwards, otherwise the dream fades away rapidly.

[jwood0087]

Super frustrated . So I had my home sleep study done last Wednesday, 2/22. I turned in the machine and the information the very next morning 2/23. I asked how long it would take before the results were given to me and they said normally it takes 2 weeks, but that since they were slow, they would have it done the next day. I called the following day, Friday, 2/24, and they said that the results had been processed and now it's up to my doctor to call me "read the results" to me.

So I called them Friday, and they said they didn't have them yet and it was okay to try back Monday. Monday I called and they basically said to stop calling and that the doctor would go over the results with me on my appointment on Thursday, 3/2. I just got a call from the office saying they needed to reschedule, that they don't have the results yet, and I said that it was strange considering the sleep study place processed it on Friday. She told me it takes them 10 days to get the results. I said what is taking so long? I asked if I could get the results from the sleep place and fax them to the doctors and she said it doesn't work like that. I tried to explain my frustration that this has been going on for the better part of my life and that knowing finally what's going on, I'd like to get the damn results of the study and get a titration and get this moving so I can be at the proper pressure and move forward for the love of GOD.

They don't seem to care and there's "nothing they can do". I'm not sure what I'm looking for here just super frustrated. Before the Doc has even read my results, I've obtained a CPAP machine from a family friend, started using it, gotten a card reader, started using sleepyhead, got a new mask. The doctors and insurance company take so damn long it's a miracle if I ever get better based on how fcking long they take.

[Julie]

FWIW no one but your doctor is legally allowed to give results...

[Pugsy]

You are getting acceptable therapy now at the current set up. It's pretty darn good for doing all this so far on your own.
Your AHI was 2.22...that's quite acceptable and only one little cluster which isn't horrible.
The snores are ugly but unless you are seeing a lot of them like this one each and every night then it is not something that is urgent to do anything about.

What is the model of your PR System One Pro? 450 or 460?
If it's a 460 there may be some apap mode available for you to try and then you can let the machine see what it wants to do with those snores and OA clusters.

[jwood0087]

FWIW no one but your doctor is legally allowed to give results...

I mean I guess that kind of helps? I was basically under the impression that once the sleep lab processed the study, my Doctor would CALL ME and go over them over the phone to expedite the process and get a titration test scheduled. It just feels like they're dragging their feet and don't seem to give a crap about how awful I've been feeling and how badly I want to feel better.

[OkyDoky]

Regarding calling with results, even if they did, it might not have changed the timing of things. Medicare requires a face to face with the doctor within a certain time frame prior to them paying for the machine. And a lot of insurances also follow their guidelines. So the doctor's office is trying to make sure that if prescribed a machine will be covered.

[Rob K]

It's been my experience most people don't have a clue how debilitating sleep deprivation can be. Even the doctors and DME's helping you set up your machine don't often have a clue since they have never experienced it themselves. It's even worse when you appear to be healthy. If you turned a different color or all your hair fell out they might speed things up.

The best thing to do if you have not done so is tell them you are really suffering and ask what is taking so long. If they are waiting on insurance you may be able to help speed up the process by contacting your insurance company. Maybe not though since insurance can be painstakingly slow.

In hind sight it does seem excessively long. With both my sleep studies I'm pretty sure they went over results, at least briefly, with me before I even left the lab the next morning.