Finally can read my data - Help

[DaleK]

Well, after jumping through hoops I got my card reader and can finally read my data. I still have to figure out how to clip the reports into a post, but am sure I can sort that out eventually. The detailed reports match how I am feeling, which is quite a different from the DME telling me that my numbers (summary only) are "minimal". My good nights are indeed good all night. Almost no apneas, no leaks, and few hypopneas. On my bad nights, however, I am having clusters of events, both apneas and hypopneas, from about midnight to 3 am. Last night my hourly AHI peaked at 30 at midnight, but was 10.9 overall. I see several apneas of over 40 seconds, all in a cluster, and the most startling thing is no leaks even through all that mess. The apneas surprised me. Even on the good nights I sometimes (not all the time) have a cluster of a few short apneas all together, and my hypopneas tend to be clustered. So far I can't find anything different between my good and bad nights. Leaks are about the same, pressure too.

I figure something is happening in the deep stages of sleep, but just I don't know what. One night will be great and the next two terrible. Things were going along fine for 18 months until about a month ago, when everything just started to go wonky. Over that month I have gradually titrated my pressure up higher 0.2 at a time (starting at 6.2 and got up to 9.2), and then put it back down again. I am having these events at the lower and higher pressure. I have consistently slept on my back, so it isn't starting on my side and then rolling on my back. Other things I have changed:
- been on Nasonex for a month
- stronger mouth tape (I like that blue painter's tape)
- strengthened my chin strap
- tonight I will try a new mask

Any thoughts from the experts? I just don't know what else to try.

DaleK

[tattooyu]

I think I'll leave this one up to the veteran experts, but I do want to wish you luck in finding a quick solution.

[roster]

......... On my bad nights, however, I am having clusters of events, both apneas and hypopneas, from about midnight to 3 am. ........

Sounds like it could be positional sleep apnea (PSA). See viewtopic/t43360/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=43 ... 79#p384179 .

Also, why don't you give up the tape and begin using a full face mask like the civilized world uses?

[DaleK]

Thanks Rooster! I am going to try a hybrid.

[roster]

Have you considered that you may have PSA?

[jdm2857]

I have consistently slept on my back, so it isn't starting on my side and then rolling on my back.

I think Dale was ruling out PSA with this sentence.

[cinco777]

A few months back, I discovered that I have Positional Sleep Apnea. I never sleep on my back - I trained myself not to before CPAP. However, If I ?sleep? on my back, Forget It! Two weeks ago, I did an experiment and ?slept? on my back for about an hour (at a pressure of 10, 2 higher than my normal pressure). I had 24 Apneas! I slept on my back to collect some data for analysis - I don't plan to do that again for a long while!

I also try to sleep on my left side as much as I can, as I discovered that I experience higher numbers of Apneas and Hypopneas when I sleep on my right side. Sleeping on my left side, my average AHI is less than 0.5 (over the past two months). On my right side, my average AHI is 2X - 4X higher. I was sleeping on my right side for 1/3 of the night so that my neck wouldn't get sore. For the past few weeks, I try to sleep on my left side for the entire night. I'm taking an extra Tylenol at night to keep my neck pain at bay.

Based on my experiences and from reading about similar experiences of others on this forum, I believe that everyone having higher AHIs or less restful sleep than they are willing to accept should track their sleep position versus their AHI number. You may learn that you have positional sleep apnea. You may be able to train yourself to sleep in a certain position, as a change in sleeping position may be a small price to pay for a more restful sleep. The price for me is an extra Tylenol at night (now taking 3/night instead of 2/night).

[DaleK]

Based on my experiences and from reading about similar experiences of others on this forum, I believe that everyone having higher AHIs or less restful sleep than they are willing to accept should track their sleep position versus their AHI number. You may learn that you have positional sleep apnea.

Thanks everyone for the input. No arguments with this quote, but the good parts of my night are when I know I am on my back - the first few and last few hours. I am waking up after the bad clusters and will pay more conscious attention to my position then. I have other problems with sleeping on my side so have trained myself over the years to sleep on my back.