Help w/data and brain fog

[nightcrawler]

Hi there,
I posted yesterday about brain fog. Most were wondering about the data. I've finally got the memory card. I need help knowing what this means and how SleepyHead can help set up my machine. Some of this might be a bit off, as I just switched to a nasal pillow three nights ago-couldn't handle the full face anymore.
Thank you!
Details Most Recent Last 7 Days
AHI 4.67 5.75
Hours per Night 05:33 07:00
Average Pressure 8.48 7.53
95% Pressure 9.00 11.00
Average Total Leaks 50.61 45.73
95% Total Leaks 57.00 59.00

[Pugsy]

What are your minimum and maximum pressure settings?

[nightcrawler]

7.5 &12

[Pugsy]

5 hours 1 night and 7 hours the other night.

Do you wake up often during those hours?

Which one is probably your average number of hours on the machine and hopefully asleep?

[nightcrawler]

I would say that I'm averaging 7 hours of sleep and I wake up 3 times. I only wake for a brief period usually, but sometimes like last night it's for 30min or so.

[jweeks]

I would say that I'm averaging 7 hours of sleep and I wake up 3 times. I only wake for a brief period usually, but sometimes like last night it's for 30min or so.

Hi,

Since you are new to this, it would be nice to see you get a little more sleep time. Doing one more REM cycle, perhaps another 90 minutes or so, might be helpful. Getting as much sleep as possible early on is helpful.

It would be nice to see the graphs from SleepyHead. Your AHI is on the high side, with below 5 being the target, but with many folks needing even lower AHI numbers to feel good. It would be important to know when the events happen, and what type of events are being recorded. It would also be good to note what position you typically sleep in since those might be correlated with the events.

-john-

[Pugsy]

Seeing the graphs would help because we would then have sort of an idea if the events are maybe in clusters.
Otherwise ditto to what jweeks said.

Also..do you have a copy of your sleep study results? If not you might request them because there might be something that stands out....like if your OSA is worse on your back or maybe in REM sleep (both are common)

I noticed quite a change in how I felt when I cut my AHI of 5.0 in half...you may need to reduce it a little more.

Also...OP has been taking an OTC sleep aid which might account for daytime sleepiness and fog...so he is going to discontinue it and see what happens.

If you don't know how to post an image of your daily report...this thread talks about how to do it.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=81072&p=737779#p737779

[Otter]

Also...OP has been taking an OTC sleep aid which might account for daytime sleepiness and fog...so he is going to discontinue it and see what happens.

Which one?

[Pugsy]

Which one?

Melatonin 2.5...he's been on it for a while. It might be a contributing factor..might not.
But won't hurt to remove it and check it out.

I am wondering if he is like me....worse in REM sleep and maybe having some clusters...overall AHI doesn't look horrible because of periods of time with no events causing the average to be lower. Might also be same thing with supine sleeping.
Need to see the pattern of events to have an idea though.
Once I broke up my clusters (with a little more minimum pressure) the AHI went from 5. something to 2 something and I could tell a difference...I was still having the OSA headaches and frequent urination at AHI of 5. to 6...went away when AHI was cut in half.

[Otter]

I am wondering if he is like me....worse in REM sleep and maybe having some clusters...overall AHI doesn't look horrible because of periods of time with no events causing the average to be lower. Might also be same thing with supine sleeping.

Yeah, even a small number of events can mess you up if they're wrecking your REM sleep.

Once I broke up my clusters (with a little more minimum pressure) the AHI went from 5. something to 2 something and I could tell a difference...I was still having the OSA headaches and frequent urination at AHI of 5. to 6...went away when AHI was cut in half.

[Otter]

Which one?

Melatonin 2.5...he's been on it for a while. It might be a contributing factor..might not.
But won't hurt to remove it and check it out.

One downside to chronic melatonin use is that it might lower your morning cortisol levels. Besides being a catabolic and stress hormone, cortisol helps set our circadian cycle.

Nightcrawler, if you want to go back on melatonin at some point, consider a smaller dose. Most people's bodies only make 3 mg of melatonin every 24 hours, so 2.5 mg is a lot. If 300 mcg ( 0.3 mg) doesn't do it, it's probably worth thinking about your serotonin levels. Melatonin is a metabolite of serotonin, and melatonin can be converted back to serotonin if needed. Hence if you can't keep enough melatonin in your blood to stay sleepy, you may be low on serotonin.

If you think your serotonin levels are low, or you get tested and know they are, the herb hypericum (aka St John's wort) and the amino acid L-tryptophan are OTC remedies that should help. They can be safely taken together, but be cautious with either one if you also take an SSRI antidepressant. I'd definitely start with hypericum and tryptophan instead of an SSRI drug, as homicidal mania is a known (albeit rare) side effect, and withdrawal can be quite intense. It's easier to find the right level with the OTC remedies anyway.

If you can't get L-tryptophan, you may be able to find its metabolite, 5HTP. I find that tryptophan feels better and works better than 5HTP, but everyone is different.

Do you have creases running the long way through your finger pads, Nightcrawler?