Exhale pressure versus Hypopneas

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
n3kf
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Joined: Sat Aug 17, 2013 11:20 am

Exhale pressure versus Hypopneas

Post by n3kf » Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:14 pm

I'm probably worried about nothing but here goes. My AHI typically runs from .5 to 2.0. Last night it was 11.9 and naturally I feel wasted today. Not sick and not stuffy nose. I have a DS1 ASV cause I have mixed apneas. Last night I had 2 obstructive apneas and 66 Hypopneas. My biggest issue is usually Hypopneas. My EPAP min is set at 4 and EPAP Max is set at 8. Typically EPAP is usually in the 5.5 to 6 range. Last night, every time I woke up, which was more then normal, EPAP was at 8 and my mask had a small leak. I hit ramp to lower pressure and get back to sleep. Now one night does not make a trend. But if this continues, can a higher then normal EPAP set off Hypopneas? My guess is for whatever reason these were probably central Hypopneas. But I don't think there is a way to figure it out. Is there a menu in Oscar where I can see the length of each Hypopnea? I don't plan to make changes unless this continues but trying to figure out why I have many more Hypopneas at higher EPAP. This is a trend, but it's usually something that's isn't too bad (AHI under 5). Thanks for any thoughts

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palerider
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Re: Exhale pressure versus Hypopneas

Post by palerider » Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:21 pm

n3kf wrote:
Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:14 pm
can a higher then normal EPAP set off Hypopneas?
You have cause and effect backwards. hypopneas cause a higher than 'normal' EPAP, as the machine responds to your breathing problems.
n3kf wrote:
Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:14 pm
My guess is for whatever reason these were probably central Hypopneas.
There's no way to know, since the machine doesn't test for an airway being occluded with a hypopnea.
n3kf wrote:
Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:14 pm
But I don't think there is a way to figure it out. Is there a menu in Oscar where I can see the length of each Hypopnea?
click the events tab, and you can look at each one. the number in brackets however, is not the length, you'll have to look at them to determine that.
n3kf wrote:
Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:14 pm
I don't plan to make changes unless this continues but trying to figure out why I have many more Hypopneas at higher EPAP. This is a trend, but it's usually something that's isn't too bad (AHI under 5). Thanks for any thoughts
Sounds like your minEPAP is too low anyway.

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Pugsy
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Re: Exhale pressure versus Hypopneas

Post by Pugsy » Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:27 pm

Respironics machines have never given an exact measurement of any event duration.
They simply don't record that data point.
Now there is a "marker" system that will end up giving us a close approximation of event duration but it isn't perfect.
If you open OSCAR and click on the EVENTS tab you will see the categories of flagged events and if you click on hyponeas you will see a list of all the flagged hyponeas along with the time they got flagged and in parentheses a number that is a close approximation to event duration.

Remember that hyponeas have to last at least 10 seconds to earn a flag and you might see 7, 8 or 9 in parentheses.
Obviously you can't earn a flag with an 8 second duration event but if you click on the actual event flagged the graphs on the right will zoom in and you can actually manually count the duration of the event.

So...it's real close but not perfect...and don't freak out if you see an unusually high number in parentheses because sometimes those markers get all screwed up and it reports large numbers but if you go manually count the duration...not prolonged at all.
I have seen reports where it shows 3 minute (180) second hyponeas and when manually counted the event really only lasted 15 seconds.
So it isn't perfect but for the most part very close.

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n3kf
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Re: Exhale pressure versus Hypopneas

Post by n3kf » Tue Oct 26, 2021 1:28 pm

Thanks Palerider and Pugsy for the replies. Fortunately that was just a single night and I had a ton of hypopneas that were just over the 10 second threshold. I had been experiencing some nasal stuffiness. But I am a shallow breather and maybe that can also be seen as a hypopnea sometimes. I also periodically stop breathing (centrals) during the day (kind of leaves me gasping for air). I go through ebs and rises with those also. The weird things with the night time hypopneas is that there isn't any indication of an increase in breaths per minute or the like. It's like I'm just breathing very shallow. Weird stuff. But as I am back to status quo, I won't worry about it. Thanks again.

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