Keeping a log

[Gilley]

I know a lot of you use the software to track events etc. But do any of you keep a log or journal of how you feel /felt ? If so do you find it helpful?
Thanks,
Gilley

[Cosette]

I don't have software, yet, but keep track of the machine readings daily on the screen and make comments about which mask I've used and what the night was like. It is useful when compared with the download of my chip.

[SleepingUgly]

I know a lot of you use the software to track events etc. But do any of you keep a log or journal of how you feel /felt ? If so do you find it helpful?
Thanks,
Gilley

Yes, I do, and no I don't. Not enough anyway. I am still varying so many things (masks, settings on the machine), then there are the other variables (amount of time slept, # of awakenings, etc.). I'm actually contemplating setting up an excel spreadsheet and entering data and analyzing it. I'm also contemplating quitting CPAP, and I haven't decided yet which I'm going to do.

[KatieW]

I know a lot of you use the software to track events etc. But do any of you keep a log or journal of how you feel /felt ? If so do you find it helpful?
Thanks,
Gilley

Yes, I keep a daily journal. At bedtime I write down the temperature and humidity in the bedroom whether I'm using my room humidifier, mask and cpap settings (if I've changed them), humidifier setting, any meds I took, eg for allergies or cold. In the morning, I look at the LCD Screen and write down: useage hours, leaks, AHI, AI, HI. And, if it's significant, how I slept, problems I had, etc.

I have found it extremely helpful to track what works and doesn't work for me. Sometimes it takes a few days to see changes.

[GaryG]

From the software, at least in ResScan, there is a Notes Section. I jot down notes there as to how clear my nostrils are in the AM, what mask I was using, if I changed anything, how I felt, what I ate if unusual, etc. Over time is can be very helpful.

[Scarlet834]

When I was very new I tracked every day in my ITouch how awake I felt in the morning and through the day along with AHI and leaks and any special factors influencing the day (work stress, trouble getting to sleep). Now (5 months into therapy) I only track exceptionally good or bad nights/days either in the Ipod or as a note when I download data.

I've started having allergy problems so the notes are becoming useful again as I work through it. Just spent two very restless nights. Downloads confirmed it--which is probably good, as I would be a bit perplexed if the data and the experience didn't match.

Anyway, yes, the "how am I doing" log has been helpful.

[DoninOrlando]

I keep a detailed spreadsheet daily. I note mask used, leak rate, tightness of straps, pressure, humidity, AHI, Hi, Ai, Snores, Afrin or other meds, and general notes. I also have 2 data columns I call "good hours" and "bad hour". I look at the charts, and a clear hour with less than 3 events of short duration are counted as good hours. An hour with multiple events, is counted as a bad hour. Example: an 8 hour day may be 6-7 under good and 1-2 under bad, etc... I find this more helpful than overall AHI. Sometimes one bad hour will give a high AHI and snore index for the entire nite. But if I see I got 7 good hours, I will likely feel good all day and the high AHI will not concern me as much. ALso, sometimes I have lower AHI, but scattered events in every hour causing poor sleep. So even with a low AHI, if events caused me to wake several time, I may only get 4-5 good hours and usually feel tired early evening.

Obviously I still always strive for improvement. But i like to know even on a not so good night I had some effective sleep and will not neccesarily be a zombie later.
Don

[mars]

Hi All

My daily log-keeping is described at -

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=47236&p=425986&hili ... ap#p425986

cheers

Mars

[SleepingUgly]

I also have 2 data columns I call "good hours" and "bad hour". I look at the charts, and a clear hour with less than 3 events of short duration are counted as good hours. An hour with multiple events, is counted as a bad hour. Example: an 8 hour day may be 6-7 under good and 1-2 under bad, etc...

This is an interesting idea... So I understand... Are you saying that if you sleep 8 hours, and there are 2 hours with multiple events, you put 2 under the Bad column, and a 6 under the Good column? Is there a criteria you use for how many events is too many?

How do you know the duration of the events?

[Komodo]

I've kept a daily log since day one.

The software is good, but for me, my log is easier to plot my therapy.

[DoninOrlando]

I also have 2 data columns I call "good hours" and "bad hour". I look at the charts, and a clear hour with less than 3 events of short duration are counted as good hours. An hour with multiple events, is counted as a bad hour. Example: an 8 hour day may be 6-7 under good and 1-2 under bad, etc...

This is an interesting idea... So I understand... Are you saying that if you sleep 8 hours, and there are 2 hours with multiple events, you put 2 under the Bad column, and a 6 under the Good column? Is there a criteria you use for how many events is too many?

How do you know the duration of the events?

Sleeping
Generally more than 2-3 events of any kind in an hour is too many but that is up to each person to decide. My pretreated AHI was 69 so although I may have an overall AHI of 10 some nights, if I had 7 hours well under 5, I consider is a good night. I am just not one of the lucky ones who can put on a mask and all is perfect so I have to strive for what I can for now. But my goal is to have as many good hours of efective sleep each night. Generally I need 6+ to feel ok and 7+ to feel optimal. Any more is just gravy. As for the duration I get all the data from the software. The software is the source but the spreadsheet is where i analyze changes and compare to other nights.
Don

[SleepingUgly]

Hmmm... I don't see anything on the PR System One data that indicates the duration of events... I must be missing something, as I don't know why it would be on the M Series and not the System One...

[DoninOrlando]

Hmmm... I don't see anything on the PR System One data that indicates the duration of events... I must be missing something, as I don't know why it would be on the M Series and not the System One...

Sleeping, I think you are missing my point. I'm sure you have the same data I do. If you want to see the exact number of seconds in Apnia or Hypopnias, you will have to switch machines and software as Respironics does not provide the exact seconds in each indiviual event. Perhaps instead of duration I should have said short number of events. But I was referring to the idea that if I had only 1-2 events I likely spent less time in apnia than 10 events and could still feel ok about that hour. Technically you are correct that I do not know exactly how many seconds each apnia lasted. I don't care as I cannot change that. I can only try to reduce the number of them. I'm not sure how to reduce the duration of each, short of switching to an auto.
Perhaps an example will better explain what I am saying.

In this example, I can assume I had 5-6 good hours and 1-2 bad hours, depending on how you want to count it.
Obviously I do not know the length of the Apnia(s) in hour 2 or 6 above. But if it was longer than a few minutes, I would be dead. Therefore since it appears to be a single event, I can assume it was a short one, compared to an hour. So in my mind, those are good hours. If all my hours are like those, I feel great. Also, although the group of Apneas in hour 3 are actually a string of events and not one long one (again, I would be dead), I think anyone would agree this hour was not successfully treated and can be assumed a bad hour. I do not need to know the length of each event to know this. Even if every event was short, this is a bad hour. If every even was long, it is worse. But I do not have degrees of good or bad on my spreadsheet.
I am not saying the length of events is not important, but I do not need to know that to differentiate a good hour from a bad hour for my purposes. These are all apnias, and the summary will also tell you the length of time spent in apnia if that is important to you. If I understand it correctly, an Apnia is where your airway or breathing is blocked. By nature it cannot be too long or you would die. (You would hopefully wake first) A hypopnia could last longer, but my HI is always low so am not concerned with that.
Don

[SleepingUgly]

Ah, I see from your graph what you mean. If there's a whole bunch in a row, it looks like a block, rather than like individual tallies.

I tend to have what look like tallies spread across the night, with not many hours without tallies, and not many hours where they are clustered nonstop so close together like yours.

[DoninOrlando]

Ah, I see from your graph what you mean. If there's a whole bunch in a row, it looks like a block, rather than like individual tallies.

I tend to have what look like tallies spread across the night, with not many hours without tallies, and not many hours where they are clustered nonstop so close together like yours.

Sleeping, You may be better off in some ways as the multiple events clustered is likely more damaging than events spread out as you describe. The only advantage, if you can call it that, is that I do have some perfect and some almost perfect hours so I am getting some good sleep. I am guessing my clusters are either positional ( back sleeping), or something caused by rem sleep like face changes and jaw dropping. I never intentionally sleep on my back, and rarely wake that way, but several on here have suggested that is a good possibilty. Also, I usually have leaks correlating to those clusters. I used to assume the leaks were causing the clusters but now am thinking the other way around and perhaps when in rem, something happens to cause leaks. Which came first ? Chicken or the Egg ?