Beginning to Tire & Doze Off Again

[Robear]

My pressure had been 8 for months, but I had struggled with adjusting to CPAP. Mask fit had become pretty consistent around 100%, but AHI, etc seemed to be "all over the ballpark". Ever since day-1 (May 2015) I've had dry mouth problems. I made a doctor's appt at the end of January & she upped the pressure to 11. Then everything was "all over the ballpark". Mask fit ranged from 5% to 100%.

So I decided that I needed to take charge. I first reduced pressure to 10, but AHI shot up to 20.3 (by far my worst ever), so that lasted only 3 days. Using recommendations of Rubysue & Palerider, I changed the pressure to AFlex (10-20). YABADABADOO!! Big improvement . . . my numbers looked much better & best of all, I felt good!

But then about a week ago, I began to doze off occasionally watching TV & generally feeling more tired during the day, etc . . . similar (but not as bad) as pre-CPAP.

Below is a section of my spread sheet of my SleepMapper numbers. Hopefully, that will give a general picture of the last month. I want to show SleepyHead info, but only what's needed w/o the clutter of unneeded stuff.

What, specifically, should I post from SleepyHead?

[Julie]

Hi, there's no leak rate data there, and I question it because sometimes when you raise pressure, it will cause your mouth to open more. I know you have a FF mask, but if it's not sealing 100% (which would be unlikely anyhow), you could be losing more therapy than you would at a lower pressure... but I'll let others comment on the rest.

[Robear]

Hi, there's no leak rate data there . . .

Thanks, Julie, for your reply. There is a Mask Fit % column . . . which shows mostly as 100. Not shown is the "Large Leak %" (0 when mask fit is 100).

I know that there's not nearly enough info shown, but I didn't want to show all SH data for a month or even a week. That would be a lot of data. It's my guess that some would be irrelevant to this situation. I want to omit some of the SH "trees" so that the forest can be seen by those in the know.

Also not mentioned . . . only because I forgot when posting . . . I seem to be sleeping restlessly lately, or maybe I'm dreaming more & it just seems that way.

[robysue]

Below is a section of my spread sheet of my SleepMapper numbers. Hopefully, that will give a general picture of the last month. I want to show SleepyHead info, but only what's needed w/o the clutter of unneeded stuff.

What, specifically, should I post from SleepyHead?

It's a pain in the butt, but posting some daily detailed data would be useful. When posting Daily Detailed Data, the most important things to include in the screenshot are:

• The left sidebar with all the summary data. Turn off the pie chart so that we can see the statistical data for the leak rate and the pressure. Minimize the calendar if you have to as well.
• The event table at the top if the graphs.
• The flow rate graph
• The pressure graph when you use Auto
• The leak graph

If we need additional daily data, someone will tell you which other graphs they want to see.

I would also post several nights worth of data. Try to post nights that show the full range of what's going on. Since you say things are "all over the place", be sure to include at least one of your "best" nights, some of the middling nights, and at least one or two of the worst nights.

If you are dealing with combinations like "good AHI, good leaks", "good AHI, bad leaks", "bad AHI, good leaks" and "bad AHI, bad leaks", post at least one example of each.

Since you are dealing with problems that vary from night to night over the long term, you might also want to post a picture of the Sleepy Head Overview graphs. Select the time frame of interest so we're not looking at data that you don't want analyzed. In a screen shot of the Sleepy Head Overview graphs, the most important ones to show are:

• AHI
• Large Leak and/or Leak Rate graphs, particularly if leaks are an issue
• Usage and Sessions, particularly if you are dealing with fragmented sleep, insomnia, and/or you are not using the machine every time you sleep.
• Pressure, if you are using APAP and your AHI is too high on many nights.

[palerider]

What, specifically, should I post from SleepyHead?

here it is, in pictures. also, be sure to follow the links on the bottom of each page: https://sleep.tnet.com/resources/sleepyhead/shorganize

[Robear]

My comment about things being "all over the place" was my attempt to show that things were awful from the beginning until fairly recently. Then when things seemed (to me) to have finally settled down somewhat with good results . . . low AHI & high mask fit (low leaks) AND I was sleeping soundly . . . suddenly, I seem to be drifting back to my pre-CPAP problems.

Hopefully, this will be enough to reveal problem areas.

[Julie]

Things actually look pretty good, so if you're not feeling it, there has to be another explanation. First - have you been checked by your GP recently, with lab work for e.g. Vit D, hormone levels, sugar, etc?

I wonder also if you're someone whose head inadvertently drops down once asleep and cuts off your airway to some extent? If so, have you tried a soft cervical collar to help out?

[IreneN]

What, specifically, should I post from SleepyHead?

here it is, in pictures. also, be sure to follow the links on the bottom of each page: https://sleep.tnet.com/resources/sleepyhead/shorganize

You know, I read these instructions over and over and over again...makes me wonder why they aren't the default screen layouts. (Probably not where this should be posted.)