Newbie Self Diagnosis - In Denial - AHI Question

[marktheshark]

Like this?

Yes, that's better on the pressure line... instead of looking all flat and having half of it taken up by the ramp (which doesn't tell us anything) we can see more of what the pressure's doing. I'm thinking a minimum of 12 *may* help with the bouncyness.

However, the flow rate chart is missing, LL flags (at least) are turned off (lower left corner of the graphs), and you don't need the snore chart, since it's blank. Could you arrange the sizes of the charts so that

Event Flags
Flow rate
Pressure
Leak Rate
Flow Limit

Neatly fill the space... and turn off the calendar.

This should do it, sorry I missed the arrangement again..

[palerider]

This should do it, sorry I missed the arrangement again..

No worries, I just pick on chart arrangement, because, in the end, it saves you time, instead of posting something next week and having someone say "hey, I need to see (something not on the chart)" and you having to re-do it.... you've already got everything that's needed 99% of the time... one simple shot

[marktheshark]

Does anyone know if any of the home sleep studies detect UARS?

[Pugsy]

Does anyone know if any of the home sleep studies detect UARS?

None that I know of.

[marktheshark]

Does anyone know if any of the home sleep studies detect UARS?

None that I know of.

Thanks for the reply. Honestly, I feel like I'm getting my butt kicked, I started this with optimization and once I started to learn about the machine data, I got even more optimistic that this is my problem and I could learn to love the machine if it improved my life and energy.

Sorry to vent, I just keep reliving the same nights based on sleepyhead data and how I feel. I'm struggling to sleep with a minimum pressure of 10 or 11 and continue to wake up several times per night and wake up to early most mornings. It's like no matter where I set the minimum pressure it doesnt look like it's changing anything. Right now I'm using the nasal pillows with a chin strap, that seems to keep my mouth shut, but still waking alot and my data looks exactly the same every night. I'm wondering if a full face mask would make a difference? I know this takes time, but I'm just runing out of steam.

[Pugsy]

So if you got a for sure diagnosis of UARS what would change for you? Please don’t read anything snarky into what I am saying. It’s not meant that way at all.

Would it help your mind deal with things better? That’s okay if you say yes. I actually understand the need for clear cut answers myself a lot more than some people might think. I don’t always get them but it doesn’t stop me from wanting them.

Is it possible that your insomnia is caused by something else?

[marktheshark]

So if you got a for sure diagnosis of UARS what would change for you? Please don’t read anything snarky into what I am saying. It’s not meant that way at all.

Would it help your mind deal with things better? That’s okay if you say yes. I actually understand the need for clear-cut answers myself a lot more than some people might think. I don’t always get them but it doesn’t stop me from wanting them.

Is it possible that your insomnia is caused by something else?

No offense taken

I guess It would be more convincing to me. I think when I wrote this I hit a wall and started going back to thinking my problems are from something else, even though I know my sleep is not right. I got discouraged with the amount of irritation that was coming from the chin guard and nasal pillows. I have tried several hybrid mask and none worked. I really like the one I have but I still am getting irritated at night in my nostril, not nearly as bad as before loosening the straps. I got some of the lansinoh to start using tonight. I guess I just keep looking at the data every day and thinking, what if this really isn't my problem? what if everyone who tried this would have increased pressure and that's not the problem? Probably unrealistic thinking, more tired thinking and desperate.

Thinking back to the beginning, I had problems getting the proper chin guard, then I was dealing with extreme nasal pain that I felt was waking me up, figured out the straps were too tight, so these 2 things, especially the nasal pillows could be my cause of waking. I think I underestimated the mild pain I was still having with the pillows. I tried the medium size and went back to large as it seemed better. Hopefully, the lansinoh will help, because that has been more of a problem then I led on to be.

I did sleep the last 3 nights without the machine, needless to say, I feel terrible having not used it!
I had quite a panic attack yesterday morning, rough night and drank too much coffee and that sent me spinning.

Having not used the machine for 3 nights, I can now say I have felt less anxiety over the past 60 days and felt less like I was jumping out of my skin during the day, those 2 things were daily norms. My wife always gets mad at me because I can never sit still, I have to keep moving from the moment I get up till at least 8pm. If I stop, I crash. So I just keep pushing, every day, 7 days a week. Thanks again for your help and to everyone else who has chimed in, I will keep going and try the new cream on my nose.

[zoocrewphoto]

I can't remember - have you tried any full face masks? You mentioned hybrids, but I don't remember if you tried any full face masks earlier. That would eliminate the need for a chin strap, and no pillows.

A lot of my improvements were more subtle, and I just realized after awhile that I had not had any bad dreams for awhile. That I wasn't answering "tired" every time somebody asked how I was, etc. And of course, missing a night, I felt like crap and all the old stuff came back, only the difference made it obvious. Before, I was just used to it.

[marktheshark]

I can't remember - have you tried any full face masks? You mentioned hybrids, but I don't remember if you tried any full face masks earlier. That would eliminate the need for a chin strap, and no pillows.

A lot of my improvements were more subtle, and I just realized after awhile that I had not had any bad dreams for awhile. That I wasn't answering "tired" every time somebody asked how I was, etc. And of course, missing a night, I felt like crap and all the old stuff came back, only the difference made it obvious. Before, I was just used to it.

Haven't tried the full mask yet, but am considering it.

What you say about sutle makes more sense to me now that I skip 3 nights, could definitely tell in a few little areas.

[zoocrewphoto]

I can't remember - have you tried any full face masks? You mentioned hybrids, but I don't remember if you tried any full face masks earlier. That would eliminate the need for a chin strap, and no pillows.

A lot of my improvements were more subtle, and I just realized after awhile that I had not had any bad dreams for awhile. That I wasn't answering "tired" every time somebody asked how I was, etc. And of course, missing a night, I felt like crap and all the old stuff came back, only the difference made it obvious. Before, I was just used to it.

Haven't tried the full mask yet, but am considering it.

What you say about sutle makes more sense to me now that I skip 3 nights, could definitely tell in a few little areas.

I would definitely give a full face mask a try. There are lots of styles, and while some people hate them, some of us love them. I normally breathe through my mask, so I knew I needed a full face mask. But if you are having trouble with pain in your nose, keeping the jaw shut, etc, then a full face mask may help you eliminate those as issues. It can be a little harder to fix leaks, but getting the right size, placing it in the right spot (not too high, not too low) will help a lot. Many people also use a liner. You can buy them or make them yourself.

When I first had my sleep study, I knew I snored, gasped, choked, etc. I had multiple bathroom breaks, but I've had that during the day all my life. So, I never considered that part an issue, just normal for me. I felt like my sleep was restful, and not that bad, except if I woke up gasping. The next night after the sleep study with titration, I slept at home like normal. The next day. I felt like crap. And I realized that I didn't feel any worse than normal. I just finally realized that normal was crap. I needed a night and day experience to see how bad my sleep had become over the years. I just thought it was part of getting older. I was fortunate, though, that my titration went really well. The tech fit my mask perfectly (took me 6 weeks and smaller headgear to master), and I slept for 5 hours straight, the first time I can remember. So, while it took me many weeks to repeat that at home, I had a taste of what good sleep felt like. It is a lot higher that master cpap if you didn't get a taste of success at the beginning.

[marktheshark]

I can't remember - have you tried any full face masks? You mentioned hybrids, but I don't remember if you tried any full face masks earlier. That would eliminate the need for a chin strap, and no pillows.

A lot of my improvements were more subtle, and I just realized after awhile that I had not had any bad dreams for awhile. That I wasn't answering "tired" every time somebody asked how I was, etc. And of course, missing a night, I felt like crap and all the old stuff came back, only the difference made it obvious. Before, I was just used to it.

Haven't tried the full mask yet, but am considering it.

What you say about sutle makes more sense to me now that I skip 3 nights, could definitely tell in a few little areas.

I would definitely give a full face mask a try. There are lots of styles, and while some people hate them, some of us love them. I normally breathe through my mask, so I knew I needed a full face mask. But if you are having trouble with pain in your nose, keeping the jaw shut, etc, then a full face mask may help you eliminate those as issues. It can be a little harder to fix leaks, but getting the right size, placing it in the right spot (not too high, not too low) will help a lot. Many people also use a liner. You can buy them or make them yourself.

When I first had my sleep study, I knew I snored, gasped, choked, etc. I had multiple bathroom breaks, but I've had that during the day all my life. So, I never considered that part an issue, just normal for me. I felt like my sleep was restful, and not that bad, except if I woke up gasping. The next night after the sleep study with titration, I slept at home like normal. The next day. I felt like crap. And I realized that I didn't feel any worse than normal. I just finally realized that normal was crap. I needed a night and day experience to see how bad my sleep had become over the years. I just thought it was part of getting older. I was fortunate, though, that my titration went really well. The tech fit my mask perfectly (took me 6 weeks and smaller headgear to master), and I slept for 5 hours straight, the first time I can remember. So, while it took me many weeks to repeat that at home, I had a taste of what good sleep felt like. It is a lot higher that master cpap if you didn't get a taste of success at the beginning.

Thank you for sharing! I will definitely look at the full mask.

[ethereal]

I haven't read the entire thread so sorry if I missed this but... how about getting an actual proper sleep study done so you can assess your situation correctly?

Yeah, you probably have sleep apnea based on what you think or what your wife thinks but self diagnosing always sucks. Also, AHI is not the full story, we would be interested to see things like how your blood oxygen saturation fares during the night.

As for you waking up multiple times in the night, that happened to me with the nasal pillow as my mouth kept opening. It looks like you have a chin strap but maybe your mouth is still opening.

I would look into a full face mask. I ditched my nasal pillow after 4 days on the trial and switched to the Dreamwear Full Face and haven't looked back. I seem to alternate between nasal breathing and mouth breathing.

Get a study if you haven't already, everything else is just guess work.

Edit: Looking at some of your data from page 8 (where you were waking up 6-8 times per night) it seems like you are waking up just as the machine is peaking, is that around 13-14 cmH2O? Why not try and reduce the max, to say 11 or 12 to see if that resolves some of the wake ups. My guess is that its a combo of the pressure increasing too much for you and maybe you opening your mouth.

[marktheshark]

I haven't read the entire thread so sorry if I missed this but... how about getting an actual proper sleep study done so you can assess your situation correctly?

Yeah, you probably have sleep apnea based on what you think or what your wife thinks but self diagnosing always sucks. Also, AHI is not the full story, we would be interested to see things like how your blood oxygen saturation fares during the night.

As for you waking up multiple times in the night, that happened to me with the nasal pillow as my mouth kept opening. It looks like you have a chin strap but maybe your mouth is still opening.

I would look into a full face mask. I ditched my nasal pillow after 4 days on the trial and switched to the Dreamwear Full Face and haven't looked back. I seem to alternate between nasal breathing and mouth breathing.

Get a study if you haven't already, everything else is just guess work.

Edit: Looking at some of your data from page 8 (where you were waking up 6-8 times per night) it seems like you are waking up just as the machine is peaking, is that around 13-14 cmH2O? Why not try and reduce the max, to say 11 or 12 to see if that resolves some of the wake ups. My guess is that its a combo of the pressure increasing too much for you and maybe you opening your mouth.

I'd say I'm ready for a sleep study, but I know myself and I know I couldn't sleep for the test, that's why I went the route of doing it myself. I definitely know my mouth is a problem, last night I kept waking up from air even with the chinstrap. Based on what I know and have learned with the machine, I'm really feeling like it's UARS based on my data and they way I wake up often but not really gasping like osa. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong. I will probably get a full face mask. I will also try adjusting pressure like you mentioned. Thanks for chiming in.

[marktheshark]

I haven't read the entire thread so sorry if I missed this but... how about getting an actual proper sleep study done so you can assess your situation correctly?

Yeah, you probably have sleep apnea based on what you think or what your wife thinks but self diagnosing always sucks. Also, AHI is not the full story, we would be interested to see things like how your blood oxygen saturation fares during the night.

As for you waking up multiple times in the night, that happened to me with the nasal pillow as my mouth kept opening. It looks like you have a chin strap but maybe your mouth is still opening.

I would look into a full face mask. I ditched my nasal pillow after 4 days on the trial and switched to the Dreamwear Full Face and haven't looked back. I seem to alternate between nasal breathing and mouth breathing.

Get a study if you haven't already, everything else is just guess work.

Edit: Looking at some of your data from page 8 (where you were waking up 6-8 times per night) it seems like you are waking up just as the machine is peaking, is that around 13-14 cmH2O? Why not try and reduce the max, to say 11 or 12 to see if that resolves some of the wake ups. My guess is that its a combo of the pressure increasing too much for you and maybe you opening your mouth.

I'd say I'm ready for a sleep study, but I know myself and I know I couldn't sleep for the test, that's why I went the route of doing it myself. I definitely know my mouth is a problem, last night I kept waking up from air even with the chinstrap. Based on what I know and have learned with the machine, I'm really feeling like it's UARS based on my data and they way I wake up often but not really gasping like osa. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong. I will probably get a full face mask. I will also try adjusting pressure like you mentioned. Thanks for chiming in. And yes, I do feel like I wake up when the machine hits the max.

[SkinnyFemale]

Some wise person once said, "he who has himself for a doctor has a fool for a patient". You can get a home study that is easy. (I could never do it in a hospital). Your doctor orders it, they mail you the kit, and you use it for 2 nights and pop it in the mail again, then you will get your answer in a couple of weeks. You wear something around your chest and your finger(oximetry) and a very fine nasal prong (what a patient getting oxygen might have). Very easy to tolerate at home. I had to do it twice, have severe apnea and having a terrible time finding a mask that doesn't leak and that I can tolerate, but the home test itself is not hard. Insurance should pay for it with a doctors order.