Sleepyhead results

[Huskers123]

Please keep in mind that this is really only my 3rd night using the machine. I was diagnosed with moderate-severe OSA. This is 2 hours worth of data and it felt like I barely slept at all. I am convinced that therapy has made my sleep worse. Let me know what you think and if I am missing any info. My pressure settings are currently 7.0 - 18.0. I currently have not been able to sleep with this thing on for more than 2-3 hours at a time. Thank you!

[Dog Slobber]

Yes, therapy has made your sleep worse. Initially, it's made almost every one of us have poorer sleep quality. You've spend all of your life with your face unencumbered while you've slept.

Now you're wearing a mask and headgear, until you get used to it, you're sleepy quality will suffer. As it did for most of us. It takes time.

Your number aren't bad, I think your minimum pressure is a little low. There are a few too many Clear Airways, but that could be explained by poor sleep and erratic breathing causing SWJ. I wouldn't worry about them for now.

Your priority is getting accustomed to the mask and getting some sleep. It'll happen.

[LSAT]

As was indicated...you need to be accustomed to the mask and machine. The lack of Apnea and Hypopnias indicate that the pressure settings are reasonable. The CAs can indicate that you are restless during the night and have frequent wake-ups. Keep going for a week and see if the CA events decrease.

[babydinosnoreless]

A good way to get used to the new thing on your face is to wear it while awake and relaxed. Watching TV, playing a game on your phone, or just reading a book. A couple hours using it in the day will make sleeping with it easier.

[Huskers123]

I am still confused. I was diagnosed with OSA yet again SleepyHead is reporting multiple Clear Airway events last night.

[Pugsy]

Before worrying about CSA go here and watch all the videos so you can learn how to distinguish real asleep centrals from awake centrals.
If you aren't asleep it isn't CSA.
http://freecpapadvice.com/sleepyhead-free-software

If you are asleep and they are real...still not enough of them for a diagnosis of central sleep apnea. Need at least 5 per hour average...all night long, every night before the doctors will worry about it.
And even then sometimes it will fade away with time and most doctors will just say "watch it for a while" even when the AHI if over 5 and predominantly central.

And it's normal to have a few real centrals anyway...totally normal.
You aren't having enough centrals to be a problem even if every single one of those flagged events were real and you were asleep which I bet they aren't all real anyway.

[Huskers123]

Thank you for the info. Do you think I would benefit from raising my pressure? Originally the doctor set it to 5-20. I moved it to 8-20. But I am messing around with it this morning around 10-20 and it seems like this is where I feel like I can actually breathe. I’m assuming I can’t really cause much harm trying this. I turned off EPR as well. Or is it just too early to be messing around with pressures? I have only been using this thing for a few nights and still have not been able to sleep with it on for more than a few hours per night. I always seem to wake up with the mask on the ground. Thank you

[Pugsy]

Obviously no urgent need to increase the pressure to manage OAs or hyponeas.
Flow Limitation statistics also appear low so I doubt the FL graph is very exciting.

But if you simply feel like you can move air more easily and are more comfortable with a higher minimum pressure that is good enough reason to change whenever you want.
If we aren't comfortable breathing we don't sleep so good and if we don't sleep so good it can actually cause the flagging of false positive apnea events because of awake irregular breathing earning you some flags.

From strictly a comfort aspect of things...lots of people use more pressure than may be technically needed to hold the airway open.
Doesn't hurt a thing unless it causes aerophagia or real centrals popping up in large numbers.

In my mind...good sleep and comfort is number one on the list because without either it doesn't really matter what the numbers might say. If we don't sleep so great...we aren't going to feel very great even with AHI of 0.0. Been there and done that myself.
I have other health issues that mess with my sleep quality that the best cpap therapy in the world can't fix.
I also have considerable experience with AHI that is nothing but false positive awake breathing because of the poor sleep....so I know first hand how it can affect how I feel.

Use whatever pressure allows you to be the most comfortable...and start from there in terms of evaluations.

[djams]

When you're done watching the videos Pugsy linked, please visit this link and learn how to format your SleepyHead charts to provide the most needed information :
wiki/index.php/Sleepyhead:Organize

[palerider]

.... Do you think I would benefit from raising my pressure? ... But I am messing around with it this morning around 10-20 and it seems like this is where I feel like I can actually breathe.

Sounds like the answer is a definite "YES".

[Huskers123]

Updated the min pressure to 10. Felt like I got better sleep but the graph still looks off. There is really no cause for concern for these centrals? Thank you so much for any help. I am really looking forward to feeling good again.

[chunkyfrog]

And, best of all, the mask need not interfere with romance.
Just remove mask, "make hay", replace mask.
Easy-peasy.
Welcome to the asylum--err, I mean forum.

[palerider]

Updated the min pressure to 10. Felt like I got better sleep but the graph still looks off. There is really no cause for concern for these centrals? Thank you so much for any help. I am really looking forward to feeling good again.

When you've got questions like that, and you're going to post an image, zoom to where it's maybe 2 minutes worth, and put the event closer the *right* side, so that there's a bunch of breaths *before* the event and four or five *after* the event.

Zooming in like you did, there's nothing to see.

[Pugsy]

I also cannot tell much of anything from zooming in so close. I can't really evaluate anything and I can't see what the breathing was like prior to the event in question and I have to know what that breathing looks like to be able to formulate an opinion as to is the event flagged a real asleep flagged event or SWJ sleep/wake/junk from a false positive.
So we have to be able to evaluate the breathing before and after a flagged event to decide if awake/arousal or asleep.

Need to see it similar to this one except maybe have the flags a little more to the right side.


Or this one...the circled area I was asleep...the rest of it pretty much SWJ irregular breathing...probably had an arousal from something.
I wouldn't even consider the hyponea real.



Here's another one...asleep circled...the rest is junk and doesn't count.

[dojiscalper]

Your support network of doctors don't realize that this isn't like a prescription for a pill. It's like a prescription for an exercise program. It will take time and even a lot of time to get used to it and get the settings and gear right. Once you get it all working and comfortable you'll never want to sleep without it.

It took me nearly a year but I'm very sensitive to anything bugging me.