Shallow Breathing

[Thumper1947]

I had what felt like a restful, good nights sleep last night, at least for me. I usually fall asleep after about 12 minutes, sleep pretty well until about 1 or 2 AM, and then get periods of sleep and awakeness until 4 AM when I get up. My question is I often have periods of shallow breathing. The flows look symmetrical and I don't wake up, and they usually don't kick out hypopnias or apneas, but it looks like I'm taking very small breaths. Is there anything wrong with this shallow breaths, if that is what they are? I included 3 snapshots of what they look like. This is a fairly frequent occurence. It does not appear to wake me up. Thanks to anyone who can lend some knowledge.

[ChicagoGranny]

Have a look at the Tidal Volume line. Tidal volume is a measure of the amount of air a person inhales during a normal breath.

[Thumper1947]

Granny,
Thanks for the reply. The tidal volume is attached. I am not sure how to use it. When the flow rate drops to what looks like shallow breathing, there doesn't seem to be a big difference in the tidal volume. I looked for a definition of flow rate in Oscar and there is none. What is the flow rate? Thanks for your help.

[ChicagoGranny]

When the flow rate drops to what looks like shallow breathing, there doesn't seem to be a big difference in the tidal volume.

Change the scale on the y-axis to max 900. Then, you should be able to see that the tidal volume drops off at certain times. You should also be able to tell if the level is indicative of shallow breathing. In your current graphs, the scale is too large to determine if the breathing is too shallow.

Tidal volume is a measure of the amount of air a person inhales during a normal breath. Flow rate is the rate at which air is moving in and out of the respiratory system at a point in time. Values above the axis are inhalation and below the axis is exhalation.

[anadybella]

What's tidal volume?

[palerider]

What's tidal volume?

How much air is in you breath.

[ChicagoGranny]

What's tidal volume?

Tidal volume is a measure of the amount of air a person inhales during a normal breath.

Tidal volume is a measure of the amount of air a person inhales during a normal breath.

[tb123]

Change the scale on the y-axis to max 900. Then, you should be able to see that the tidal volume drops off at certain times. You should also be able to tell if the level is indicative of shallow breathing. In your current graphs, the scale is too large to determine if the breathing is too shallow.

Hello Granny- Newbie here. I figured out how to get my info from the SIM card to Oscar and now I'm looking at the statistics.

My question: How do I change the y-axis for max 900?

Thank you.

[Thumper1947]

Granny,
Thanks again for the help, and I have the same question. How do I change the Y axis to 900. I've tried everything I can think of and nothing works.
Thumper

[Pugsy]

Granny,
Thanks again for the help, and I have the same question. How do I change the Y axis to 900. I've tried everything I can think of and nothing works.
Thumper

Have you tried hovering your mouse over on the words "tidal volume" on the left side of the graph...right clicking mouse and see if there is a little menu that pops up that says "change y axis"....the default is for auto fit you but can manually set the y axis.

[Pugsy]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_volume

Tidal volume has a very wide range of norms for a very wide range of reasons.
In terms of what we see happening and being reported pertaining to tidal volume from the cpap machine...pretty much a useless number because it's almost always within the very wide range of norms and this data point shouldn't be used to try to diagnose lung problems.

If a person has a problem with tidal volumes it's going to be related to some serious lung problems that are going to be happening 24/7 and not just at night and very likely other symptoms and wouldn't be a big surprise.

[Thumper1947]

Pugsy,
Thanks, that worked. I'm not sure I know how to use the information.I have these periods pretty frequently where the pressure and the volume are really low for approximately 15 minutes. They don't appear to wake me up and usually the only things marked are a few pressure pulses. I do meditation type breathing exercises where I slow my breathing down quite a bit, but I have to avoid doing it while I have the mask on because the machine will will be logging apneas and hypoxias. Even without doing it, my machine almost always marks an OA and an H before I even fall asleep, and I usually fall asleep within 12 minutes of turning the machine on. Thanks for your help.
Thumper

[Pugsy]

I have these periods pretty frequently where the pressure and the volume are really low for approximately 15 minutes.

I see the same thing often myself especially if one looks at the big picture it looks like really big changes in everything but when I go look up close the change isn't nearly as remarkable looking.
We simply don't sleep the same or breathe the same during the night. Maybe a dream (really good or really bad) or something causes a change in respiration.
Maybe a different sleep stage or even sleeping position causes a change in respiration pattern.

My thoughts about all this ....not much I can do about it and it doesn't mean anything so I don't worry about it. I don't expend energy on stuff I can't change anyway.
I know my lungs are fine and that's all I need to know.

[anadybella]

[quote=How much air is in you breath.
[/quote]
Thank you so much..

[MFRep]

Do you have COPD ???

Is your nasal passage swelling shut, but your still trying to breathe through your narrow
nasal passage??