Is this Periodic Breathing & How can I Improve AHI (Centrals & Hypopneas)?

[Miss Emerita]

The data we get from Oscar are so wonderful that it's tempting to think we can use them to discover answers to all our sleep problems. Unfortunately, sometimes we can only see that we have a problem but can't see what's causing it.

It's hard to understand why we get frequent arousals, or semi-arousals. Sometimes we can see what happened: e.g., flow limitation or snoring set in, or a REM period finished with a wake-up. But sometimes we can't. That's frustrating.

You report getting better sleep with your current settings, which is great. I'd suggest you stick with them and focus on other factors that may be affecting your sleep. These include night-time pain, a room that's too warm, irregular bedtimes or wake-up times, time allotted for sleep that isn't long enough, caffeine, alcohol, inadequate daytime exposure to sunlight, inadequate exercise, anxiety, mattresses or pillows that aren't comfortable, pets/children/bed partners who interrupt sleep -- you get the idea.

You might also want to consider looking into CBT-i, which is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. For some people, it can help to consolidate fragmented sleep.