Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
SamInLasVegas
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Re: Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

Post by SamInLasVegas » Sun Jan 30, 2022 12:20 pm

Pugsy wrote:
Sat Jan 29, 2022 5:35 pm
SamInLasVegas wrote:
Sat Jan 29, 2022 5:02 pm
I know where it's at on the machine, but I don't have an SD slot on my laptop, so I'm not sure how I'd get the data off of it.
Do you have a USB port on your laptop?

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=SD+card+read ... _sb_noss_2

Thanks. I ordered one and it should arrive sometime today as I have Prime. I also got an SD card yesterday at Target and put it in my machine last night, so hopefully I will have some data to post today or tomorrow. I specifically recall having a mild apnea event last night and checking my cell phone to what the time was. It was 12:27 AM, so I'm curious to see if anything shows up at that time.

SamInLasVegas
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Re: Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

Post by SamInLasVegas » Thu Feb 03, 2022 1:13 pm

I got the SD card and installed Oscar on my laptop. I've been viewing the data, but I'm not entirely sure what everything means. What I do know is last night it took me over two hours to fall asleep due to the same issues I described in my original posts. I kept having minor throat fluttering or my throat collapsing on me just as I would start to fall asleep and it would disturb me enough to keep me awake. It would only happen for about a second. The thing is, the app doesn't seem to be showing anything even happened and it happened probably a dozen times last night in those first two hours before I finally fell asleep. It only shows three event flags for the entire night, yet I slept horribly. I'm pretty tired now and it's only 11:00 AM.

What data should I be posting?

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Julie
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Re: Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

Post by Julie » Thu Feb 03, 2022 3:49 pm

Post Oscar results here - screenshots or whatever it tells you to do and we'll help interpret and advise.

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zonker
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Re: Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

Post by zonker » Thu Feb 03, 2022 3:55 pm

SamInLasVegas wrote:
Thu Feb 03, 2022 1:13 pm


What data should I be posting?
forum friend grumpyhere shows us how-

https://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic.php? ... 9#p1390059

good luck!
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but that's enough about them.
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https://www.apneaboard.com/OSCAR/OSCAR-1.5.1-Win64.exe
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https://www.apneaboard.com/OSCAR/OSCAR-1.5.1.dmg

SamInLasVegas
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Re: Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

Post by SamInLasVegas » Thu Feb 03, 2022 5:51 pm

My results are attached.
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Pugsy
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Re: Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

Post by Pugsy » Thu Feb 03, 2022 6:08 pm

You are going to need to learn how to zoom in on the flow rate and looks for changes in the flow rate which is actually your breathing so see if something shows up that might look like an apnea event causing your sensations to see what might be happening.

Watch the videos here to learn how to zoom in on the flow rate so you can see each breath.
http://freecpapadvice.com/sleepyhead-free-software

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SamInLasVegas
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Re: Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

Post by SamInLasVegas » Thu Feb 03, 2022 7:33 pm

Pugsy wrote:
Thu Feb 03, 2022 6:08 pm
You are going to need to learn how to zoom in on the flow rate and looks for changes in the flow rate which is actually your breathing so see if something shows up that might look like an apnea event causing your sensations to see what might be happening.

Watch the videos here to learn how to zoom in on the flow rate so you can see each breath.
http://freecpapadvice.com/sleepyhead-free-software

Thanks. I looked at how to do that. I'm assuming maybe those times where the flow rate spiked up to around the 75 range is when I was experience those mild apnea events that I've said have been keeping me awake before I completely fall asleep. While not in every instance, I am noticing when I zoom in that there is sometimes a corresponding increase in the leak rate also. Even on my MyAir app it shows I averaged a higher rate of leakage last night than in the past few nights. Even though my sleep has been poor in general the past week and half since all of this started, last night was particularly rough and I did loosen the mask a bit the other night because it seems like in the morning when I get up that area around my nose and mouth that wrinkles as we get older ( I believe they are called parentheses lines) seemed to be almost "sunk in" if that makes sense. I thought it was from the tightness of the mask since up until last week I was using a nose pillow. I guess I'll have to tighten it up again and see if I notice less issues. I'm pretty sure I have the right fitting mask because the guy at the medical supply store used the measuring chart when he picked it out for me.

I have also noticed that my mouth does open up slightly as I start dozing off, but that's why I switched from the nose pillow to the full face mask, to compensate for that. That's the whole point of that mask, right? I wouldn't think that's still a contributor. I tried using chin straps in the past, but they just don't work. I even tried using a chin strap one night last week with the full face mask and that was just really awkward and it still didn't keep my mouth completely closed.

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Pugsy
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Re: Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

Post by Pugsy » Thu Feb 03, 2022 7:39 pm

Next time you experience whatever it is you are experiencing and you wake up abruptly....reach over and turn the machine off and then right back on again. That way you can see the break in therapy lines on the graph and then you can zoom in on the flow rate that was going on right before you woke up to see if you spot some sort of reduced breathing that isn't triggering a flag of some sort.

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SamInLasVegas
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Re: Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

Post by SamInLasVegas » Fri Feb 04, 2022 5:47 pm

Took Pugsy's advice and turned off the machine three times last night after I had one of those minor apnea events that have been keeping me from falling asleep. As you can see, nothing registers and I don't even see any corresponding increase in flow rate, leaks, or anything. After the one that hit me at about 2:20 AM I finally gave up trying to sleep on my own and took a Xanax. I think I fell asleep in about 20 or 30 minutes after that. Aside from those two RERA events (not sure that even means, never seen that before) I seemed to have slept relatively fine until the early morning hours. I feel better today than I did yesterday, but I'm still dealing with fatigue.

At about 5:20 I apparently got hit with a bunch of apneas and obstructive events that went on for about 20 minutes. Looks like the leak rate increased slightly during that time, so maybe the mask slightly moved out of place. Had another series of them at about 6:40. That one had a big spike in leakage, so again, maybe I moved in a way that cause the mask to start leaking. I wasn't really conscious of any of this happening, but I do have a vague recollection of waking up for a couple of seconds early in the morning and adjusting the mask because I remember some air hitting me in the eyes. I think I did it get again later too, but don't know what time it was. I tightened the mask last night before going to bed and it did greatly reduce the overall leakage from the past couple of nights. I started using an F30i full face mask about a week ago as opposed to a nose pillow.

Overall, I started off fairly calm, but once that first little apnea event hit me my anxiety cranked up and I just couldn't fall asleep. I was dealing with heart palpitations, nervousness, and I remember a few times during that window when I was trying to fall asleep that in addition to the apneas that were keeping me awake my body was also jerking a little bit. I would feel my leg jerk, or my arm jerk. I remember my right arm moving away from me and then me pulling it back. I think at one point my head even lifted up off the pillow about an inch and went back down. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm dealing with more than sleep apnea and possibly something neurological. I don't know. All I know is that up until two weeks ago I was sleeping fairly decently and then all of a sudden this started out of nowhere one night and it's occurred every night since. Something has changed, whether or it's physical or mental. I made an appointment for Monday to go back to my sleep doctor.
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Pugsy
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Re: Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

Post by Pugsy » Fri Feb 04, 2022 6:40 pm

Now zoom in on the exact time where you turned the machine off and look at the flow rate/breathing right before you turned the machine off.
About a 3 to 4 minute segment zoomed in. Make sure you include the exact moment the machine was turned off.

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SamInLasVegas
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Re: Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

Post by SamInLasVegas » Fri Feb 04, 2022 10:12 pm

Pugsy wrote:
Fri Feb 04, 2022 6:40 pm
Now zoom in on the exact time where you turned the machine off and look at the flow rate/breathing right before you turned the machine off.
About a 3 to 4 minute segment zoomed in. Make sure you include the exact moment the machine was turned off.
I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary
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SamInLasVegas
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Re: Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

Post by SamInLasVegas » Sun Feb 06, 2022 12:08 pm

Some updates on this. The past two nights I've eaten a THC gummy before going to bed. Friday night still took me a couple of hours to fall asleep, but I also didn't take the gummy until right before bed. It says on the package it can take one to two hours for the effects to kick in. As every night the past couple of weeks, I don't think I finally fell asleep until closer to 2:00 AM and I woke up around 9:00. I was pretty fatigued yesterday. Last night I took the gummy a little over an hour before I went to bed and for the first time in almost two weeks I slept closer to normal. I think it maybe only took me 20 or 30 minutes to drift off. I still experienced a couple of those minor apneas as I was drifting off as well as my limbs jerking a few times, but it didn't set off my anxiety this time and I think that's why I fell asleep so fast. I did wake up about 4:00 to go the bathroom. It may have taken me about 30 to fall back to sleep and I slept up until 7:00. I do have a little bit of fatigue this morning. That could be from the THC still or just the half hour period my sleep was interrupted, but looking at the Oscar chart this morning it looks much better than the past several days.

I still don't know why I'm having those minor apneas as I'm dozing off. As I said originally, I don't recall ever experiencing that problem until two weeks ago. Adjusting the pressure settings doesn't seem to have helped. In fact, a couple of nights ago when I snorted a bit I hit the button to see the pressure level and I was at 9. I'm beginning to wonder if they are actually nervous tics, me clenching up my throat or something, as opposed to apnea related. That said, a couple of little minor apnea events shouldn't really prevent me from falling asleep. I also suffer from anxiety issues, which as I've gotten older I've gotten better control over, but I think that frustrating experience two weeks ago when this started just set my anxiety into overdrive and I'm starting to hypothesize that may be my primary issue getting to sleep. Every night I've gone to bed I've been very nervous because I know I'm going to lay there for two to three hours suffering to get to sleep and as soon as that first snort hits my heart takes off. Each night that has passed that anxiety level has gotten a little better, but I've still struggled to fall asleep. That's why I decided to try these gummies as a sleep aid. I'm not big having to rely on sleep aids, but if this is largely anxiety that is causing my problem I may need to rely on it for a week or so to "retrain" my brain in a sense to not get nervous or worked up over these handful of apneas as I'm dozing off. I'll have to see how tonight goes and if I have similar result as last night. If I do and I continue to have positive results throughout the week then maybe by the end of the week I go off the THC and see if I sleep like normal. I suppose that could confirm how much of my issue is anxiety related as opposed to OSA related.

As I mentioned earlier, in addition to the apneas I've been experiencing body jerks. I'll start to doze off and my arm will suddenly jerk or my leg will. I know one time last night my whole body jerked as if I was falling. Everyone experiences this from time to time and I have on occasion, but for the past two weeks it's been almost nightly, which again, is why I'm thinking my issue may largely be anxiety related.

At least today I'm feeling a little more hopeful. The past couple of weeks I've been very depressed and having this feeling of despair not knowing why this is happening, when will it end, or will it ever end? It's really awful to go through every day feeling like that. I'm supposed to go on vacation for a week in March to do some hiking and I've been worrying if I'll have to bail out of it. I have another appointment at the sleep clinic tomorrow, so I'll give him the updates. I don't want to get too optimistic, but hopefully having better results last night means I may be rounding the corner on this.

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Miss Emerita
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Re: Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

Post by Miss Emerita » Sun Feb 06, 2022 12:29 pm

It's good to hear that you've found a way to fall asleep better and sleep more soundly. When you see your doctor, ask about the THC gummies. For most people, using them is not addictive, though there might be other reasons for you to avoid long-term use. Your doctor should be able to advise you about that.

Many people find that the interplay between sleep disorders and anxiety (and depression) is complicated and significant. It sounds as though you're being very thoughtful about that, which bodes well.

What is it about the March vacation that has you concerned?

Keep us posted, would you?
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Re: Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

Post by palerider » Sun Feb 06, 2022 3:46 pm

SamInLasVegas wrote:
Sun Feb 06, 2022 12:08 pm
I still don't know why I'm having those minor apneas as I'm dozing off.
Because your pressure isn't high enough to hold your airway open, even when you're just starting to doze off.

based on the two nights you presented, try a min pressure of 10, no ramp.
[/quote]

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Re: Started Having Apnea Events While Dosing Off While on CPAP

Post by NewToSleepApnea » Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:16 pm

SaminLasVegas

Sorry to hear about your issues. I have the same problem. Sometimes acts up more in periods of anxiety.

Oscar and Dr said mine are sleep onset central’s. Guess most people sleep through them. They come and go. Been two years now. Usually in clusters. No rhyme or reason. Hopefully yours goes away!