Switched AutoSense 10 to AutoCurve 10 VAuto, same AHIs but better sleep

[enderbreathes!]

I had been using a Resmed AirSense 10 APAP w/humidity chamber for some years now and was approved for a Resmed AirCurve VAuto w/humidity chamber months ago but due to supply issues couldn't get one until recently when I found a refurbished Resmed AirCurve 10 VAuto w/humidity chamber which I've used for two days now. They're both using the same P10 nasal pillows with headgear and I still use a deluxe chin strap like I have been.

I'm getting MUCH better sleep with the AirCurve but by average AHI's are slightly worse. Note that I have had long Covid since February 2022 and even when I don't feel congested it messes up my sleep which translates into higher AHI. Back in June 2022 I was able to try Paxlovid for long Covid and it cured it during the time I was taking it, my amazing night sleep during that time is representative of what I was seeing before I had breakthrough Covid that went long.

Below I'll put Oscar screenshots of 1) Day 2 with AirCurve 10, 2) July 28th 2022, last day recorded with AirSense 10 (I neglected to import into Oscar when I moved the SD card two days ago (refurbished AirCurve didn't come with one) and 3) June 17th 2022 AirSense 10 on Paxlovid.

How rested I feel with the AirCurve is similar to how I felt with the AirSense on Paxlovid except I still wake up more often than I should.

My questions are:
a) is it ok that my AHI is worse with AirCurve 10 since I feel so much better with it?
b) any recommendations on how to do even better with the AirCurve / lower the AHI's with the AirCurve? I already had cheek strap pads and heated hose cover and just ordered the other three items from Protect a Cheek that go with my mask, they're not here yet though. Anything else I could do that even has a chance of improving things further would be more than welcome to know.

1) Day 2 with AirCurve 10


2) July 28th 2022, last day recorded with AirSense 10


3) June 17th 2022 AirSense 10 on Paxlovid


Again, My questions are:
a) is it ok that my AHI is worse with AirCurve 10 since I feel so much better with it?
b) any recommendations on how to do even better with the AirCurve / lower the AHI's with the AirCurve? I already had cheek strap pads and heated hose cover and just ordered the other three items from Protect a Cheek that go with my mask, they're not here yet though. Anything else I could do that even has a chance of improving things further would be more than welcome to know.

[Dog Slobber]

The first thing to recognize is your pressure settings on your AirCurve are completely different on than on you AirSense. The resulting much higher pressures could be contributing to the high Centrals and Leaks.

On the AirCurve effectively your iPap is 18 and ePap 14
On the AirSense, iPap 11 and ePap 14

Your comparing apples to oranges.

[enderbreathes!]

That was by design. Sleep clinic at Stanford set all settings on both devices. I feel so much more rested with the AirCurve that I'm ok with it, and I haven't had it long so not ready to self adjust the pressure down.

[ozij]

How rested I feel with the AirCurve is similar to how I felt with the AirSense on Paxlovid except I still wake up more often than I should.

Your leaks are high, the sawtooth pattern makes me thing you're mouth leaking - and you are probably waking up more than you should because of that.
Have you ever tried a full face mask? I sometime need one - I find those that touch the bridge of my nose intolerable, but those that cover only my mouth and nostrils are great.
No need to fuss around with the pressure at this point, but you definitely need to get a better handle on those leaks.

[enderbreathes!]

Thanks for the help. I've gotten more used to it, the leaks are somewhat better now. I read elsewhere that the deeper sleep can cause the tongue to relax and make the numbers weird.

I should note that due to a medical condition I wake up and take meds about 1 - 1.5 hours before I get out of bed each day. Once I take them I usually take my chinstrap off and lay on my back. I get a lot more AHIs during that time even though it's odd because i'm breathing fine (I thought an AHI was when you stopped breathing for 10 seconds).

Anyway I always look at my AHI average for the night when I take off the mask to take the meds, that's the more important one for me and last night it was 2.9 AHI at that point. The overall data is below



So I think everything is working fine now, I'm just still adjusting to improved sleep. I'd welcome any other opinions and insights though.

[palerider]

I read elsewhere that the deeper sleep can cause the tongue to relax and make the numbers weird.

"weird" how?

Once I take them I usually take my chinstrap off and lay on my back. I get a lot more AHIs during that time even though it's odd because i'm breathing fine (I thought an AHI was when you stopped breathing for 10 seconds).

Well, if you were "breathing fine" then the machine wouldn't be flagging central after central, like it is. So you're not 'breathing fine', you're likely just drifting in and and out of sleep and having transition apneas for an hour and a half or so.

The "AHI" is the Apnea+Hypopnea Index, it's not a 'thing' (therefore AHI has no duration), it's a calculation. It is comprised of ALL the apneas and hypopneas for a period divided by the length of that period, thus an index.

[enderbreathes!]

enderbreathes! wrote: ↑Mon Aug 22, 2022 1:54 pm
"I read elsewhere that the deeper sleep can cause the tongue to relax and make the numbers weird.
"weird" how?"

It was in this forum, I just did a quick look and couldn't find it again. It was basically that when in prolonged deep and REM sleep the tongue goes limp and can flap around and disrupt things, it was in relation to people starting therapy and needing to wait for their body to catch up on the deeper sleep before coming to conclusions, during the first month or something it's not unusual to feel more tired than before therapy and AHIs might be high even though good sleep is being had.

Working full time and dealing with long Covid takes up all of my time so please link to the correct link if you know it, or correct me if I'm just way off.

"Once I take them I usually take my chinstrap off and lay on my back. I get a lot more AHIs during that time even though it's odd because i'm breathing fine (I thought an AHI was when you stopped breathing for 10 seconds)."
"Well, if you were "breathing fine" then the machine wouldn't be flagging central after central, like it is. So you're not 'breathing fine', you're likely just drifting in and and out of sleep and having transition apneas for an hour and a half or so.

The "AHI" is the Apnea+Hypopnea Index, it's not a 'thing' (therefore AHI has no duration), it's a calculation. It is comprised of ALL the apneas and hypopneas for a period divided by the length of that period, thus an index."

Thank you, that's what I needed to know. I am in fact drifting in and out of a dream like state for that last 1 - 1.5 hours. I don't think I need to worry about my AHI during that time as the nature of the meds strongly wake me up so the only way to correct it would be to force myself to get up right when I take the meds (which would be horrible), or take something to go back to sleep (also a terrible idea). I consider the AHI that I see when I stop the machine to take my meds to be the AHI for the night (also the time asleep ends at that time). I don't actually look at everything in Oscar until I have a reason to.

[enderbreathes!]

I'm wondering if I should have tried to find my second sleep study and posted it here. In my post I don't think I was clear that after my initial sleep study in 2018 or so I used the ResMed AirSense 10, in 2020 or so they looked at my data and adjusted my settings, later looked again and noted that I needed higher pressure than could be done on that machine so had me do another sleep study with a VPAP in 2021. I was approved for a VPAP but supply chain issues mean I still haven't gotten one. I bought a refurbished AirCurve 10 and set it up with the settings provided by the doctor. That's why my pressure is higher. I haven't adjusted anything on my own yet, but since I don't officially have it yet I can't set up a follow up appointment for them to look at my data and make adjustments. That's why I'm keeping an eye on it myself.

My initial post was because I was shocked at how high my AHI numbers were even though I felt like I was sleeping great, but was still tired during the day. That's all calming down now after four days so I'm hoping it keeps improving as I get used to it.

[ozij]

Thank you, that's what I needed to know. I am in fact drifting in and out of a dream like state for that last 1 - 1.5 hours. I don't think I need to worry about my AHI during that time

I agree, and you can tell OSCAR to keep that last session out of its calculations by scrolling down the daily side view on the right, till you see the list of sessions, and clicking next to the session you want OSCAR to ignore.

When you want to quote part of someone's text, you can emphasize the quote by clicking on the large double quotes button above the reply screen while that text is marked.

A more precise way of quoting is doing it from the reply screen. After you click "Reply" You scroll down that screen to the message of interest, mark the text, and click on that messages quote button (top right) That's how you get top type of quote I put at the beginning of this message. This way, you get the name of the person you quoted, and the arrow that links to the thread in the quotes header.

Use preview to make sure things look they way you want to -- and to learn the use of all those other formatting button as well.