ResScan Graph and Leak Question

[jmw5430]

Hello,

First off, thanks to all of you for providing your knowledge to create this invaluable resource. It's been really helpful during my first months on CPAP.

I have a question that I was hoping some community member could help me out with. My wife has recently brought to my attention that occasionally at night, I'll let small puffs of air out of my mouth. My leak rates and all other relevant data appear to be well within the acceptable limits, and was wondering if this might be an issue. Also, I noticed last night that I woke up at one point last night and my mouth was open. No air was leaking out since my tongue was blocking my airway, but I can't say with certainty that that's always the case.

Also, If there's anything strange you see in the graphs, I'd love to hear about that as well.

I use a Resmed S9 Autoset & Swift FX Nasal Pillows. My graph from last night is below. I'd really appreciate any insight you could provide.

Thanks for the help!

[Pugsy]

I can't see your images.

Missing a step somewhere maybe??? Check this thread to see what you may be missing.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=81072&p=737779#p737779

Use the preview button to confirm that your image shows up.

[jmw5430]

Must have missed a step in there somewhere. Let's try this again:

Happy to provide zoomed images, different timeframes, etc. if it's helpful. Also wanted to note that my pressure is set wide open from 4-20.

[Pugsy]

Well if you are opening your mouth to do a little mouth breathing it sure isn't bad enough to show up on the leak graph.
I know what you mean by opening your mouth but no air escapes...I do that too sometimes. I also do a little mouth breathing for sure and sometimes see a little increases in the leak graph.

The red line is 24 L/min and that's what you want to avoid and you do that very nicely. Unless leaks or open mouth issues are waking you up and disturbing your sleep...they aren't large enough to negatively impact therapy and I wouldn't worry about them.
A little leak the machine can compensate for and you have a lot of room before leaks become a problem for you.
Those little small puffs of air that your wife notices and you don't...not hurting anything except maybe her sleep...

Your leak line...I would be doing a happy dance for sure if I had that line....mine is almost always more exciting.

[avi123]

Removed my Stats and graphs.

[Pugsy]

If your leak line is your only question and it never really gets close to 24 L/min red line in ResScan...there's no need to produce volumes of reports for review. If your data last night is pretty much what you see the other nights...then there isn't much to discuss unless you have other questions.
Looks like what few events you do have are likely mostly centrals and not enough of them to warrant worry.

[jmw5430]

This is great information. Thanks to both of you.

Good to know that small leaks don't have a serious impact on the therapy. I was concerned that since the behavior was physically observed by my wife, but not really recorded by the CPAP, that the analytics available on the S9 weren't entirely accurate.

Thanks again for the support and for contributing to such a valuable resource.

[sleepy_learner]

pillows often leak with high pressure settings. your pressures are not really very high. do you wash them every day. usually if the seal is poor, the starts leaking. if it bothers consider a nasal mask.

[avi123]

This is great information. Thanks to both of you.

Good to know that small leaks don't have a serious impact on the therapy. I was concerned that since the behavior was physically observed by my wife, but not really recorded by the CPAP, that the analytics available on the S9 weren't entirely accurate.

Thanks again for the support and for contributing to such a valuable resource.

IMO, the data from the S9 on ResScan, is very accurate, but home CPAP's are not meant to replace sleep clinic's instrumentations.

I am going to remove my own graphs, now.

[DoriC]

Your data looks very good to me so the only questions I have are is your sleep undisturbed and how are you feeling during the day?

[jmw5430]

Thanks, Dori.

I do tend to wake up 1-2 times throughout the course of the night. Not sure what to attribute that to, necessarily. I've still only been using the machine for a couple of months, so perhaps I'm still in the phase where I'm getting accustomed to it.

Overall, I feel less tired during the day, but have noticed some interesting pattern changes. Previously, I would be pretty lethargic in the morning, wake up a bit through the course of the day, and crash relatively early in the evening. What I've been noticing now is that I feel great in the morning, hit a lull shortly after lunch, and then catch a second wind around 2-3 in the afternoon. Maybe this is more of a normal cycle.

I'll be curious to see what happens in the coming months. From the research I've done on this board, it sounds like paying off a "sleep debt" can take months!

Thanks again!