Sleepyhead data for 3 nights

http://imgur.com/a/MVFMg
http://imgur.com/a/yoraS
http://imgur.com/lTTjGDj

Edit: more detailed screenshots and more nights
http://imgur.com/4Bh2mPN
http://imgur.com/I1QH5Lc
http://imgur.com/V3H8onm
http://imgur.com/9nwBU7T
http://imgur.com/T36LuaV

I had a home sleepstudy done and found no sleep apnea but I still requested a trial with CPAP to which my doctor thankfully obliged. It's hard getting used to this machine and even after almost 2 months, I can't keep my mask on for the entire night and I'm still getting woken up by high pressures (I think).

I'm trying to interpret these results and looking at the OA bar near the top, does this mean that I'm experiencing apneas which are waking me up?
If I am breathing throughout the night, I always felt that I wasn't getting enough oxygen which led to migraines and grogginess as well as motion sickness when I woke up, yet there seem to be very few instances of hypopneas on the graph.
Mask leak rate is negligible
AHI jumps from 2 to sometimes 6ish.

The idea is to keep raising the minimum pressure till the OA are controlled, I'd increase by 1cm every few nights. you may see an improvement start at around 8 or 9.
from what I read, see how the CA go, they may settle down. reducing the epr/flex may help if they don't.

ajack wrote:The idea is to keep raising the minimum pressure till the OA are controlled, I'd increase by 1cm every few nights. you may see an improvement start at around 8 or 9.
from what I read, see how the CA go, they may settle down. reducing the epr/flex may help if they don't.

I see my sleep doctor again next week and my DME a few days before this. My doctor will decide if I need CPAP after seeing him (since I'm renting one right now) and I'll figure out the pressure stuff if/when I buy my own machine.
Truth be told, I've been woken up by pressures of even 7 but I can fall asleep right away if it's at the starting 5.

Not diagnosed with sleep apnea? Looks like you have a decent number of OAs with a good cpap. What type of mask are you using? Maybe the mask irritates you and restricts your airflow?

Maybe increase pressure to close to your Med Epap number. and adjust from there to eliminate OA. Maybe turn off EPR/flex for now. You can lower the maximum pressure if it is causing problems -- maybe tighten the pressure range a bit. With auto adjusting cpaps, I always had to tighten the range to keep it out of the high pressures. The lower pressure was just enough to clear up the OAs even when sleeping on my back (which you may want to avoid if possible), and then maybe plus 2 for the high end, but that is just what worked for me and the OA's.

klv329 wrote:Not diagnosed with sleep apnea? Looks like you have a decent number of OAs with a good cpap. What type of mask are you using? Maybe the mask irritates you and restricts your airflow?

Maybe increase pressure to close to your Med Epap number. and adjust from there to eliminate OA. Maybe turn off EPR/flex for now. You can lower the maximum pressure if it is causing problems -- maybe tighten the pressure range a bit. With auto adjusting cpaps, I always had to tighten the range to keep it out of the high pressures. The lower pressure was just enough to clear up the OAs even when sleeping on my back (which you may want to avoid if possible), and then maybe plus 2 for the high end, but that is just what worked for me and the OA's.

Resmed F20, I had a F&P simplus fullface mask but on higher humidty settings the heated air would start whistling out of the front airholes. The resmed mask is stiffer than the F&P one but the higher humidity tolerance as well as the magnetic clips do it for me, thought it feels less grippy.
My home sleep study showed that I was breathing throughout the night, and my oxygen levels seemed good (the graphs showed a steady 90%ish line throughout the night), but my sleep quality always felt really poor in spite of this.
Although, if the data from the CPAP proves that I'm actually having apneas and therefore actually have sleep apnea, then I'll be happy that I can pinpoint the cause of my poor sleep.

The cause is very likely that your low pressure setting is too low to be effective (as others have said here) and you can easily test that by raising it to e.g. 7 for a few nights... it may need to be raised more in future, but for now go with a more reasonable starter pressure of 6 or 7 than you're using and see how you feel.

It may also be that you have incidental GERD (acid reflux) as so many of us seem to, and that may also waken you at times, but don't assume that means your low pressure is adequate to deal with your OSA... it would be very unusual if it was 'enough'.

And whether or not you need a different mask or better adjustment of your current on is something else to work on... but change only one thing at a time for at least a few nights to not confuse 'variables' in your treatment - so that you can be sure which one is responsible for what result.

Julie wrote:The cause is very likely that your low pressure setting is too low to be effective (as others have said here) and you can easily test that by raising it to e.g. 7 for a few nights... it may need to be raised more in future, but for now go with a more reasonable starter pressure of 6 or 7 than you're using and see how you feel.

It may also be that you have incidental GERD (acid reflux) as so many of us seem to, and that may also waken you at times, but don't assume that means your low pressure is adequate to deal with your OSA... it would be very unusual if it was 'enough'.

Amd whether or not you need a different mask or better adjustment of your current on is something else to work on... but change only one thing at a time for at least a few nights to not confuse 'variables' in your treatment - so that you can be sure which one is responsible for what result.

The GERD point is interesting....I don't think I have it, nor do I have the classic symptoms of it like chest pains but I do feel gassy at times. I'll bring it up to the doctor when I see him next week.
As for the mask, I think I'm set on the F20. I breathe through my mouth so I need the humidity higher (at max), and this is even more relevant as it's about to become winter in Australia. There's hardly any leaks and it's nice secure while relatively loose, and it's lighter than the simplus.