Self-treating suspected UARS — Help with settings?

Hello all, I've been trying to get to the bottom of what is causing symptoms I experience all day, 1–3 days per week. I've been experiencing the same package of symptoms for over 10 years and no doctor has been able to figure it out, so I've done endless amounts of searching online for answers.

I made a post a couple of years ago (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=156823&p=1198515#p1198515) that details more of my history, but the main symptoms I feel are: extreme brain fog, neck and jaw tension/stiffness, headaches, cold hands and feet, irritability, and extreme thirst. The brain fog is by far the most debilitating.

I've had plenty of blood tests/labs done, an in-lab sleep study (only showed an AHI of ~3), a brain MRI (clear), and cervical spine MRI and xrays (straightening of the neck/"military neck"), but nothing stands out as really wrong. I bought a mandibular advancement device which doesn't seem to help much, if at all. I've tried numerous migraine preventative drugs prescribed by two neurologists, to no avail. Needless to say, I've spent tens of thousands of dollars and several years trying to get to the bottom of my symptoms, but have made no progress.

I keep coming back to a possible sleep disordered breathing problem, and UARS to be specific, mostly because my symptoms and physical build all line up very well, and because my symptoms come on in the morning and last until I go to bed.

Anyway, I bought myself a Resmed AirCurve 10 VAUTO and a Resmed AirTouch F20 mask (I first tried an AirFit P10, but due to a combination of nasal congestion and seal issues, I switched to the full face).

In looking at my data with Sleepyhead, I keep noticing that most of my events are hypopneas and centrals. I'm curious about the centrals...I know that sometimes therapy can cause the centrals (whether it's just getting used to breathing with the machine, or too high of a pressure), but I'm wondering if there is anything I can look at in Sleepyhead that can give me a better clue as to what's going on.

My current settings are:
Min EPAP: 4
Max IPAP: 12
PS: 4.4

Here is a quick snapshot of my data from last night:


Anything I should be noticing or any suggestions on adjusting my settings?

Thanks much!

FoggedOut wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 21, 2019 5:40 pm

Hello all, I've been trying to get to the bottom of what is causing symptoms I experience all day, 1–3 days per week. I've been experiencing the same package of symptoms for over 10 years and no doctor has been able to figure it out, so I've done endless amounts of searching online for answers.

I made a post a couple of years ago (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=156823&p=1198515#p1198515) that details more of my history,

Please DO NOT DO THAT. As explained in the very first post on the forum, keep ALL YOUR STUFF together, it's way too much of a pain to go skipping around multiple threads trying to find information to help you, so some people just won't even bother.

palerider wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 21, 2019 7:18 pm

Please DO NOT DO THAT. As explained in the very first post on the forum, keep ALL YOUR STUFF together, it's way too much of a pain to go skipping around multiple threads trying to find information to help you, so some people just won't even bother.

?...I put all the relevant detail into my already quite long post. The link was for anyone who was interested in further detail.

Thanks for the scolding.

FoggedOut wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 21, 2019 8:55 pm

palerider wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 21, 2019 7:18 pm

Please DO NOT DO THAT. As explained in the very first post on the forum, keep ALL YOUR STUFF together, it's way too much of a pain to go skipping around multiple threads trying to find information to help you, so some people just won't even bother.

?...I put all the relevant detail into my already quite long post. The link was for anyone who was interested in further detail.

Thanks for the scolding.

'ave it your way,

There's a REASON the moderator took the time to write this:
viewtopic/t172378/Sticky--Newbies-PLEAS ... 6e046138f7

FoggedOut wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 21, 2019 5:40 pm

Hello all, I've been trying to get to the bottom of what is causing symptoms I experience all day, 1–3 days per week. I've been experiencing the same package of symptoms for over 10 years and no doctor has been able to figure it out, so I've done endless amounts of searching online for answers.

I made a post a couple of years ago (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=156823&p=1198515#p1198515) that details more of my history, but the main symptoms I feel are: extreme brain fog, neck and jaw tension/stiffness, headaches, cold hands and feet, irritability, and extreme thirst. The brain fog is by far the most debilitating.

I've had plenty of blood tests/labs done, an in-lab sleep study (only showed an AHI of ~3), a brain MRI (clear), and cervical spine MRI and xrays (straightening of the neck/"military neck"), but nothing stands out as really wrong.

Sounds like you need to see a Cardiologist, maybe it's a heart or blood issue.

And I wonder about sleeping position, pillows, etc... maybe you've been in the same one for decades and it's time to try a new one as you (inevitably) change... just curious if you've ever tried a soft cervical collar but a less rigid pillow angle. You may have thoracic outlet syndrome - look it up - that affects both cardiac and skeletal issues - not something your average GP necessarily thinks of but something that might fit a lot of your symptoms (if not the thirst - which could result from mouth breathing). It might occur alongside OSA or UARS and confuse diagnosis.