SleepyHead cyclic respiratory amplitude. What is it?

I've been using SleepyHead for about a week now and eagerly review the graphs every morning. I was hoping someone could explain something to me regarding my breathing. I think it's normal and everybody does it, but I'm not used to looking at my respiration in such detail, so it's new to me.

It is a cyclic fluctuation in respiratory amplitude with a period of from 30 to 60 seconds. Looking at the Flow Rate graph, I see inhalations and exhalations of about 17bpm, but I also see a longer, smooth cycling of amplitude. Sometimes, there is no perceptible cycling, and the respirations appear uniform. I see stretches of cyclic amplitude and then stretches of no variation--it flips back and forth between the two modes on the order of 30 minutes to an hour. What is this? I don't see any correlation to the other graphs, e.g., therapy pressure, so I think it has an organic cause.

So Sincere wrote:I've been using SleepyHead for about a week now and eagerly review the graphs every morning. I was hoping someone could explain something to me regarding my breathing. I think it's normal and everybody does it, but I'm not used to looking at my respiration in such detail, so it's new to me.

It is a cyclic fluctuation in respiratory amplitude with a period of from 30 to 60 seconds. Looking at the Flow Rate graph, I see inhalations and exhalations of about 17bpm, but I also see a longer, smooth cycling of amplitude. Sometimes, there is no perceptible cycling, and the respirations appear uniform. I see stretches of cyclic amplitude and then stretches of no variation--it flips back and forth between the two modes on the order of 30 minutes to an hour. What is this? I don't see any correlation to the other graphs, e.g., therapy pressure, so I think it has an organic cause.

That's a very good question, Sincere. Taken to the extremes with amplitudes falling to near zero or zero with greater persistence, these episodes could be deemed Periodic Breathing or Cheyne-Stokes respiration. Here's one thread that discusses: viewtopic/t50482/Periodic-Breathing.html . There are many more.

In your case, my guess is this is a normal variation in breathing most likely accompanying changes in sleep stage. I emphasize this is a guess. Many people, myself included, seem to experience these fluctuations in respiration during their normal sleep, but I'm not sure the cause has been identified.

Why not post a snip of one your typical SleepyHead graphs so that one of the experts here might have a look and comment?

Jay Aitchsee wrote:Taken to the extremes with amplitudes falling to near zero or zero with greater persistence, these episodes could be deemed Periodic Breathing or Cheyne-Stokes respiration. Here's one thread that discusses: viewtopic/t50482/Periodic-Breathing.html .

Thanks for the link. Even at the least amplitude, I'm not hypopneic so don't think it's PB, per se. Other than degree, though, that looks like what I'm experiencing, especially the PB graph in the second response in that thread.

Jay Aitchsee wrote:In your case, my guess is this is a normal variation in breathing most likely accompanying changes in sleep stage.

Yeah, I bet that's what it is. I wish there was some way to correlate it with my sleep. I guess I'd need a home EEG monitor. MEASURE ALL THE THINGS!!!

So Sincere wrote:Yeah, I bet that's what it is. I wish there was some way to correlate it with my sleep. I guess I'd need a home EEG monitor. MEASURE ALL THE THINGS!!!

Well, you can keep an eye out for a Zeo Bedside monitor. Even though Zeo has been OOB for several years, there are still a few of us using them. Though it has shortcomings, Zeo is probably still the best sleep stage monitor available - using an EEG sensor rather than actigraphy.

Follow the links in my signature for more info viewtopic.php?f=1&t=101917&p=965774#p953171