Two months in

This was Tuesday night. Looks like the machine was pegged at 20 for some time, wanting to go higher. I don't think there is a higher setting on this machine? Although the AHI was significantly lower than before I changed the settings earlier this week, I was miserably tired all day yesterday. I do believe I was semi-awake for the last 20-30 minutes, and I wonder if being partially conscious was skewing my numbers higher than what they actually are?

And last night's. The machine pegged once at 20 for a short period. Again awake for the last 15-20 minutes, I think. Feeling much better today than yesterday. I did not nap after a miserably tired day yesterday, so I am really surprised to be awake and feeling better after 6 hours and a little change of decent sleep.

Pugsy, you mentioned flow limitations, and they are showing up on my graph. I'm just not sure what causes them, how significantly they are, what I can do to eliminate. If I haven't mentioned before, I am mostly a side sleeper, but occasionally migrate to supine. Due to minor back issues, side sleeping is most comfortable to me.

Since I am up so early, I am going to review my machines specs and see if it can go to a higher flow rate if needed. If it won't, I guess I am going to need a different machine?

As it turns out, the fatigue I was experiencing just prior to Christmas could have been me coming down with a nasty sinus infection complete with fever, sore throat, and nasal congestion. Been laid out flat since Christmas afternoon. AHI has spiked back up, but I believe it is due to the discomfort of the cold. So I will forego posting the graphs.

Today, for the first time in my life, I woke up feeling good (or at least not bad) after 9 weeks.

I've played around with pressure settings and got improvement in only a week or so. Upping the lower number helped with reducing leaks, also. Using the "run mask test" as well. Upping the pressure gives a much better test result. At 4.0 it wasn't really being tested. At 8 leaks popped up all over and I could adust mask accordingly.

blownaway wrote:Today, for the first time in my life, I woke up feeling good (or at least not bad) after 9 weeks.

I've played around with pressure settings and got improvement in only a week or so. Upping the lower number helped with reducing leaks, also. Using the "run mask test" as well. Upping the pressure gives a much better test result. At 4.0 it wasn't really being tested. At 8 leaks popped up all over and I could adust mask accordingly.

I've done really well with leaks up until the last few days. Been sick as a dog and too down and out to shave. LOL.

Had a follow-up visit with ENT today. She rewrote prescription to reflect my latest settings, which seemed to be working until I caught this bug from hell. She said anything under 6.0 AHI is acceptable. But if I can't get and maintain that for an extended period, she may prescribe a BiPap machine. Another follow-up visit is scheduled in March.

Is it normal to continue to see and be treated by an ENT for sleep apnea? Or should I be seeing a "sleep" doctor, since the ENT has already ruled out surgical correction for the condition?

Better night last night than the several previous. Still have some nasal congestion.

Two-hour nap today with 0.0 AHI. Feels like a small victory.

Are you still battling the upper respiratory infection?
Unless you still are battling major cold symptoms I think that a little more minimum pressure needs to be added...the snores, AHI and clustering points to the baseline pressure not quite doing an optimal job.
If you are still ill...wait till you are well and see what those reports looks like.
Perhaps 1.0 cm more minimum and in 0.5 cm increments if the change is a bit too much. When using the pressures you are using even a 0.5 increase can seem like a lot.

The cold is mostly better. Thought about notching the bottom up to 16.0 or 16.5. The pressures really don't bother me at this point. It's strange, but my absolute best numbers seem to come during afternoon naps. Maybe my body clock is out of synch. Need to eliminate the naps entirely if I can.

What position do you normally sleep in?
During the naps are you maybe on your side more and during the night maybe wind up on your back more?
Often our OSA is worse when on our backs and we might need more pressure on our back than when we are on our side.
Or maybe your clustering is more REM related and with the nap you may not have as much REM sleep where the same thing can happen and our OSA is worse and we need more pressure. When you sleep more at night then you have a greater chance of having more REM sleep.

I try to sleep on my side because of minor back issues, but sometimes end up on my back. Side sleeping is really more comfortable for me.

It's too bad sleep cycles can't be easily monitored without electrodes. The nap certainly felt like deep sleep. I was tired, cumulative build-up of fatigue from being ill and trying to go back to work today.

You mentioned earlier in the thread about flow limitations popping up when I went to a higher setting originally. A few did pop up, but I don't know if there were enough to be of concern.

Finally, the doc mentioned possibly needing a BiPap. Not sure if I am ready to go there yet. Fortunately my next appt. isn't until the end of March.