Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

sunsetblow · Post by **sunsetblow** » Sun Dec 13, 2020 8:30 pm

My sleep clinic tech just keeps saying "wow well your numbers are very good, I don't know why you're not feeling better." But I'm feeling progressively worse everyday.... HELP! I'm losing hope

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N6Pnsv ... sp=sharing

zonker · Post by **zonker** » Sun Dec 13, 2020 11:13 pm

sunsetblow wrote: ↑
Sun Dec 13, 2020 8:30 pm
My sleep clinic tech just keeps saying "wow well your numbers are very good, I don't know why you're not feeling better." But I'm feeling progressively worse everyday.... HELP! I'm losing hope

[https://drive.google.com/file/d/10lNyk2 ... sp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/10lNyk2 ... sp=sharing)

no. please post oscar charts from your daily view.

charts should be organized like this-
Suggested Support Order for your charts
Event Flags
Flow Rate
Pressure
Leak Rate
Flow Limit (Only for Resmed machines, not on Respironics)

this is from the following link-

wiki/index.php/Oscar:organize

the experts here (i am NOT one!) need to see the information that your daily graphs show in order to help you.

good luck!

sunsetblow · Post by **sunsetblow** » Sun Dec 13, 2020 11:26 pm

zonker wrote: ↑
Sun Dec 13, 2020 11:13 pm

sunsetblow wrote: ↑
Sun Dec 13, 2020 8:30 pm
My sleep clinic tech just keeps saying "wow well your numbers are very good, I don't know why you're not feeling better." But I'm feeling progressively worse everyday.... HELP! I'm losing hope

[https://drive.google.com/file/d/10lNyk2 ... sp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/10lNyk2 ... sp=sharing)
no. please post oscar charts from your daily view.

Agh okay sorry. FIXED and uploaded correctly. Thank you!

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Sun Dec 13, 2020 11:41 pm

Not quite correctly but close enough for now.
Read this and look at your screen shot and compare it to the examples here
viewtopic/t158560/How-to-post-images-for-review.html
Don't need tidal volume stuff but do need flow rate to not be so tiny.
Don't need snore graph...nothing to see there.

No need to redo this last image but future images try to make them look more like the examples in the thread above.

Your AHI isn't horrible but there is room for improvement IMHO. About half of the AHI is central/Clear airway apneas....
how is your sleep quality? Wake often during the night or sleep soundly for the most part?
Do you take any meds of any kind, if so, what?

Are you experiencing any nasal congestion?

If you aren't having much nasal congestion....I would suggest a minimum of 6 and maximum of 10 and keep EPR at what it is set at now and see what happens.

zonker · Post by **zonker** » Sun Dec 13, 2020 11:52 pm

sunsetblow wrote: ↑
Sun Dec 13, 2020 11:26 pm

Agh okay sorry. FIXED and uploaded correctly. Thank you!

and see? an expert DID come by to help!

i'll pipe down now. you're in good hands with pugsy.

sunsetblow · Post by **sunsetblow** » Mon Dec 14, 2020 5:39 pm

Pugsy wrote: ↑
Sun Dec 13, 2020 11:41 pm
Not quite correctly but close enough for now.
Read this and look at your screen shot and compare it to the examples here
viewtopic/t158560/How-to-post-images-for-review.html
Don't need tidal volume stuff but do need flow rate to not be so tiny.
Don't need snore graph...nothing to see there.

No need to redo this last image but future images try to make them look more like the examples in the thread above.

Your AHI isn't horrible but there is room for improvement IMHO. About half of the AHI is central/Clear airway apneas....
how is your sleep quality? Wake often during the night or sleep soundly for the most part?
Do you take any meds of any kind, if so, what?

Are you experiencing any nasal congestion?

If you aren't having much nasal congestion....I would suggest a minimum of 6 and maximum of 10 and keep EPR at what it is set at now and see what happens.

Ah okay noted for future screenshots...!

1. sleep quality seems okay? I fall asleep easily around 12-1am and always wake up between 4-6am when I have to take my mask off, then I fall back asleep until 8-9, which sucks!
2. no particular nasal congestion, but I'm a mouthbreather and find it uncomfortable to breathe thru my nose for very long
3. take anti-anxiety medication daily before I sleep

I will try the new new pressure range but even when I put the max up to 8.8 before, I would wake up and feel the air puffing out my cheeks during normal breathing so I ended up feeling very anxious to like "keep up" with the air flow, which was extremely uncomfortable and kept me from falling back asleep...! Is this normal/what can I do to do avoid this puffing?

Thanks so much!

sunsetblow · Post by **sunsetblow** » Mon Dec 14, 2020 5:43 pm

zonker wrote: ↑
Sun Dec 13, 2020 11:52 pm

sunsetblow wrote: ↑
Sun Dec 13, 2020 11:26 pm

Agh okay sorry. FIXED and uploaded correctly. Thank you!
and see? an expert DID come by to help!

i'll pipe down now. you're in good hands with pugsy.

thanks for your patience with my fumbling first few posts....!

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Mon Dec 14, 2020 6:14 pm

sunsetblow wrote: ↑
Mon Dec 14, 2020 5:39 pm
I would wake up and feel the air puffing out my cheeks during normal breathing so I ended up feeling very anxious to like "keep up" with the air flow, which was extremely uncomfortable and kept me from falling back asleep...! Is this normal/what can I do to do avoid this puffing?

This sounds like what we call "chipmunk cheeks" and how you stop it is stop the air from entering the oral cavity which is sometimes easier said than done.
With a full face mask just open your mouth and breath normally and let the pressure equalize. It's annoying because it wakes you up but it is normal and it won't hurt you.
Search the forum for "chipmunk cheeks" and you will see it has been talked about quite a lot.
There is a good chance with time and experience your body will learn to engage a reflex action that will stop the air from entering the mouth and when lips are closed the cheeks puff out...for now just open your lips.
I used to get it early on in my therapy but it hasn't happened to me for many years now.

Try really hard to not go back to sleep without the mask for a couple of reasons. It's a bad habit to start with and we all know bad habits are very easy to make and extremely difficult to break....and also guess which sleep your body remembers when you finally do get up...it remembers the crappy sleep from untreated apnea and it forgets about the 4 or 6 hours of good apnea treated sleep so you feel like crap.

Play with the EPR setting...you might like how a different setting feels to you and you need to be comfortable so little things don't trigger panic if they happen. I said to keep it like it is just because I assumed you probably were used to it but maybe a different setting would feel better to you and if you were more comfortable with things you would sleep better and less likely to get anxious about breathing.

Also...check to see if you have a choice in the clinical menu for a setting called "Response"....Depending on your machine it might offer you a choice. The default is Standard but you might see Soft and if you do...try Soft response.

Julie · Post by **Julie** » Mon Dec 14, 2020 6:48 pm

And have you looked at side FX of your meds with regard to sleep issues?

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Mon Dec 14, 2020 6:53 pm

sunsetblow wrote: ↑
Mon Dec 14, 2020 5:39 pm
3. take anti-anxiety medication daily before I sleep

What is the name of the medication? Some of these medications can mess with sleep quality and cause daytime hangover effect even if only taken at bedtime.

khauser · Post by **khauser** » Mon Dec 14, 2020 6:55 pm

And some like Paxil or Prozac should be taken in the am because they can interrupt sleep...

sunsetblow · Post by **sunsetblow** » Tue Dec 15, 2020 2:02 pm

Pugsy wrote: ↑
Mon Dec 14, 2020 6:14 pm

sunsetblow wrote: ↑
Mon Dec 14, 2020 5:39 pm
I would wake up and feel the air puffing out my cheeks during normal breathing so I ended up feeling very anxious to like "keep up" with the air flow, which was extremely uncomfortable and kept me from falling back asleep...! Is this normal/what can I do to do avoid this puffing?
This sounds like what we call "chipmunk cheeks" and how you stop it is stop the air from entering the oral cavity which is sometimes easier said than done.
With a full face mask just open your mouth and breath normally and let the pressure equalize. It's annoying because it wakes you up but it is normal and it won't hurt you.
Search the forum for "chipmunk cheeks" and you will see it has been talked about quite a lot.
There is a good chance with time and experience your body will learn to engage a reflex action that will stop the air from entering the mouth and when lips are closed the cheeks puff out...for now just open your lips.
I used to get it early on in my therapy but it hasn't happened to me for many years now.

Try really hard to not go back to sleep without the mask for a couple of reasons. It's a bad habit to start with and we all know bad habits are very easy to make and extremely difficult to break....and also guess which sleep your body remembers when you finally do get up...it remembers the crappy sleep from untreated apnea and it forgets about the 4 or 6 hours of good apnea treated sleep so you feel like crap.

Play with the EPR setting...you might like how a different setting feels to you and you need to be comfortable so little things don't trigger panic if they happen. I said to keep it like it is just because I assumed you probably were used to it but maybe a different setting would feel better to you and if you were more comfortable with things you would sleep better and less likely to get anxious about breathing.

Also...check to see if you have a choice in the clinical menu for a setting called "Response"....Depending on your machine it might offer you a choice. The default is Standard but you might see Soft and if you do...try Soft response.

Okay so I made the adjustments, making it 6 min and 9 max to try and ease into it last night and I only ended up wearing it for 2.5 hours

feeling bummed out. I know it might take some time to get used to but ugh....

As for medicine as folks are asking, it's buspirone which I haven't seen having sleep-related side effects

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Tue Dec 15, 2020 2:05 pm

https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-8876 ... al/details

Look at the side effects that are well known....trouble sleeping is indeed one of them.

sunsetblow · Post by **sunsetblow** » Tue Dec 15, 2020 2:59 pm

Pugsy wrote: ↑
Tue Dec 15, 2020 2:05 pm
https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-8876 ... al/details

Look at the side effects that are well known....trouble sleeping is indeed one of them.

Oh errr..... my psychiatrist definitely did not tell me this lol. Hmm. That would be good if it were all just a side effect of the medicine tbh

khauser · Post by **khauser** » Tue Dec 15, 2020 3:49 pm

Doctors (at least in my experience) don't mention side effects unless they are something to be watched for. It's hard ... people taking medications can have all sorts of side effects, and it is hard to be sure the medicine caused them.

So it falls on us, like most things.

Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

Re: Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

Re: Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

Re: Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

Re: Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

Re: Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

Re: Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

Re: Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

Re: Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

Re: Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

Re: Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

Re: Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

Re: Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

Re: Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

Re: Can someone help me interpret my OSCAR data? Feeling like garbage

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