Newbie - 4 days in - Oscar charts - Looking for suggestions

Hi All,

Very new to this and have a Resmed 10 VAuto, using VAuto - PS 4, min 4, max 20;
Full Bearded, using Dreamwear undernose full face mask. Also have a Amara gel full face.
Also using the heated tubing.

I've been mostly concentrating on getting a better seal and understanding getting the AHI below 5 is one of the targets, but not sure how to interpret the remainder of the data.

Looking for suggestions on settings, mask fit, what to look for, how often to download data, et.

Results below, Also glad to post more graphs, etc. for more detail upon request.

sam08861 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 13, 2022 11:47 am

Hi All,

welcome to the zoo!

unfortunately, you've given us the wrong information. pls see-

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=182425&p=1390059#p1390059

experts here need to see specific info in order to give helpful advice. also, would be good to know how you are feeling. that gives hints as to what needs improvement.

also, when you get the chance please put your machine and mask info into your equipment profile so that it shows up on the bottom of each of your posts.

good luck!

to anyone who may complain about not seeing his image, left click and open in another tab.

or not, as it's not the oscar graphs you'd expect.

Thanks Everyone for the welcome and the feedback! I'll get the right graphs/data and post the links as the preview doesn't seem to be working. I'm sure I may be doing something wrong... will look up how to post pics as well.

sam08861 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 13, 2022 3:34 pm

Thanks Everyone for the welcome and the feedback! I'll get the right graphs/data and post the links as the preview doesn't seem to be working. I'm sure I may be doing something wrong... will look up how to post pics as well.

if you could, please continue to host the pics elsewhere as you've been doing. we are currently suffering under a bloat of pics being uploaded here. it's to the point where you can no longer upload them direct. so thanks for doing as you are.

next time, hit the "preview" tab below so you can see what your post will look like to others. then if it looks good, hit "submit".

good luck!

Thanks and here's the link, and hopefully I have the right data elements in the graph.

https://ibb.co/zSqj24q

finally got it... the bbcode link works when using ibb as a host... though, I noticed the one below requires a couple of clicks to get to full resolution... get what you pay for with image hosting I guess.

Another try...

sam08861 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 13, 2022 3:42 pm

Thanks and here's the link, and hopefully I have the right data elements in the graph.

https://ibb.co/zSqj24q

finally got it... the bbcode link works when using ibb as a host... though, I noticed the one below requires a couple of clicks to get to full resolution... get what you pay for with image hosting I guess.

this is fine for now. the next time though we only need the first four panels below the events panel. it just makes it harder for some people to read.

now having said THAT, i'm not the best person to be giving advice. i've just this year switched over to vauto after spending 5 years on apap! so i fear i would give you the wrong advice. sorry about that.

but i will commend you on grasping the notion of charts and getting them here for display.

be sure to tell us how you are feeling after a night of sleep. sleeping all the way through? getting up to pee? brain fog or headache in the morning?

better folk than i will be along to advise you on settings. all i can tell you is an ahi of five isn't considered near good enough here at the forum. let's see if we can't get that number a bit lower.

continued good luck!

eta: you posted again before i could post the above!

very good work and now we'll wait patiently for some advice.

sam08861 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 13, 2022 3:50 pm

Another try...

The resolution is too bad. If your original is sharp, can you set up a free account at imgur.com and host there?

Wish I could say I'm among the better folk, but let me try out a couple of thoughts.

Do you have a sense of what happened to create the extended large leak? It'd be good to lick that problem, both so you can sleep more soundly and so the machine can do its work. (It can compensate easily up to around a leak level of 24, but the higher you go above that, the more trouble it has.)

Do you know why you have a VAuto machine and why your pressure support is set to 4?

And could you try zooming in on some of the central apneas to see whether they look something like the attached, with some deeper and less regular breathing right before the CA?

Many thanks for the help getting the right information for folks to review.

My sleep has been a bit abnormal this past week due to some emotional distress, but the prior night, I felt a bit groggy getting up, but I was very sleepy and felt like I slept well.

I do also have a lidar based sleep tracker next to my bed (al la the nest hub I picked up for $49 earlier in the year). Per that device, my sleep was as follows:

Showing 6+ hours of sleep, when my usual average is around 2.5 to 4, prior to starting therapy with the machine. Will have to see how it goes tonight, as I'm feeling less tired than yesterday, when I came in sleep deprived.

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 13, 2022 5:14 pm

sam08861 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 13, 2022 3:50 pm

Another try...

The resolution is too bad. If your original is sharp, can you set up a free account at imgur.com and host there?

Hi ChicagoGranny, if you click the image and then click again, it should show full res... If that's still too low, I'll keep trying until it's readable in the preview.

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 13, 2022 5:15 pm

Wish I could say I'm among the better folk, but let me try out a couple of thoughts.

Do you have a sense of what happened to create the extended large leak? It'd be good to lick that problem, both so you can sleep more soundly and so the machine can do its work. (It can compensate easily up to around a leak level of 24, but the higher you go above that, the more trouble it has.)

Do you know why you have a VAuto machine and why your pressure support is set to 4?

And could you try zooming in on some of the central apneas to see whether they look something like the attached, with some deeper and less regular breathing right before the CA?



CA after arousal.png

Hi, I think the large leak was caused by my mask slipping off during the course of the night. I tend to move around a fair bit and awoke to a mask partially off and noise. I recall taking the mask off and just going back to sleep at that point, so I suspect I slept a bit more after removing the mask. Maybe an hour or so?

edit... I did purchase some lanolin today to try and get a better seal. Also going to trim my beard down shorter and give that a try to see if I can address the leak.

I'm not sure why on any of those settings, other than that's what I was told to start at. Does that figure look like I might have that information wrong?

On the zoom in on central apneas, assuming the the 'clear airway' labeled items are the same as these? If so, here's a zoomed view... (click to enlarge)

At this time, it looks like most of your events are clear airway, or central apnea. All the machine knows is there was no inhalation and there was no blockage of the air flow. If you hold your breath for more than ten seconds, the machine will call it a CA. These may go away as you get used to using the machine.

Thanks much. Helps to know I'm on the right track.

Perhaps I should report back after a few more nights more data at the given/advised settings and the aforementioned beard trimming and gel? Or can I use the mask fit feature to find a fit somehow?

The 1st 2 nights were with the Amara gel full face mask which really had leaks everywhere. I have a bony nose, so that doesn't help and a thick, 1/2" beard. I tend to breathe through my mouth sometimes, so haven't tried a nasal pillow. The under nose full face seems to be OK in the M mask attachment in the multipack's sizes in the bag. Also tried S, per the little measuring card, but my lower lip is too low for that one. Haven't tried the L or MW.