New update. Still not great. :( Added OSCAR

Trainer4346 wrote: ↑

Thu May 04, 2023 6:15 am

Yet my events last night count 5.7 per hour

Break down into each event category please??
Along with a report on how you slept in general....soundly or fitfully??

@pugsy could you direct me to a post about how to post Oscar data? Basically what data to show and where to post it? ( Google Drive or what?)

As far as fitful vs soundly I can't identify any patterns. Some nights I toss and turn all night. Others I sleep soundly for a decent stretch maybe until 2 or 3 am and then I'm done and wide awake or tossing thereafter. No rhyme or reason. I'll report that with the Oscar data.

Trainer4346 wrote: ↑

Thu May 04, 2023 8:56 pm

@pugsy could you direct me to a post about how to post Oscar data? Basically what data to show and where to post it? ( Google Drive or what?)

Did you ever read that post on top of the forum, the one that starts with the words "Newbies PLEASE"?
Pugsy took a lot of thought and time to create it.
You'll find your answers there. Read it as thoroughly as carefully as you would want forum members to view your results.

@ozij. Yes I read it and a lot more. And then I got overwhelmed. I remember somewhere there was info on how to post Oscar.

Trainer4346 wrote: ↑

Fri May 05, 2023 6:01 am

@ozij. Yes I read it and a lot more. And then I got overwhelmed. I remember somewhere there was info on how to post Oscar.

It's in the very first post at the top of the index page. If OSCAR is beyond your skill level, I believe SleepHQ still has a free version. https://sleephq.com/account/teams/JLkPLe

This is what I like to see. The basics and then if we need anything else we just ask.

On the left side...
No calendar or pie chart. They cause more useful information to be hidden.

On the right side...these graphs.
Events
Flow rate
Pressure (not mask pressure)
Leak
Flow Limitations (if ResMed machine)
Snore graph....only if it looks very active. If no snores no need to include it.
So that the report image looks like mine below. BTW there is no line on the leak graph because all night long the leaks were 0.0. I don't see that very often. I always seem to have a little leak which is usually mouth opening leak but most of the time it doesn't disturb my sleep, it doesn't last long, and it rarely goes deep into large leak territory...so I ignore the leaks.

Any leak that disturbs sleep is unwanted no matter how big or little because it is messing with sleep.
Leaks that are prolonged and deep into large leak territory (like yours) need to be worked on because they are bad enough to either impact therapy or the machine's ability to sense, record, and respond. 5 minutes isn't a big deal...50 minutes is another story. Common sense must be used.

And I never tape my mouth now...since I don't have big, prolonged leaks happen all that often I ignore short lived leaks as long as they don't wake me up. I learned a long time ago that, for me, taping my mouth would also cause some wake ups and I felt those were worse than the few wake ups I would get with mouth opening leaks. Sometimes you have to pick your poison. Pick the lessor of 2 evils kind of thing.

Remember getting good solid sleep is our primary goal here because without sleep none of this stuff really matters much.
It all starts with sleep. Anything flagged while awake doesn't count except to point to not being asleep.

We always need event category break down because each category may need a different change in something (usually pressure) to bring about improvement.
Example...if your 5 ish AHI is mainly central apneas we look at something different (and not more pressure) to hopefully reduce the centrals. More pressure can't/won't fix centrals and in some cases can actually make them worse so we just don't suggest it.
If your 5 ish AHI is primarily composed of OAs and hyponeas then usually more pressure is what is needed especially when someone is using a fixed pressure like you are. So either more fixed pressure or a change to auto mode is first thing to try.

Without knowing the event category breakdown we don't know which way to go in terms of any changes to hopefully reduce the AHI. We would have to make WAGs (wild ass guesses) and I don't like doing that when more details are available for evaluation of the therapy data. Now sometimes we make WAGs when no data is available to help us out but I, for one, just won't do it unless I have zero choice.

Finally...we ALWAYS need subjective feelings when evaluating the data we have in front of us.
How solidly did you sleep??? How do you feel during the day???
An AHI of 0.0 doesn't mean squat if we didn't sleep so great and feel like dog crap during the day.
When people plop down a report in front of us and don't provide ALL that I need to form an opinion and offer my ideas as to anything....if they don't provide anything other than the report then what I need hasn't been provided and I just won't offer my thoughts...until I get more information....and event category breakdown and subjective feelings are part of it.

May 5 Last night I essentially had two sessions. When I woke up in the wee hours and shut the thing down, I saw 5.8 on my resmed and almost bailed. Regrouped, replaced mask and started it back up. This morning it read 3.8. better but still not great and nope, not feeling rested. I will get my data view figured out and post as soon as I am able. I do tape and I think it mostly helps but I'm thinking a double mouth guard might be more comfortable for me. I'll have to search for any discussion on that topic Thanks all for your patience with me!

And thanks @chicago granny for the sleephq suggestion. I might check that out ...wondering how different sleephq is compared to Oscar. I actually thought Oscar was a new name/version of an outdated sleephq. Sleepyhead?

SleepHQ and (the defunct) SleepyHead are not related.

OSCAR is newer and incarnation of what stated out mamy year ago as SleepyHead.

OSCAR was/is based on an older patient use software that was developed many years ago.
So it looks like SleepyHead but better and not as many bugs and is still currently being updated.
SleepHq was based on OSCAR and instead of having software on your computer to use...you use a web based software.

So in terms of age...
SleepyHead is the oldest...then OSCAR...then SleepHq.

The only real benefit (for me anyway) with SleepHq is the ability to zoom in on flow rate graphs and examine the breaths up close. To do that with OSCAR I used to have people send me a copy of their SD card and upload it into my OSCAR and review things that way. That's a lot of work for both the person wanting help and me as the helper. It has its place in the grand scheme of things though and sometimes it comes in handy.

All that said...event category breakdown is also available on the machine's LCD screen's sleep report.
It will tell you apnea index and give you the breakdown into centrals and obstructives and it gives an AHI report and with the AHI numbers and the breakdown into centrals and OAs we can then deduce the hyponea index. So not understanding OSCAR or posting images isn't a very good excuse for not offering event category breakdown. People without a computer or without ability to upload to SleepHq can still get the event category breakdown...it's not ideal but sure better than nothing.

I took a closer look at my machine. I didn't think to scroll down! Unfortunately it looks like it only shows the one most recent. And my air has history but not OA/central breakdown.

Total AI was 3.5 (OA .8 and C 2.5 ) leak 0
I don't understand central very well. I worry it is less fixable since it is brain related. Or maybe once I can get my data chart posted it will show they are false or something. That said, all I know is Id hoped to be less sleepy 3+ weeks in and I'm not. Yet.

So your numbers aren't horrible. The bulk of your AHI is central in nature.

So maybe you just need to give it more time but while giving it more time it sure doesn't hurt to look at other potential factors in not feeling the good numbers.

How many hours of real sleep do you think you are getting? Don't count laying awake waiting for sleep.
Of those hours of sleep that you do get are they fragmented??? Remember very many wake ups...if you do any idea what caused the wake up?

Finally look out outside factors...do you take any medications of any kind (even OTC) and if you do what is it?
Any other physical or mental health issues going on?

Is what you are experiencing actual sleepiness or fatigue?? They aren't the same thing.

I saw an excellent explanation of fargue vs sleepy on here. It is sleepy wanna take nap not fatigue ugh I can't move walk lift. Fwiw I don't take opioids and I'm not obese...which I read can be part of CA. I am hypothyroid but we'll managed with hormone meds

So excessive daytime sleepiness is your main complaint.
There are other culprits for this problem besides sleep disordered breathing.
Your actual therapy still isn't yet optimized though mainly because the leak issue potentially could be causing sleep disruptions that you may or may not remember.

How about answers to my other questions?

Opioids can cause central apneas but not always. It depends on a lot of factors.

I would bet that if we could see your actual flow rate up close that you aren't sleeping so great and that very well could impact your daytime sleepiness.

You may just need to give it more time. I know that isn't what you wanted to hear.
But you for sure have to deal with the leaks better.

You may also be unlucky enough to be in the population of people who find that cpap either doesn't help or makes worse the daytime sleepiness problem. About 20% of the people fall into that category...the last I read.

FWIW....it took me about 3 months to actually start sleeping better and I didn't feel better until I was sleeping better.