making adjustments

Here is an attempt at posting my OSCAR data. I had a lot of trouble last night with the mask leaking. I took it and my chin strap off and put them back on a couple of times in the night in sort of a brain fog.

https://jgardnerscollection.weebly.com/storage.html

Here's the night before.

https://jgardnerscollection.weebly.com/storage-2.html

Is this even remotely what you need?

The graphs are fine. First priority is getting control of the leaks. Have you studied some YouTube videos about fitting and adjusting your mask model?

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 09, 2024 5:04 pm

The graphs are fine. First priority is getting control of the leaks. Have you studied some YouTube videos about fitting and adjusting your mask model?

Yes. I didn't find anything particularly helpful except the suggestion I may have the wrong size. I'm using the medium. I find the small a little too tight and the medium a little too loose (as did one of the youtube guys, who ended up sticking with the medium).

I think my chin strap (knightsbridge) and hose management systems are messing with the mask fit by tugging on it. These days I'm trying to adjust the thingy that holds onto my hose to give it a bit more slack without actually letting the hose land on my face.

Just about every day my machine says my mask fit is great. Is that not to be believed?

onward60 wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 09, 2024 9:31 pm

Just about every day my machine says my mask fit is great.

Look at the leak line on your chart. See how often it goes higher than the red line.

Are the leaks enough to be concerned about? I have tried the size small mask. It looks to fit better but it feels tight on the right side of my face where my pinched nerve is.

onward60 wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 10, 2024 12:42 pm

Are the leaks enough to be concerned about?

You said they are. ---------------->

onward60 wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 09, 2024 2:18 pm

I had a lot of trouble last night with the mask leaking. I took it and my chin strap off and put them back on a couple of times in the night in sort of a brain fog.

Judge your sleep in the late evening. Were you energetic during the day? Did you have excess sleepiness? (Some sleepiness is normal. Often after lunch.)

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 10, 2024 1:20 pm

onward60 wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 10, 2024 12:42 pm

Are the leaks enough to be concerned about?

You said they are. ---------------->

onward60 wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 09, 2024 2:18 pm

I had a lot of trouble last night with the mask leaking. I took it and my chin strap off and put them back on a couple of times in the night in sort of a brain fog.

Judge your sleep in the late evening. Were you energetic during the day? Did you have excess sleepiness? (Some sleepiness is normal. Often after lunch.)

I'll rephrase that. Are the leaks interfering with my therapy? My machine always says, "Your mask fit was great last night." So maybe it thinks a few leaks are normal?

I have been a walking zombie with undiagnosed sleep apnea (thanks to doctor who refused to give me a study because I was a thin female) for over 10 years. I'm not sure how soon to expect that to change.

onward60 wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 10, 2024 1:31 pm

Are the leaks interfering with my therapy? My machine always says, "Your mask fit was great last night." So maybe it thinks a few leaks are normal?

ResMed machines will show Mr Smiley for leak management until time in large leak territory amounts to 30% or more of the night.
So yes...the machine thinks a few leaks are acceptable. Maybe not "normal" but acceptable.
30 % of the night spent above 24 L/min....that takes a LOT of large leak to earn Mr Frowny instead of Mr Smiley.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 10, 2024 5:12 pm

onward60 wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 10, 2024 1:31 pm

Are the leaks interfering with my therapy? My machine always says, "Your mask fit was great last night." So maybe it thinks a few leaks are normal?

ResMed machines will show Mr Smiley for leak management until time in large leak territory amounts to 30% or more of the night.
So yes...the machine thinks a few leaks are acceptable. Maybe not "normal" but acceptable.
30 % of the night spent above 24 L/min....that takes a LOT of large leak to earn Mr Frowny instead of Mr Smiley.

OK, so for real, how much leakage is typical and nothing to be concerned about?

onward60 wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 10, 2024 5:25 pm

OK, so for real, how much leakage is typical and nothing to be concerned about?

1.....ANY leak (no matter how big or how small or how prolonged) is unwanted IF IT DISTURBS SOMEONE's sleep.

Now for myself...I seem to sleep through most leaks (big and small) so I don't really worry about leaks until I start seeing more than 20 % of the night in large leak.
Also I monitor just how deep into large leak territory I went....28 L/min is nothing and I won't even look much at the leaks until I see much time over 30-35 L/min.
So I look at how deep into large leak territory I went and how long did I stay there....5 minutes at 40 L/min isn't the end of the world. Now 40 minutes or more over 40 L/min...different story.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 10, 2024 5:43 pm

onward60 wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 10, 2024 5:25 pm

OK, so for real, how much leakage is typical and nothing to be concerned about?

.....ANY leak (no matter how big or how small or how prolonged) is unwanted IF IT DISTURBS SOMEONE's sleep.

What she said:

.....ANY leak (no matter how big or how small or how prolonged) is unwanted IF IT DISTURBS SOMEONE's sleep

For real: we have different responses, different things will disturb our sleep. If you're woken up be leaks, they have to be taken care of. They can be just long enough and large enough to wake you up, without being large enough and long enough to cause a Mr. Frowny.

So, if I do not notice a leak, then I guess it doesn't count.

I won't be looking at my OSCAR for a bit. I had a steroid injection in my knee and am sitting here wide awake holding an ice pack on my face. Nobody warned me that facial flushing and insomnia were side effects of knee injections. Like the thrill of menopause revisited. Probably not a good time to be analyzing my sleep quality.

Side note and a heads up.

That steroid injection can also mess with your sleep (if/when you finally get to sleep) in some way or other for days and days.
I have had several of those injections over the years and it sure seemed like when I had a little side effect it seemed to hang around plus my already poor sleep quality went totally in the toilet for a few days after the injections.
Some of it may have had to do more with quantity of injections than just the steroid factor alone since a couple of times I got more than one injection at one time.
But wanted to just warn you....steroids can do some weird crap.

If those leaks aren't causing you to wake up and you don't seem to spend much time above 35 L/min leak line....I don't know that I would go to extraordinary measures to fix the leaks. If Mr Frowny isn't showing up and I am sleeping through those leaks and feeling decent and AHI is acceptable and I don't spend much time over 35 L/min....I would ignore those leaks,
Several conditions though...

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 10, 2024 9:51 pm

Side note and a heads up.

That steroid injection can also mess with your sleep (if/when you finally get to sleep) in some way or other for days and days.

But wanted to just warn you....steroids can do some weird crap.

If those leaks aren't causing you to wake up and you don't seem to spend much time above 35 L/min leak line....I don't know that I would go to extraordinary measures to fix the leaks. If Mr Frowny isn't showing up and I am sleeping through those leaks and feeling decent and AHI is acceptable and I don't spend much time over 35 L/min....I would ignore those leaks,
Several conditions though...

Thanks for the heads up. This was my first ever. Torn meniscus that been bothering me forever and not responding to therapy. So, I finally gave in and had the shot. Perhaps the shot is why I am so much more awake than I usually am today. Like it's a stimulant. Weird that it can last that long!

I asked the DME if I could try yet another size of the N30, the small-wide. It should come in a few days. The medium feels the best but the slightest movement and it slips out of place because it just barely fits with about a millimeter to spare. The small feels tight. So, I use the medium. When I get up to go to the bathroom, sometimes it takes a long time to get it right on my face again. I think it's OK and then it's not. This can go on for quite awhile. That's what bothers me.

onward60 wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 11, 2024 1:13 pm

When I get up to go to the bathroom, sometimes it takes a long time to get it right on my face again. I think it's OK and then it's not. This can go on for quite awhile. That's what bothers me.

Don't take the mask off when you go to the bathroom. Use the tube's elbow quick disconnect to leave the hose in bed and the mask on your face. Reconnecting is easy - and you can do some "disconnect / reconnect" training runs during the day.