My CPAP journey started in March 2024. I did a home sleep test and got 19.1 AHI. I live in Japan, they do not treat sleep apnea under 20 AHI, so the doctor refused to help.
I even struggled for months trying to find ways to improve my breathing with no success.
I then went to an ENT, who found that I have a deviated septum. We did another home sleep test. And this time I had an AHI of 15, so again, the doc can't help me.
Looking at the results of my sleep test, it seems I have more frequent CA than OA. But it's a bit difficult to say for sure as I really didn't sleep deeply during that test.
I November 2024, I achieved to smuggle a CPAP back in my luggage while traveling in Europe. I'm now the owner of a Lowenstein Prisma Smart Max.
After some self-made titration, I found my ideal pressure to be at 7.5 cmH2O. Using APAP with a larger range does not seem to give me a better AHI so far. I have almost always 0.0 OA in Oscar already with that pressure.
The problem is I'm still having quite frequent CAs. It's not abnormal for me to get around 2.5 CA/h in Oscar. And I'm still having brain fog during the day.
I also tend to have quite a bit of hypopneas, but they seem to be central hypopneas, they don't seem to go away with more pressure and EPR (or I should say more soft-pap on my lowenstein), is not helping.
Here is my last night
You should be able to zoom more in depth on the SleepHQ link here: https://sleephq.com/public/27e9b2f6-fea ... 10ff10d053
Here is another one on March 20th, this time with more hypopneas and still 1.55/h CAs: https://sleephq.com/public/cfb1b8c9-362 ... d8e1ceaf01
Few notes:
- The Lowenstein prisma smart has something similar to EPR called soft-pap. I do not use it. I find it quite uncomfortable, as it feels like it's triggering my breath early. The few times I tried, this increased my CAs by a good margin (which is expected since it increases ventilation).
- I did try to a custom V-COM that I 3D printed (see https://www.printables.com/model/121721 ... file.HICwe) and put directly in the tube at the end of the mask (see pic https://imgur.com/56EIPWG). Interestingly, the few days I tried, this has reduced my CAs to 0.6/h (I even got 0.0 CA once). But I'm wondering if this hasn't just affected the machine algorithms and I got incorrect results. Overall I woke up with a bit of headache so the experience was not really positive.
- I did try an EERS setup with some 3D printed materials, results where not conclusive.
What was interesting was the difference in my flow rate amplitude.
Flow rate before EERS:
Flow rate after EERS:
Flow rate before EERS zoomed during deep sleep:
Flow rate after EERS zoomed during deep sleep:
My EERS setup using a F40 quiet air vent, I attached it to this post.
Problem is, My O2 ring was showing a lot more frequent O2 drops with that setup. Usually I have 0.2 drops/h, with EERS I had 2.31/h. So I stopped experimenting with that one.
Do you think a BIPAP ST would fix me? It's a significant cost and difficult for me to get so I really would like to be sure it's the right choice.
Thank you for your help.
