BrainsNeedSleep

WiredGeorge, have you ever looked at your own sleep data via SleepyHead? I finally was able to do that sometime mid-2025 and it has made a huge difference, but I'm one who likes data to correlate to experience. I've had trouble with getting correct treatment for years, and mostly it has been other patients helping each other -- I'm one of the PEP people on here now precisely for that reason. Stay tuned!

But with a different physician... And now, thanks to involvement with this project, I have found the treatment for that central/obstructive melange I have had to struggle with. Better!

I love this! My last sleep doc did the same, but just didn't seem to know what to do with the data, not that he had time to do much besides scroll rapidly through it. Then the last one I just saw had never heard of it...

It is free, but I hope that people realize donations are accepted. Given how much the PAP manufacturers charge, at least one, for their limited software, and how incredibly much one can glean from SleepyHead, I'd say it's worth a great deal...

PAP machines are definitely something to be careful about. From what I understand, pressure changes of as little as 1 are or can be significant, so going from 5 up to 14 is pretty huge. Also, changing the settings on the machine oneself without input from a competent -- repeat competent -- care provider can be kind of dangerous. I'm hoping we get some info on here on how these machines work.

(laughing...) snoring is a sign we're still alive....

There are forums and there are forums...and even on the really good other one, there are crabby people. It happens. But SleepyHead IMO is hugely helpful. It was getting the data from SleepyHead and reading the numbers off to my last sleep doc that finally convinced him to order an oximetry test...and yes, I was having some oxygen desaturations, which he hadn't noted. So we do need to educate ourselves, if our brains are not too damaged yet, and this site is one fantastic place to get information. I am curious to know which mask you're using that you're getting 100% with!! Reducing mask leaks is all-important for my treatment, so I'm always open to suggestions.

I should correct my above comment -- "this device would SEEM to be completely inappropriate..."

For people with simple obstructive apnea, this may be one solution. However, many people have not only obstructions but also central apneas, where you aren't even trying to breathe, and this device would be completely inappropriate for such patients. Problem is, in my experience, lots of docs aren't paying much attention to the centrals if there are obstructions. This is why sites like this are so useful -- people can learn what might work, and what might not, and why. Thanks for sharing, glad you are also no longer damaging your brain!

Ooops. / My pressure is half as high as yours so I can't speak to that issue, Dan probably better for that -- but also, do you have a humidifier on the PAP? That makes an enormous difference -- too much and interferes with sleep breathing, too little and dries out and hurts your sinuses... Good luck.