DonMidwest

Could it be? Large Leak 0.00% ? Well, I adjusted my straps: 2 at top and 2 at bottom. 1/4" for each one.

With the automatic start and putting on the collar for the first night with the collar, things got jumbled.

This time I first put on my mask. And realized that it could be tighter. Tightened the straps and ....

at 04:30 approximately I got up to pee. This is the break in the graph. I didn't think I went back to sleep, but maybe I did. I seem to be awake from 5:30 on, looked at screen a few times, and finally got up when time was over 6 hrs elapsed. On my screen AHI=.9

I have noticed for over a year that I can lie awake and AHI can often go up. I knew this was fishy. Something strange going on. Now I know that it was mask leakage that messed up AHI.

In any case, can you believe it, AHI = .98, and only CA at .98. Incredible.

Any suggestions on what to try next?

Fairly early on someone else posted here and mention that they had used a chin strap. The collar works like a chin strap I would like to give that person an update. I have tried a chin strap and for the most part it was a failure.

Update: I ran a red light this morning after dropping my daughter in law off at work. No one injured. 2 cars totaled.

Incredible! AHI= 1.72!

Your suggestion about the neck collar, and my wife said that when I sleep I throw my chin back --- both of these led me on a trek to find a collar. I went to three drug stores, one Kroger and one WalMart until I found it at a Walgreens drug store. Their brand is just right. First night success! The F40 rides higher on the sides of the face which might be better than the F30i which has a lower strap on the cheeks.

I saw that large leak started 22:40 and lasted 2 hours until 1:40.

The later leaks at 05:00 and 06:00 may have been when I slept on my side.

I read the post on Complex Apnea a couple of times. I went to his Harvard web page and brought up abstracts of some of his papers. They all, so far, seem to be behind pay walls. Hopefully we can continue and get a few days of this.

The Harvard guy has a sleep lab with a continual source of data so he can continue fiddling with the complex set of graphs for some more years. Invent some new conditions. But he is not into nutrition I suspect. He is doing physiology, but at first glance, not doing nutrition and spiritual approaches like meditation and breathing exercises.

Are you familiar with the term Functional Doctors? They treat a patient rather than relying on averages and handing out pills or surgery. In my new found health focus I follow several functional doctors on line. And I have on line, but not listened all the way through, a so called Dr, Talks series on sleep,. And following various series on the web on cognitive issues and longevity who bring up sleep. And a daily dose of Dr. Mercola.

In addition I have read, but forgotten so need to reread, recommendations of Gaba and Ashwagandha Root which arrived yesterday from the on line supplement store I started using about 6 weeks ago named PipingRock.com. I have not started taking these because we are in the middle, or maybe at the start, of an experiment and it will take some more time for things to settle down and get fairly reliable data over a decent time period.

I am now shaving each evening and for some time I have gone to bed about he same time each night: 10:30 PM. And I try to cut down my screen time near bedtime. We seldom watch TV. Bedroom is dark and cool and the only electronics are wife's cell phone and hearing aid chargers.

find an apnea, zoom in, zoom out, find the relation to other variables to better understand what is going on

do sleepy doctors even know how to read these graphs?

here is the one around 03:15. Did I do it correctly?

It is interesting that your apnea profile is similar to mine.

This message is now number 51. It is clear why the sleepy doctors don't want to touch the detailed level.

I will go out and get a cervical collar.

I brought up the Minute Ventilation graph. And I made them smaller. Are there any other graphs you would like on the page and others to move down.

Great night! But first a word from Truth Central.

It is a racket! It is a racket I tell you! The mail came yesterday, my wife opened it, I didn't see it until this morning. And WTF. The bill for the Feb 18 sleep study was $6,500! I have Medicare Advantage through United Health Care and my former employer Bell Labs then Western Electric, Lucent then Alcatel and now Nokia. They changed names a few times as the country ditched manufacturing and became a full bodied country where the banks control the country. My charge after Medicare is $91. And I mentioned many times that from a data integrity point of view the Feb 18 study was a failure, but for the sleep mafia it was a smashing success because they got an AHI of 64!!! Incredible. Must keep this person in CPAP. Am I a masked rider, no a masked sleeper?

I think you said, but please repeat if correct, that the "sleepy doctors" only get the high level info over the data link. The same info I get on my Resmed Air Sense 10 screen. They provide a few tools so they can determine the average pressure needed, but not much more than I can get from Resmed web site.

The day before yesterday the AHI was over 15 and the Leak % was 70%. I drove for 5 hours and spent maybe 8 hours on my feet in a museum and was not tired. No nap. In other words, before I met you, I would have considered a good night's sleep. I had no idea what I was missing from excellent sleep!

Making the changes noted yesterday, my AHI of 5.12 is great! Big question can I do at least this well day after day? The biggest success last night is that for the first time I may have attained valid data because my air leakage level was low. I don't know enough yet to make sense of the various apneas so you have an easier time saying something useful than before when I was data deficient, or had a data disability. Ha! Maybe my stupid joke contains a way to characterize the "sleepy doctors" as having a data disability. They are childish. I know it is not politically correct to look down on a human being with a disability, but there are times one has to leap out of the box and be politically incorrect.

Before I sent this out I looked at the ResMed web site. The scores for the 4 variables was: time 63/70, mask seal 0/20, events per hour 5/5, four mask off/on 3/5 for a total of 71/100. I assume that this is the data sent over the data link which the doctors can see. From this there is no way they can properly advise about sleep. Furthermore, reading this shows the goal is compliance: use your mask 7 hours per day, stop leakage, don't take mask off and on -- comply and you will be doing fine. Only 5 points for apnea. I thought that was the reason for the device?

My wife made an interesting point. Maybe there are security reasons for not transferring all that data over the internet. In any case they have never shared any data except when my PA said that my pressure settings were good.

Three changes. I will change settings to 12 min 14 max. Shave tonight - didn't do it last night. Use the special pillow. It is full size with some weird indents possibly for sleeping on your side. I only use it for a foam pillow to hold head up.

On going change from when we started: no tape on mouth.

We went to the Toledo OH Art Museum with the other granddaughter to see the Caravaggio exhibit. Another 4 hours in the car.

I will ask my physical therapist about the neck brace. Thanks for the information. They are inexpensive. I could wear one outside if I was looking for sympathy. (dumb joke)

I slept through last night without waking up. Feel good this morning. Maybe with a night with such high large leak I shouldn't feel good. Thus if I can get things in order, maybe I will feel really good. No Tape. Used soft pillow.

When I am at pilates, they put an extra pillow under my head because my head leans forward. I have been to over thirty sessions of myotherapy - a physical therapy focusing on the fascia. The treatment is for scoliosis but along the way, there has been work to loosen up the neck so it rotates and I can see cars because I turn far enough. The two accidents in my live were within the last couple of years and both because I couldn't rotate my head and see out the left side far enough.

Here is my change for this evening. I will go back to the special pillow which I bought as a CPAP pillow. It is fairly hard foam. On my back it supports my head and that might be the problem. On a soft pillow my head is thrown backwards when I need to have it up so I look straight up.

Because of the leak over 70% probably none of the data is valid. GOAL: get valid data every night.

Thanks. I looked at two more reviews of F40.

There was a time when I had a full face mask, one that went up to the bridge of the nose. It has a foam cushion. For a while it worked great. Then it started leaking and I tightened it so much that it hurt the bridge of my nose.

I am not sure about a nasal only mask because it seems my nasal area gets clogged overnight.

I have my titration study on May 19 so will continue to think about various options.

At this moment it looks like F40 would do the trick. My F30i has a hard plastic piece around the cushion so if I did roll over, the seal could be cut.

This evening: no tape on mouth. Sleep on back most of the night.

I did exercise today: 2 hours at pilates. Usually 1 hr per week but I have 4 per month on my Medicare advantage and had 2 left.

One thing I did learn from the long span with air shut off: over the years I have suspected that the CPAP was not keeping track of time correctly. A couple of times I timed it to see if it came out OK. Well, now I know that the difference is during the time when it is shut down.

I showed the graph to my wife and she said that I was snoring so she had to pound on me in my sleep. Probably my mask was off when I was snoring.

I think I should try no tape tomorrow.

The only change was a new cushion.

I am baffled by last night. I did tape my mouth mostly closed but by morning most of the air was through my mouth Many, many apneas. Blank part with no flow. Don't know what that was.

I sleep most of the night on my back. I think. Only after get up to pee and try to go back to sleep will I move to side.

Hopes dashed that there would be linear progress

I learned how to use the editor for the text.