What are small periodic blips in SleepyHead?

[TeddyBear777]

Dear Forum Members,
I am a newby DIY-ing for less than a week with my new (used) BiPAP and nasal mask. Many questions, but the one here is about interpreting SleepyHead data. I watched youtube videos on this subject and now have a clue as to how to read it, but not about the phenomena that I am seeing on my nightly flow-rate chart. I know that I cannot go by this software/machine data unlike a sleep clinic which has more reliable ways to collect/look at data. Still, I am puzzled seeing countless centrals which gaps were not discussed on youtube and I wonder what they may be. The typical breathing gap is about 20-30 seconds and the software marks it as a central. Yet the gap is not a flat line. There are mini periodic oscilatory blips in between, about 2-3 during the gap time which the software ignores because they are small in amplitude comparing to the main breaths. I wonder - are these machine-induced pumps or is it me shallow breathing? On youtube, I saw examples of centrals where the gap is utterly flat, so I suspect that these bumps are my super-shallow breaths, or something else? Have you seen them on your charts? If these are indeed shallow breaths, is it because I am over-oxygenated or over-hyperventilated?

[palerider]

why are you posting the same question again and starting a new thread on it?

have you read through the first post in the announcements section?

[LSAT]

Dear Forum Members,
I am a newby DIY-ing for less than a week with my new (used) BiPAP and nasal mask. Many questions, but the one here is about interpreting SleepyHead data. I watched youtube videos on this subject and now have a clue as to how to read it, but not about the phenomena that I am seeing on my nightly flow-rate chart. I know that I cannot go by this software/machine data unlike a sleep clinic which has more reliable ways to collect/look at data. Still, I am puzzled seeing countless centrals which gaps were not discussed on youtube and I wonder what they may be. The typical breathing gap is about 20-30 seconds and the software marks it as a central. Yet the gap is not a flat line. There are mini periodic oscilatory blips in between, about 2-3 during the gap time which the software ignores because they are small in amplitude comparing to the main breaths. I wonder - are these machine-induced pumps or is it me shallow breathing? On youtube, I saw examples of centrals where the gap is utterly flat, so I suspect that these bumps are my super-shallow breaths, or something else? Have you seen them on your charts? If these are indeed shallow breaths, is it because I am over-oxygenated or over-hyperventilated?

If you are interested in comments about your therapy, Register, fill in your equipment profile, and show some Sleepyhead charts.

[TeddyBear777]

I am a newbie and I thought I registered as "TeddyBear777", but apparently not? Also, I did not realize that I should stay with my original thread, and I don't know how to load my data.

[palerider]

I am a newbie and I thought I registered as "TeddyBear777", but apparently not? Also, I did not realize that I should stay with my original thread, and I don't know how to load my data.

really?

upper right corner on the top bar, where it says "register" and "login"... start there. then read what was posted on the other thread.

[Pugsy]

You may have registered but you haven't logged in yet. See upper right for the "login" link.
You have to be logged in to be able to post links to screenshots of the report
Once you get logged in then you can do images of your reports so we can see what you are seeing.

https://sleep.tnet.com/reference/tips/imgur

[palerider]

You may have registered but you haven't logged in yet.

five other teddy bears registered, not that one though.

[TeddyBear777]

Dear helpful folks, I registered on this forum, and now want to post a snapshot a SleepyHead data to this forum for your kind review but how do I do it?

[hpm08161947]

Read the "HowTo" instructions in the link posted by Pugsy.

https://sleep.tnet.com/reference/tips/imgur

[palerider]

Dear helpful folks, I registered on this forum, and now want to post a snapshot a SleepyHead data to this forum for your kind review but how do I do it?

you've been told how to.

are you trolling us?

[klm49]

Dear helpful folks, I registered on this forum, and now want to post a snapshot a SleepyHead data to this forum for your kind review but how do I do it?

https://sleep.tnet.com/resources/sleepyhead/shorganize

https://sleep.tnet.com/resources/sleepy ... screenshot

https://sleep.tnet.com/reference/tips/imgur

[TeddyBear777]

Dear helpful folks! I posted my screenshot data an hour ago on this thread and it is not showing here for some reason, so I am re-posting essentially the same message in case something went wrong with my earlier submission. Sorry if the first one shows up - I don't want to anger anyone.
I took a screenshot of my last night's data. It is at http://imgur.com/a/N2gcY
The sample time was for 1 min, between 8:11:40 to 8:12:40 (the actual time was 3 hours behind at 5:11 am).
Here are the two curious pulses during breathing gap which lasted only 10-15 sec or so. The previous night such gaps were twice as long when both I/E pressures were 2 points higher and Imax was still 10. As you can see, there are a couple of very low amplitude periodic blips (last one has a central marker right through it) and I wonder what they are. They are always there during gaps, symmetrical, same amplitude and spaced more than my average breaths. Given that, I doubt that they are my shallow breaths. Is it then my body or a machine pulse? I saw some other folks charts on youtube, and their gaps are completely flat line.
I also wonder if this gap is indeed a “central”. The fact that most such gaps got shorter as the I/E pressures went down from the night before may suggest what?

[TeddyBear777]

Dear "Palerider". My cognitive functions went down a bit after I suffered a brain injury a while back. Couple that with me being a newbie on this or any other forum, and I am not very oriented. Still, trying to do the best I can, learning how to use a machine, having sleep issues, unfamiliar symptoms, no doctor and no insurance. Thanks for understanding!

[palerider]

Dear helpful folks! I posted my screenshot data an hour ago on this thread and it is not showing here for some reason, so I am re-posting essentially the same message in case something went wrong with my earlier submission. Sorry if the first one shows up - I don't want to anger anyone.
I took a screenshot of my last night's data. It is at http://imgur.com/a/N2gcY
The sample time was for 1 min, between 8:11:40 to 8:12:40 (the actual time was 3 hours behind at 5:11 am).
Here are the two curious pulses during breathing gap which lasted only 10-15 sec or so. The previous night such gaps were twice as long when both I/E pressures were 2 points higher and Imax was still 10. As you can see, there are a couple of very low amplitude periodic blips (last one has a central marker right through it) and I wonder what they are.

those are just tiny attempts at a breath.

[TeddyBear777]

I also thought that they are likely my "tiny breaths". But they are always the same during countless gaps, every night. They are identical in amplitude, shape, duration and rate. And they are spaced and shaped differently than my normal breaths. Could it be the machine "noise" coupling or something else?
Also, is that gap really a central? Why has it become much smaller as I dropped pressure?