Snorelab App

Does anyone use the phone app Snorelab when not using a CPAP? Or did you use it prior to starting CPAP? What was your snorelab score usually? Did you hear a lot of loud snoring when you played it?

NOT using my cpap?
Why?
The very idea is unthinkable!
I have been told that before cpap, my snores could wake the dead.
I will continue to do my part to prevent the zombie invasion.

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 08, 2021 10:15 pm

NOT using my cpap?
Why?
The very idea is unthinkable!
I have been told that before cpap, my snores could wake the dead.
I will continue to do my part to prevent the zombie invasion.

lol! Did you ever record it to hear what it sounded like?

No, I was too embarassed to allow a permanent record!

I was shocked when I downloaded SnoreLab and was able to hear myself gasping for air throughout the night. As a woman in my mid 40s who is healthy and has a petite build I didn’t fit the sometimes false picture many doctors have of what an OSA patient looks like, but when I played SnoreLab recordings for my doc I was able to talk her into ordering overnight oximetry which led to a sleep study. SnoreLab is a great tool and while snoring can be indicative of OSA, not everyone with OSA snores as bad as I did. As you can see there was quite an improvement in my SnoreLab score when I started using CPAP, my husband also is getting much better sleep now

Actually, not everyone (by a long shot) with OSA snores at all.

Not all snores equal OSA either. There are other reasons for snoring.

colomom wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:14 am

I was shocked when I downloaded SnoreLab and was able to hear myself gasping for air throughout the night. As a woman in my mid 40s who is healthy and has a petite build I didn’t fit the sometimes false picture many doctors have of what an OSA patient looks like, but when I played SnoreLab recordings for my doc I was able to talk her into ordering overnight oximetry which led to a sleep study. SnoreLab is a great tool and while snoring can be indicative of OSA, not everyone with OSA snores as bad as I did. As you can see there was quite an improvement in my SnoreLab score when I started using CPAP, my husband also is getting much better sleep now

Thats great to hear everything has improved for you! Amazing that you have zero sounds on the snorelab now!! Were you aware of sleep problems by being conscious of waking up during the night? I tend to wake up a number of times during the night. And then lie awake for long periods before ultimately giving up sometimes and just getting out of bed. When i wake up at night I tend to have racing negative thoughts making it very difficult to get to sleep again.

I have been using snorelab for some time and it is very rare that I snore. My score tends to be around 10 most nights. The noises that make up that score are almost entirely of me loudly mouth breathing rather than any snoring.

I do hear some sounds occasionally that could be apneas but it is quite hard to tell to be honest. They sound like a loud abrupt exhale or inhale of air all of a sudden. But they are often muffled by sounds from me moving around on the bed at the same time. They also are not usually after a gap of non breathing like apneas are supposed to be, ie when you dont breathe for ten seconds or so. And I am also not sure if it is like more of a frustrated from blocked nose and extra dry mouth and throat sound rather than an apnea.

It is really hard to work out what to do when I dont really have a clear diagnosis. I think I might have a combination of nighttime nasal obstruction, anxiety and mild sleep apnea. Making the treatment difficult as I am not sure what to do first and might need to deal with all three. Not an easy fix.

Julie wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:51 am

Actually, not everyone (by a long shot) with OSA snores at all.

Really? I didnt think that was the case. How do you account for the throat getting closed up if there are no snoring sounds?

Anatomy, narrow jaw, back-sleeping and tongue falling back to block airway, large uvula, etc.

Julie wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 09, 2021 3:08 pm

Anatomy, narrow jaw, back-sleeping and tongue falling back to block airway, large uvula, etc.

I just did a jaw measurement as I was not sure whether my jaw width is narrow or wide or normal. Came out as 145mm. I thought my jaw was average but that looks bigger than average for a male, according to this website

Unless I measured it wrong. https://pocketdentistry.com/mandible/

sleepcrapnea wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 09, 2021 1:47 pm

Thats great to hear everything has improved for you! Amazing that you have zero sounds on the snorelab now!! Were you aware of sleep problems by being conscious of waking up during the night? I tend to wake up a number of times during the night. And then lie awake for long periods before ultimately giving up sometimes and just getting out of bed. When i wake up at night I tend to have racing negative thoughts making it very difficult to get to sleep again.

I have been using snorelab for some time and it is very rare that I snore. My score tends to be around 10 most nights. The noises that make up that score are almost entirely of me loudly mouth breathing rather than any snoring.

I do hear some sounds occasionally that could be apneas but it is quite hard to tell to be honest. They sound like a loud abrupt exhale or inhale of air all of a sudden. But they are often muffled by sounds from me moving around on the bed at the same time. They also are not usually after a gap of non breathing like apneas are supposed to be, ie when you dont breathe for ten seconds or so. And I am also not sure if it is like more of a frustrated from blocked nose and extra dry mouth and throat sound rather than an apnea.

It is really hard to work out what to do when I dont really have a clear diagnosis. I think I might have a combination of nighttime nasal obstruction, anxiety and mild sleep apnea. Making the treatment difficult as I am not sure what to do first and might need to deal with all three. Not an easy fix.

Have you had a sleep study? It sounds to me like your symptoms could be sleep apnea, a sleep study is the only way to know for sure. Snoring (which it sounds like SnoreLab shows you do sometimes) is often a sign of sleep apnea. As others have pointed out not all snorers have OSA and not all OSA patients snore, you really need a sleep study to know for sure. SnoreLab is great for picking up snoring, but you can’t really tell for sure if you’re having apnea’s, because you can’t really differentiate between not snoring and not breathing on an audio recording. Many OSA suffers including myself, don’t have a majority of events that are classified as apnea’s. For me I had moderate OSA with events that were primarily hypoponias, but that was enough to drop my O2 levels down really low. I’ll also add after reading thru this forum I’ve learned even mild OSA can be quiet debilitating, if you haven’t done so get a sleep study.

For me personally many of my untreated OSA symptoms sound similar to yours. I was aware of waking up a few times every night and often had real difficulty falling back asleep, but as I learned later I woke up far more times than I was aware of. I would often wake up with a dry throat and mouth, which I dismissed as being from allergies. I didn’t really appreciate how bad my sleep had been because it was my normal. When I was diagnosed with sleep apnea started using a cpap and finally got good sleep it was incredible!

As far as the anxiety, untreated OSA can certainly exasperate anxiety issues. My Dad suffers from sleep issues, anxiety problems and depression. Beyond addressing possible sleep breathing issues if you haven’t done so already try progressive muscle relaxation or mindfulness, I know both of those sometimes help my dad fall back asleep when he is having racing thoughts.

Good luck, hope you can find a path to a restful nights sleep!

colomom wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:25 pm

Have you had a sleep study? It sounds to me like your symptoms could be sleep apnea, a sleep study is the only way to know for sure. Snoring (which it sounds like SnoreLab shows you do sometimes) is often a sign of sleep apnea. As others have pointed out not all snorers have OSA and not all OSA patients snore, you really need a sleep study to know for sure. SnoreLab is great for picking up snoring, but you can’t really tell for sure if you’re having apnea’s, because you can’t really differentiate between not snoring and not breathing on an audio recording. Many OSA suffers including myself, don’t have a majority of events that are classified as apnea’s. For me I had moderate OSA with events that were primarily hypoponias, but that was enough to drop my O2 levels down really low. I’ll also add after reading thru this forum I’ve learned even mild OSA can be quiet debilitating, if you haven’t done so get a sleep study.

For me personally many of my untreated OSA symptoms sound similar to yours. I was aware of waking up a few times every night and often had real difficulty falling back asleep, but as I learned later I woke up far more times than I was aware of. I would often wake up with a dry throat and mouth, which I dismissed as being from allergies. I didn’t really appreciate how bad my sleep had been because it was my normal. When I was diagnosed with sleep apnea started using a cpap and finally got good sleep it was incredible!

Thanks for your feedback.

Yes I did have a sleep study. It showed me as not meeting the threshold of sleep apnea. I had an Ahi of 4 per hour. Minimum is 5 Although I wonder if it was accurate as I feel like there was much of that particular night i didnt sleep as I was uncomfortable with all the gear on.

I actually tried a CPAP for a month trial. It didnt work for me. In large part because I have nasal obstruction. And with it not working and my sleep study saying I have no sleep apnea and my nasal obstruction being an issue and with needing to spend $1800 on a device that wasnt working I chucked it in. They wouldnt let me trial a full face mask for free and to be honest i dont know if I could handle the anxiety of that. Im clostrophobic. It would take me at least a couple of months to get through that.

Im now scheduled for septoplasty and turbinates reduction next month. I started to believe my nasal issues was why I have sleeo prosblems. But now I dont know. but maybe it is. Or not. Just dont know. Im worried that I might go through this whole surgery and then still have problems. That woudl really suck. But Im worried if I dont have the surgery and it turns out to be nothing to do with sleep apnea and its my nose problems then I lose the opportunity. If I pull out they will stick me back on the waiting list for a WHOLE ADDITIONAL YEAR.. Before I can get the surgery again.

My nose doesnt cause daytime problems its only nighttime that I have a blocked nose. Gravity.

But, I guess if I get it done that will at least help reduce sleep apnea even if sleep apnea is the actual issue. From what I read online anyways. Also, it woudl mean I coould use the nasal cpap properly if I need to. So maybe this is the best option. Just, the recovery from surgery will be hideous from what I have read. So I really hope i get results!

BTW Question. Did you snore? Or was it more just loud mouth breathing like me?

The last couple of nights I have switched my snorelab App to full night recording so I can review everything. Takes a long time to review naturally now.

I still dont hear any snoring. Lots of loud mouth breathing and sometimes its quite rapid. This must be when I have struggling to breathe well I guess. Although lots of times where I am more quietly breathing.

I heard a couple of occasions of gasping/snorting. One was definitely an apnea, as there was no breathing for about 10 seconds before it.

I also heard sounds as though i was waking up on a number of other occassions like rustling around in the bed, but it did not sound like it related to any breathing issues.

I think I must have mild sleep apnea. Although it seems to affect me quite a bit. I think I have a very low tolerance for being woken up. And find it very hard to get back to sleep after that happens. I guess thats whty even though sleeping pills and sleep apnea are a bad mix generally, they seem to work for me as a last resort as even if i still have apneas the sedation pushes me back to sleep quickly so I dont loose a lot.

I wonder why they class "sleep apnea" as above 5 apneas per hour. My test said 4 apneas so the sleep doctor was adamant I dont have sleep apnea. Are apneas something that most people get even if they dont have sleep apnea?

Ok doing the all night recording function on Snorelab has been enlightening.

Previously I was only recording noisier patches. But they dont seem to necessarily reveal most of the apneas. The apneas actually often seem during the quieter times. So flicking through the whole night has been telling me much more.

I am steal hearing no snoring during the night. But, one night I had an utterly horrendous sleep. The night before last. Long periods of being awake between sleeps. Felt so bad the next day. Listening to snorelab it sounded awful. Some really loud distressed and erratic sounding mouth breathing, too rapid at times. And I can hear some apneas as well.

But then last night i took half a sleeping pill as I had totally hit the wall yesterday and couldnt cope with a repeat of that night. I had a nice sleep. Most of the night my breathing was slow and mostly very quiet, although mostly out of my mouth because of nasal obstruction. I woke but only briefly, on a few occasions. I think the sedation of the sleeping pill pushed me back to sleep quickly. I could still hear sleep apneas. I heard about six of them over the night. They sound like a gasp or a snort. Still its funny though as they dont come after snoring. There is no snoring. And they rarely come after a pause of no breathing. And sometimes after just quiet mouth breathing.

So I think I do have sleep apnea. I hope I can find a way though this. Its quite awful having sleep stolen from you .My quality of life is highly affected. I top myself up with the occasional sleeping pill. but if it wasnt for that, god, I would just be run into the ground.

Do sleep apneas always have a sound? Or can they be silent also?