Maybe I was too fast in blaming the wildfire AQI for poor breathing at night (see post from 8/21). I think it could be because of forced manual breathing when trying to fall asleep. The ResMed CPAP machine is on auto mode; if I breathe manually early on, it’s going to think my breathing is harder than it actually is and set the air pressure too low in the early morning. In turn, that lowers the oxygen intake, which explains why my seizures tend to happen around 5am.
If this really is the case, the ways to fix it are:
- Stop Manually Breathing
- Raise the Minimum Pressure for VAuto
- Change Settings to “S” Fixed Pressure
- Stop Using the CPAP Machine
I’m going to try to go with #1 as it’s the proper fix. #2 is more of a backup option and is less than ideal. If I go with #2 but end up breathing correctly, the morning air pressure will end up too high and it will be hard to keep the CPAP mask on. #3 will require an excessive amount of tweaking / configuration; enough that I would probably need professional help to set it up. #4 is an “if all else fails” option; the MyAir app indicates that I do have AHI apnea events at night, so it’s better if I wear CPAP the entire time I’m in bed.
Anyway, it’s not going to be easy. I’m simply too accustomed to blowing air in and out as part of my rhythm of falling asleep. Also, it’s hard to draw the line between naturally breathing and not breathing at all. Nevertheless, I’m going to try. Come to think of it, perhaps white noise or background music could help me take my mind off breathing and fall asleep faster.
As a side note, it feels like I’ve come up with this exact same solution and blogged about it in the past. If someone manages to dig up my old post, it would be embarrassing, but poor memory can’t be helped. Besides, blogging out your current thoughts / feelings is a good thing; doing so makes looking back on your old posts so much more enjoyable. (The Tim of 2030 can look back and laugh at how foolish 31-year-old Tim was when trying to solve his medical issues.)
