Analyzing my sleep study data

[FranckDG]

hi all,

I am trying to understand the data from my sleep study. There is a specific section that I am trying to understand better because I am trying to determine if I only have sleep apnea when in supine position:

Body Position Data:

Up: no data

Supine:
- Time in Position (minutes): 122.3
- Time in REM (minutes): 0
- RERA/hour: 9.1
- RDI/hour: 39.1
- AHI/hour: 29.9

Left Side:
- Time in Position (minutes): 97.1
- Time in REM (minutes): 25
- RERA/hour: 1.4
- RDI/hour: 2
- AHI/hour: 0.7

Prone: no data

Right Side
- Time in Position (minutes): 190.2
- Time in REM (minutes): 35.5
- RERA/hour: 0
- RDI/hour: 0.8
- AHI/hour: 0.8

Now I had a CPAP on me at all times so I don't know if that influenced anything but it looks to me like unless I am in supine position, I don't have much sleep apnea at all...
I talked to my doctor over the phone about the results (but that was before I actually saw the results) and I asked her how I could determine if I had positional sleep apnea. Her answer was that everybody only has positional sleep apnea but that a CPAP is necessary because I can't guarantee that I won't roll on my back during the night. What do you guys think of that? I just bought a SlumberBump (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RHX ... UTF8&psc=1) and wore it last night. I don't think there is any way I can sleep on my back with that! This past week I have been using various method to avoid sleeping on my back and I feel more rested even though I had trouble sleeping (I want to turn on my back!).

Anyway... My CPAP is on the way, I didn't get to pick it but at least I was able to request one with a humidifier. I would really like to get people's feedback on my data, my doctor and positional sleep apnea in general.

Thanks in advance!

Franck-

[shaner]

Why didn't you get to pick your machine? Which one are you getting?

[Pugsy]

Now I had a CPAP on me at all times so I don't know if that influenced anything

Please clarify...the above results were with the cpap machine being used? If so, it doesn't mean squat about determining how bad your OSA component would be if you stayed on your side without cpap...All it says is that on your back

Supine:
- AHI/hour: 29.9

that even with the cpap being used the AHI is too high..
Any results/events flagged while cpap is being used show what events slipped past the defenses and not what was prevented.

You need a sleep study WITHOUT any cpap being used to accurately evaluate the degree of OSA severity with each sleeping position.

Having cpap being used during a sleep study greatly influences everything.
All this one told me (if I have it right that you used the machine all night during the above study) is that you need more pressure when on your back and that's common.

And BTW totally avoiding supine sleeping is easier said than done.

[Thatgirl]

My untreated AHI on my sides is 0. Treated, you're still pushing 1 on your sides. That would be much higher had you not been on CPAP. Was this a titration study? If so, those numbers are an average through the night, so they likely started out higher and decreased to 0 or close to it once they found your pressure. It's safe to say you need cpap. I'm also wondering why you had no say it what model.

[FranckDG]

Why didn't you get to pick your machine? Which one are you getting?

My doctor said someone will call me regarding my machine so maybe then I will get to choose... She wasn't sure.

Please clarify...the above results were with the cpap machine being used? If so, it doesn't mean squat about determining how bad your OSA component would be if you stayed on your side without cpap...All it says is that on your back

I originally did a home sleep study over two days without a cpap that showed a AHI of 17.7/hour and an average desaturation of 92% with peaks to 75%. Note that the doctor asked me if I usually drink wine with dinner and I said "often" so she said to drink wine for the study. So maybe I indulged a bit and had 2-3 glasses of wine both days before the study.

Now the results I posted are from the follow up study at a sleep center where I was using a CPAP. They were tweaking the cpap all night with various pressures. Now I understand that this modifies the results but it looks to me like almost all sleep apnea events happened when in supine position. I could post all my results here but I don't see a way to attach files...

I guess I am going to call the lab for clarification.

[Pugsy]

The only way to know for sure just how your sleep apnea responds to various sleeping positions is to have an in lab sleep study with NO cpap pressure at all.

It's very possible that your sleep apnea is much, much worse when sleeping on your back but side sleeping AHI while on cpap tells us nothing except that when using cpap at whatever pressure was used...fixed the issue when side sleeping.

I understand where you are going with this but this study doesn't confirm that supine sleeping is only when you have to worry about OSA. All it confirms is that when on your side AND using the machine that the OSA was well treated and while supine whatever pressure was used when supine wasn't very effective.

This would be a good argument for an APAP capable machine. You probably need considerable more pressure when sleeping on your back than you do when sleeping on your side....so get an APAP machine that can auto adjust the pressures as needed depending on which sleeping position you happen to be in.
Trust me...staying totally off your back is easier said than done...but it can be done but not without a lot of work.
But until you have a sleep study WITHOUT any cpap pressure and sleep on your side...you have no way to know just how positional your sleep apnea might be.

If you are wanting to avoid using a machine at all....you need a sleep study done in a lab where they can verify the AHI without any cpap pressure being involved. That's the only way to get real proof.

[FranckDG]

I understand where you are going with this but this study doesn't confirm that supine sleeping is only when you have to worry about OSA. All it confirms is that when on your side AND using the machine that the OSA was well treated and while supine whatever pressure was used when supine wasn't very effective.

But that's where it does not make sense. Somewhere else in the results it says: "The overal AHI was 7.5 per hour and the RDI was 10.0 events/hour with a central apnea index of 1.9 per hour. The most appropriate setting of CPAP was 14cm H20. At this setting the sleep efficiency was 66.8% and the patient was supine for 37.4%. The AHI was 0.0 events per hour and the RDI was 0.0 events/hour (with 0 central events) and the arousal index was 9.2 per hour. The oxygen nadlr(? can't read that word) was 96% during sleep. Supplemental oxygen was not administered during the study." Also my doctor reviewed my results and told me that they were able to find the right pressure so that I would have 0 events even when in supine position.

[Pugsy]

It was a titration sleep study...done with cpap being used. That's all it was and they think they found a suitable pressure to deal with your OSA. It tells you nothing at all about what would/could have happened without cpap pressure being involved.
Finding the suitable pressure to resolve the OSA events and keep the Oxygen levels good is the primary purpose of a titration sleep study.
It won't tell you anything at all about what would/could happen if you weren't using cpap.

Maybe this will help you
http://adventures-in-hosehead-land.blog ... -test.html

There's a huge difference between a titration sleep study done with cpap and a diagnostic sleep study done without cpap. The titration sleep study doesn't tell you what it prevented...only what it didn't prevent...just like my cpap machine when it tells me that I had an AHI of 2.0 last night...it doesn't tell me about the other 50 per hour it likely prevented in REM sleep. My diagnostic sleep study with cpap gave me an AHI of 53 (that's a per hour average) in REM stage sleep...but now I don't have that many...but I would if I didn't use the cpap.

If you are wanting to not use a cpap machine and not have OSA be a problem you will FIRST need to have a sleep study in a lab WITHOUT cpap at all to determine just how bad your OSA is or isn't when on your side...we already know it's bad on your back.

Otherwise if you are open to using a cpap machine...get one but try to make it an apap machine because I think you would be a good candidate for auto adjusting pressures.