AHI ranging from 3 to 24 averaging 9. Doctor says it's fine

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
NK-H
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Re: AHI ranging from 3 to 24 averaging 9. Doctor says it's fine

Post by NK-H » Mon May 14, 2018 9:03 pm

Julie wrote:
Mon May 14, 2018 1:52 am
I recently read quite a scathing article on fasting as a diet to lose weight - not for the first time either. While the concept of fasting e.g. once a week (without some of the complex issues you mention) can be a good idea on a routine basis for some, it's not meant to be used as a 'diet' per se, more of a cleansing tool (which most in modern medicine don't believe is necessary at all). But if you want to lose weight you'd be much better off to put your energy into learning different and ongoing eating habits in general, ones that don't require 'willpower' at certain intervals, or strange food, or who knows what ... and which usually just end up being self defeating anyhow. 'Diets' don't work, knowledge and ongoing slow change of habits can.
I appreciate your caution about fasting and I agree that diets don't work. I'm not restricting calories or changing what I eat. I just restrict the time that I eat. Typically I'll eat between 11AM and 7PM (8 hours) or between Noon and 6PM (6 hours). This results in a 16 or 18 hour "fast". I find that for me this eliminates bloating, helps to reduce inflammation and can lead to gradual weight loss. If I maintain regular sleeping patterns this pattern of eating works well for me and my body adjusts to it and I don't get hungry until about 11am. Very little willpower is required. However, throw in poorly controlled sleep apnea with afternoon naps and late nights and it all sort of falls apart and my weight creeps up. I'm hopeful that getting my CPAP pressure right will stabilize things and allow me to lose some weight or at least not gain any more.

NK-H
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Re: AHI ranging from 3 to 24 averaging 9. Doctor says it's fine

Post by NK-H » Mon May 14, 2018 9:38 pm

zoocrewphoto wrote:
Mon May 14, 2018 1:59 am
I would send a couple articles to your doctor to help update his education.

One that explains that sleep apnea is not always weight related. Many skinny people have sleep apnea, and often, the sleep apnea is what causes the weight gain. So, to lose weight, you need to treat the sleep apnea. Not the other way around.

And the other one that explains that AHI is the average number of sleep DISTURBANCES per hour. How would he like to be disturbed 8 times an hour??? That is okay???

BS. You need to be treated. Most doctors want to see it below 5, and even that isn't really awesome. Under 2 is much better.
Sending my sleep doctor articles to update his education is a nice idea but I doubt he would actually read them. I think he is a lost cause. I think he is just interested in rushing patients through and making lots of money. I don't think he even relates to his patients as people. It's all one sided during an appointment. He doesn't even ask how I am sleeping or how I feel during the day. When I try to tell him he just says that I need to lose weight. He says that from looking at the data the pressure is fine. He asked how old my CPAP is and printed me a prescription when I said six years. When I tried to bring up any concerns he cut me off and said that he was happy with an average AHI of 8, that I should lose weight and see him in a year. Other than writing prescriptions I don't see that he is any help. By taking control of my therapy myself and with the wonderful advice I'm getting here I'm sure I can get my AHI in the proper range. I'll find another doctor to see in future.

Thanks

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zoocrewphoto
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Re: AHI ranging from 3 to 24 averaging 9. Doctor says it's fine

Post by zoocrewphoto » Tue May 15, 2018 2:28 am

NK-H wrote:
Mon May 14, 2018 9:38 pm
zoocrewphoto wrote:
Mon May 14, 2018 1:59 am
I would send a couple articles to your doctor to help update his education.

One that explains that sleep apnea is not always weight related. Many skinny people have sleep apnea, and often, the sleep apnea is what causes the weight gain. So, to lose weight, you need to treat the sleep apnea. Not the other way around.

And the other one that explains that AHI is the average number of sleep DISTURBANCES per hour. How would he like to be disturbed 8 times an hour??? That is okay???

BS. You need to be treated. Most doctors want to see it below 5, and even that isn't really awesome. Under 2 is much better.
Sending my sleep doctor articles to update his education is a nice idea but I doubt he would actually read them. I think he is a lost cause. I think he is just interested in rushing patients through and making lots of money. I don't think he even relates to his patients as people. It's all one sided during an appointment. He doesn't even ask how I am sleeping or how I feel during the day. When I try to tell him he just says that I need to lose weight. He says that from looking at the data the pressure is fine. He asked how old my CPAP is and printed me a prescription when I said six years. When I tried to bring up any concerns he cut me off and said that he was happy with an average AHI of 8, that I should lose weight and see him in a year. Other than writing prescriptions I don't see that he is any help. By taking control of my therapy myself and with the wonderful advice I'm getting here I'm sure I can get my AHI in the proper range. I'll find another doctor to see in future.

Thanks

Then tell him this is why you are firing him. Don't ever go back to him. If people don't tell their doctor that they (the doctor) is rude, ignorant, etc; then how will they change?

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NK-H
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Re: AHI ranging from 3 to 24 averaging 9. Doctor says it's fine

Post by NK-H » Tue May 15, 2018 8:34 pm

I will call my doctor's office and explain why I left, after I find a new doctor.
Last night I slept 4.9 hours with an AHI of 16.6 and woke up with a splitting headache. I'm meeting with my CPAP supplier in the morning to hopefully navigate how to get an APAP that is covered by insurance.

Thank you everyone for your moral support and advice. I now feel much more confident about sorting this out. :D

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Re: AHI ranging from 3 to 24 averaging 9. Doctor says it's fine

Post by TedVPAP » Tue May 15, 2018 9:08 pm

NK-H wrote:
Tue May 15, 2018 8:34 pm
I will call my doctor's office and explain why I left, after I find a new doctor.
Last night I slept 4.9 hours with an AHI of 16.6 and woke up with a splitting headache. I'm meeting with my CPAP supplier in the morning to hopefully navigate how to get an APAP that is covered by insurance.

Thank you everyone for your moral support and advice. I now feel much more confident about sorting this out. :D
In the meantime, turn up your pressure since that is the direction you need to go.

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NK-H
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Re: AHI ranging from 3 to 24 averaging 9. Doctor says it's fine

Post by NK-H » Tue May 15, 2018 9:53 pm

In the meantime, turn up your pressure since that is the direction you need to go.
Yes. I'll go ahead and bump it up from 9 to 10. It hasn't fully sunk in yet that I'll be doing this without a doctor. Thanks for the reminder.

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Re: AHI ranging from 3 to 24 averaging 9. Doctor says it's fine

Post by palerider » Tue May 15, 2018 10:51 pm

NK-H wrote:
Tue May 15, 2018 9:53 pm
. It hasn't fully sunk in yet that I'll be doing this without a doctor.
You're not the only one.

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Re: AHI ranging from 3 to 24 averaging 9. Doctor says it's fine

Post by chunkyfrog » Wed May 16, 2018 11:45 am

I canceled my appointment with my oncologist last year for the same reason.
No idea why I was sent--he did NOTHING.
I never set up another appointment.
If I ever NEED to see one, it will be somebody else.
Enough of this "lose weight" crap without any HELP on how to do so.

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NK-H
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Re: AHI ranging from 3 to 24 averaging 9. Doctor says it's fine

Post by NK-H » Thu May 24, 2018 7:58 am

I managed to get an APAP with my CPAP prescription. For others in Ontario, Canada it is good to know that the ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset for Her and the F&P SleepStyle Auto are "coded" as CPAP machines for OHIP and insurance purposes. I just had to pay a $110 upgrade fee to get one of these. :)

I am trying out the F&P SleepStyle but I will probably switch it for the ResMed as Sleepyhead does not seem to read the SleepStyle data properly and I can't find a source for the F&P InfoSmart software. I have until late June to decide which machine I want. I love the F&P SleepStyle hardware but it is obviously not a good choice if I can't get access to the full data. In the mean time my supplier is sending me weekly data reports and I am trying different settings.

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Re: AHI ranging from 3 to 24 averaging 9. Doctor says it's fine

Post by Pugsy » Thu May 24, 2018 8:25 am

Check your PMs.
I sent you a link for a safe place to get InfoSmart. You are on your own in terms of installing and using it though.
Too many years have passed since I tried it and found it to be a huge PITA. All I remember is how much I hated it and that was before SleepyHead was even available.

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NK-H
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Re: AHI ranging from 3 to 24 averaging 9. Doctor says it's fine

Post by NK-H » Thu May 24, 2018 1:03 pm

Pugsy wrote:
Thu May 24, 2018 8:25 am
Check your PMs.
I sent you a link for a safe place to get InfoSmart. You are on your own in terms of installing and using it though.
Too many years have passed since I tried it and found it to be a huge PITA. All I remember is how much I hated it and that was before SleepyHead was even available.
Thanks Pugsy! I downloaded InfoSmart v.1.1 from your link. InfoSmart wouldn't launch at first but was fine after I installed the v.1.5 updates from the F&P site. The updates on their own won't install without a previous InfoSmart installation so your download saved me. It reads my data and creates reports. It seems to have the important data but the graphs aren't nearly as good as Sleepyhead. I'll run with this for a bit but may still exercise my option to get a ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset for Her.

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Re: AHI ranging from 3 to 24 averaging 9. Doctor says it's fine

Post by EGT » Thu May 24, 2018 2:44 pm

Hi NK-H,


Auto machines are not entirely necessary for a large majority of the population. If you had a large difference between your AHI on your back vs your side, an auto may be helpful on those position changes, but auto does not mean better. In fact, an auto machine can cause more breathing events depending on the manufacturers algorithm. Fixed machines are cheaper, and generally more effective. Autos are convenient to use for sleep clinicians so they do not have to manually titrate all their patients on CPAP trials. As a sleep clinician/RPSGT myself, I see them more as a diagnostic tool rather than it being a superior machine to fixed.

It is hard to tell with just one day of data, but I would agree with most people and increase the pressure of your CPAP machine to 10-11cm instead of 9cm for now. I see you use a full face mask, when was that last replaced? If the seal is going, and you have the mask cranked to your face, it will actually push your jaw bone back against your airway at night, shrinking your airway and making it more prone to obstruction. If you tightened it down 6 months ago to get a better seal, depending on your sleeping position and position of the mask, that can explain the fluctuation of AHI.

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Re: AHI ranging from 3 to 24 averaging 9. Doctor says it's fine

Post by johnyfalco » Fri May 25, 2018 1:28 am

NK-H wrote:
Pugsy wrote:
Thu May 24, 2018 8:25 am
Check your PMs.
I sent you a link for a safe place to get InfoSmart. You are on your own in terms of installing and using it though.
Too many years have passed since I tried it and found it to be a huge PITA. All I remember is how much I hated it and that was before SleepyHead was even available.
Thanks Pugsy! I downloaded InfoSmart v.1.1 from your link. InfoSmart wouldn't launch at first but was fine after I installed the v.1.5 updates from the F&P site. The updates on their own won't install without a previous InfoSmart installation so your download saved me. It reads my data and creates reports. It seems to have the important data but the graphs aren't nearly as good as Sleepyhead. I'll run with this for a bit but may still exercise my option to get a ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset for Her.
I tried a F&P SleepStyle Auto and I really liked it but the deal breaker, for me, was the inability to get any info off the machine. It’s a shame that sleepyhead doesn’t read the data. In the end I settled for 2nd best and bought a resmed. But at least I can get the data off the machine.



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