Question about AHI.

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
H4X0R46
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Question about AHI.

Post by H4X0R46 » Wed Jan 28, 2015 3:44 pm

Alright, so I was looking around on the internet about AHI and what it means. I found a guideline that showed mild, moderate, and severe apnea, I then compared it to my own results and saw that I usually have between a 1.0 and a 2.0. Does this actually count for anything? Is the CPAP even needed in this case? just last night my AHI was 1.83. Am I understanding this all wrong? Thanks in advance guys!

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OkyDoky
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Re: Question about AHI.

Post by OkyDoky » Wed Jan 28, 2015 3:56 pm

Those categories are for untreated apnea not for while you are using the cpap. Now, if your untreated sleep study results were less than 5 you probably wouldn't have qualified for a machine. Your results now only tell you that your machine is working.
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H4X0R46
Posts: 44
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Re: Question about AHI.

Post by H4X0R46 » Wed Jan 28, 2015 5:14 pm

OkyDoky wrote:Those categories are for untreated apnea not for while you are using the cpap. Now, if your untreated sleep study results were less than 5 you probably wouldn't have qualified for a machine. Your results now only tell you that your machine is working.
Thanks for the descriptive answer! Perfect answer! I didn't know that.

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Ontario CPAP
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Re: Question about AHI.

Post by Ontario CPAP » Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:03 pm

H4X0R46 wrote:Alright, so I was looking around on the internet about AHI and what it means. I found a guideline that showed mild, moderate, and severe apnea, I then compared it to my own results and saw that I usually have between a 1.0 and a 2.0. Does this actually count for anything? Is the CPAP even needed in this case? just last night my AHI was 1.83. Am I understanding this all wrong? Thanks in advance guys!
AHI is roughly the average number of apnea events per hour. I had an AHI of 50 before treatment. In other words, I would stop breathing for up to 10 seconds almost every minute all night. I also snored like a chainsaw, which was related.

As a result of this, I couldn't get beyond Stage II sleep. I didn't know that until I was hooked up to an EEG during a sleep study. The doctor told me afterwards that I couldn't get to Stage III or IV sleep because my body was protecting itself from suffocation by not falling into a deep sleep. As a result, I would wake up the next morning exhausted even though I didn't fully wake up during the night.

With CPAP, I'm down to 0.3 to 0.5. I'm able to get into Stage IV (confirmed during the titration study) and feel a thousand times better in the morning.

yaconsult
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Re: Question about AHI.

Post by yaconsult » Sat Jan 31, 2015 11:54 pm

My clinic sleep study last month said: Apnea/Hypopnea Index (AHI): 80.2

So this means that, on average, I stopped breathing 80 times each hour? More than once each minute? LOL - not much "sleeping" going on, huh?

I have been successfully using cpap for over 7 years now. For me, sleep tests are pure torture. Without cpap, there is no sleeping!

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Additional Comments: January 2015 Sleep Study Results: Apnea/Hypopnea Index (AHI): 80.2, Sleepyhead