Self diagnosis based on optimal pressure range?

[chunkyfrog]

Or someone is trying to bait forum members into practicing medicine;
hopefully to get the forum shut down.
This would not be the first time.
Nice try.
You can legally diagnose yourself; but it may not be a good idea.
You can make conclusions based on the anonymous comments of strangers;
some of whom clearly dislike your tactics--lotsa luck with that.
JUST SEE A DOCTOR. K?

[TheUglyTruth]

Or someone is trying to bait forum members into practicing medicine;
hopefully to get the forum shut down.

That seems a little far fetched.

[chunkyfrog]

Apria (and their ilk) have deep pockets.
You think all trolls do it for free?

[avi123]

I did not have my sleep test taken properly so I did not have a definite diagnosis of my sleep issue.

By using apap and trial and error, I found my optimal range to be 8.5~ 11.5.(with a-flex turned off) The ahi was less than 1.

If I set my lower pressure anything less than 8, (with a-flex set to 3) my ahi would raise above 7 and in the middle of the night sometimes it is over 15~ 20.

Based on the results, can you tell if I have sleep apnea or not? I was a heavy snorer before too but after using the machine, the detected snoring is zero.

Are there any adverse effects for using the machine if I in fact don't have sleep apnea in the first place?

Reply:

I don't know of any serious adverse effects by using an Auto CPAP machine if the user has no Sleep Disorders. How did you check those AHIs that you mentioned?

[Pugsy]

If I set my lower pressure anything less than 8, (with a-flex set to 3) my ahi would raise above 7 and in the middle of the night sometimes it is over 15~ 20.

Based on the results, can you tell if I have sleep apnea or not? I was a heavy snorer before too but after using the machine, the detected snoring is zero.

Are there any adverse effects for using the machine if I in fact don't have sleep apnea in the first place?

Assuming your AHI is primarily OA or hyponea...yeah, pretty safe assumption that some degree of obstructive sleep apnea is going on. As to what degree (mild, moderate, severe) we don't really know except that with sub optimal pressure it is at least mild.
The machine is raising the pressure to fight something and fighting OSA is what these machines have as a job. If it didn't have something to fight it wouldn't be increasing the pressure and you wouldn't need to use a minimum of 8 cm to prevent at least AHI of 7.

No adverse effects unless you have some sort of other health issue that is a contraindication for cpap use and it would be unlikely that you would have that sort of serious health issue without being aware of it.