AHI When Traveling

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
HairyReasoner
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AHI When Traveling

Post by HairyReasoner » Wed Sep 02, 2015 7:43 pm

I just got back from a five day road trip. During the trip I noticed my AHI each night was well above what I usually see, but the first night I returned home my AHI returned to normal. Does anybody else have that happen? The primary difference, besides sleeping in beds that were more firm than I am used to, is that I generally had to place my bipap machine below my mask level (at home it is at about my mask level). Could that make a significant difference? In reading my manual, I've discovered it actually recommends the unit be placed below my mask level, so it seems that difference shouldn't have made things worse.

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Pugsy
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Re: AHI When Traveling

Post by Pugsy » Wed Sep 02, 2015 7:55 pm

Machine placement shouldn't account for the difference.
The recommendation about "below mask/mattress level" is mainly to help with condensation in the hose should any develop. Having the machine lower allows for gravity to help route the condensation downward back to the humidifier instead of going to the mask or face.
I can't see anyway that the machine placement would affect therapy itself.

I would look more at type of event to see if there was maybe an answer there. For myself I find that when I travel I don't sleep as well in general away from my own bed and when that happens I seem to wake up more often during the night and sometimes I get more "centrals" that aren't really centrals but more likely awake/semi awake breathing irregularities getting flagged by mistake.

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HairyReasoner
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Re: AHI When Traveling

Post by HairyReasoner » Wed Sep 02, 2015 8:06 pm

Pugsy wrote:Machine placement shouldn't account for the difference.
The recommendation about "below mask/mattress level" is mainly to help with condensation in the hose should any develop. Having the machine lower allows for gravity to help route the condensation downward back to the humidifier instead of going to the mask or face.
I can't see anyway that the machine placement would affect therapy itself.

I would look more at type of event to see if there was maybe an answer there. For myself I find that when I travel I don't sleep as well in general away from my own bed and when that happens I seem to wake up more often during the night and sometimes I get more "centrals" that aren't really centrals but more likely awake/semi awake breathing irregularities getting flagged by mistake.
Interesting you note the centrals. I did notice I had more centrals as well, plus substantially more periodic breathing. Both would seem to fit the awake/semi awake breathing suggestion.

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LSAT
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Re: AHI When Traveling

Post by LSAT » Thu Sep 03, 2015 5:50 am

I don't travel that often, but when I do travel with my S9 I notice many more clear Airway events, Most of the time I bring my brick so I really don't bother with data. I guess it's the new bed and being restless.

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Susie Kay
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Re: AHI When Traveling

Post by Susie Kay » Thu Sep 03, 2015 6:04 am

HairyReasoner wrote: HairyReasoner
Maybe you ate in restaurants and ate more, ate later, ate spicier, drank more alcohol? Any one of these factors could make things worse.

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Re: AHI When Traveling

Post by Cardsfan » Thu Sep 03, 2015 6:48 am

The exact same thing happens when I travel. Normally, at home, I'm below 1.AHI. I just went on a road trip and had AHI of 2 and 3 most nights. It made a big difference in how I felt.
Now that I'm back home, my AHI is improved to below 1 every nite.

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HairyReasoner
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Re: AHI When Traveling

Post by HairyReasoner » Fri Sep 04, 2015 7:00 pm

Well, I'm glad to know this seems a relatively common quandary. Perhaps being out of my usual comfort zone and habits produced a bit less sound sleep and the machine interpreted things as apnea/hypopnea events. I've been home now for several nights, and all of them have seen a return to my normal AHI levels. Thanks for the comments.

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Re: AHI When Traveling

Post by zoocrewphoto » Sat Sep 05, 2015 1:15 am

If the events are CAs, then you may just have to chalk it up to being a little restless. But if they are obstructive events, you may want to raise your pressure a little when traveling. I use an auto machine, so my machine can spend more time at a higher pressure if I take a muscle relaxer, or have some other issue that would cause more events. I actually find that I sleep better when traveling, which is really weird. Before cpap, I would be awake at least once an hour all night when sleeping in a hotel room. 6-8 bathroom trips. Clock watching. Horrible. Now, I rarely get up even once. I will sleep til the alarm goes off. I sleep even better than at home.

I haven't actually looked, but I could see if my pressure tends to go higher when I travel. I know it goes a bit higher when I take a muscle relaxer, have a cold, or asthma issues. And I do have to raise my minimum pressure from 11 to 13 when I have a cough. Otherwise, a coughing fit makes me rip off the mask. With the higher minimum, I can still get in enough air to get through the coughing fit, and then sleep. Once I am asleep, the coughing seems to go away.

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DeadlySleep
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Re: AHI When Traveling

Post by DeadlySleep » Sat Sep 05, 2015 8:04 am

HairyReasoner wrote:AHI When Traveling
The Special Theory of Relativity tells us that a moving object measures higher AHI in its direction of motion as its velocity increases until, at the speed of light, it is infinite. It also tells us that moving CPAP clocks run more slowly as their velocity increases until, at the speed of light, they stop running altogether. In fact, it also tells us that the AHI of a moving object measures more as its velocity increases until, at the speed of light, you are dead.

http://www.theoryofrelativity/cpap

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ChicagoGranny
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Re: AHI When Traveling

Post by ChicagoGranny » Sat Sep 05, 2015 8:54 am

DeadlySleep wrote:
HairyReasoner wrote:AHI When Traveling
The Special Theory of Relativity tells us that a moving object measures higher AHI in its direction of motion as its velocity increases until, at the speed of light, it is infinite. It also tells us that moving CPAP clocks run more slowly as their velocity increases until, at the speed of light, they stop running altogether. In fact, it also tells us that the AHI of a moving object measures more as its velocity increases until, at the speed of light, you are dead.

http://www.theoryofrelativity/cpap
I do believe he got out of his spaceship and stayed in Motel 6s at night. (Because they left the light on for him.)

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Re: AHI When Traveling

Post by SewTired » Sat Sep 05, 2015 11:55 am

HairyReasoner wrote:I just got back from a five day road trip. During the trip I noticed my AHI each night was well above what I usually see, but the first night I returned home my AHI returned to normal. Does anybody else have that happen? The primary difference, besides sleeping in beds that were more firm than I am used to, is that I generally had to place my bipap machine below my mask level (at home it is at about my mask level). Could that make a significant difference? In reading my manual, I've discovered it actually recommends the unit be placed below my mask level, so it seems that difference shouldn't have made things worse.
I sleep differently when I travel. I'm often on my back (which would result in more events). I haven't traveled yet with my machine however. Air quality is perhaps different. I know I've had much higher pressure over the last few weeks due to the fires out west. Right after it rains, it is normal that night and increases again over the next few nights as the smoke drifts over again. My AHIs remain under 1, however (I have mild apnea). If you are in hotels/motels, they often never have rooms open to the air, so air quality is often problematic.

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HairyReasoner
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Re: AHI When Traveling

Post by HairyReasoner » Sat Sep 05, 2015 8:43 pm

ChicagoGranny wrote:
DeadlySleep wrote:
HairyReasoner wrote:AHI When Traveling
The Special Theory of Relativity tells us that a moving object measures higher AHI in its direction of motion as its velocity increases until, at the speed of light, it is infinite. It also tells us that moving CPAP clocks run more slowly as their velocity increases until, at the speed of light, they stop running altogether. In fact, it also tells us that the AHI of a moving object measures more as its velocity increases until, at the speed of light, you are dead.

http://www.theoryofrelativity/cpap
I do believe he got out of his spaceship and stayed in Motel 6s at night. (Because they left the light on for him.)
Yes, got out of my spaceship. Several of the nights were at my father's house, and the woman he married after my mother passed away was there. Time really gets stretched out . . . .

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Wulfman...
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Re: AHI When Traveling

Post by Wulfman... » Sat Sep 05, 2015 9:11 pm

Following this thread, I got curious and looked at some of my data for when we've traveled........sometimes East and sometimes West, but have always stayed with relatives.

My findings are that most of the time my AHI is either the same or lower, but VS (snores) can be somewhat higher than at home. And, I've always taken my favorite (Chiroflow) pillow with me, so that part of it should be a "constant".


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gasp
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Re: AHI When Traveling

Post by gasp » Sat Sep 05, 2015 11:57 pm

I just noticed a jump in centrals from .1 to .6 with hypopneas staying low at .1. I did a search and saw this thread. It makes sense that the awake or semi awake scenario might account for the increase. Lately I've been hitting the gym hard and am sore and restless which finds me waking up a lot at night.

I had corresponding leaks just before most centrals which probably comes from being awake and adjusting my mask. I unseat the nasal mask, adjust my eye mask, and reset the nasal mask. I just let the air blow out freely while adjusting the eye mask which then reads as a leak - and as it seems, also a "central".

Does this seem like a reasonable cause and effect explaining the increased centrals?

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Pugsy
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Re: AHI When Traveling

Post by Pugsy » Sun Sep 06, 2015 8:42 am

gasp wrote:I had corresponding leaks just before most centrals which probably comes from being awake and adjusting my mask. I unseat the nasal mask, adjust my eye mask, and reset the nasal mask. I just let the air blow out freely while adjusting the eye mask which then reads as a leak - and as it seems, also a "central".

Does this seem like a reasonable cause and effect explaining the increased centrals?
What likely is happening is after you reseat the mask after that leak you probably sort of hold your breath briefly to check for leaks and it's the holding of your breath briefly that gets the central flag.
All it takes is 10 seconds of no breathing for the machine to maybe give you a flag while awake testing the seal.

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