NUMBERS QUESTION?

Been on Apap for 3 months now and feel like a new person...no more falling asleep midday!

Please explain what it means that my AHI is around 3.5 almost every night it consists of an AI <.5 and HI >3
Is there a problem that I am only having HI's?

My minimum pressure is 11.5 and my max pressure is 15; Quattro FFM ; EPR set at 2
Using S8 Autoset II

There is no problem at all! Your numbers are very good!

An AHI under 5 is considered good therapy so, you can see, at 3.5, you are doing fine.

You are not really having many HI at all and it's not a problem! You may be doing even better than you think, since Resmed machines count more HIs than other brands.

You say you feel like a new person and are not falling asleep midday. That's the real test!

You are very successful with your cpap therapy! Just enjoy feeling better!

I respectfully disagree with Hawthorne....in that I don't believe an AHI of 5.0 is OK.

Based on my own experience, I've found that I have to score 2.5 or better....before I can keep my O2 saturation level at 93% or better.

Since you have an oximeter, I'd suggest that you cross-check your CPAP therapy...to see if your O2 saturation stays at 93% or above with an AHI score of 3.5.

I'm betting that....with a little more tweaking.....you can get the AHI consistently below 2.5....and you'll feel even better than you do now.

Gerald

I know the docotr told me that a 5.1 is considered mild sleep apnea, so...............

Keep in mind Gerard is talking about his scores with a Respironics machine. We should have some sort of conversion chart comparing what a RESMED HI means in Respironics numbers. They don't equate.

ScottyT - Yes, I agree. We are talking about 2 machines that measure quite differently.

Randyd501 is using a Remed, which, as I mentioned, measures differently and reports more HIs than other machines.

He reports an AI of .5 (that' great!) and HI of 3 (on a Resmed especially, that's great!).

By the way randyd501 - you originally asked what it means that your AHI is 3.5. The AHI is the combination of AI (Apneas) and HI (Hypoapneas). Apneas are worse than Hypoapneas in that the airway is more closed with an Apnea than with a Hypoapnea. I really didn't explain what the AHI meant and maybe you are unclear.

By the way, Gerald, I feel better when my AHI is well below 5 too. I average around 0.4 AHI. I use the Remstar AUto with A-Flex as well.

Everyone, however, is different and randyd501 reports "feeling like a new person" and "no more falling asleep at midday".

In my opinion, he is doing great!

Continue to do great randyd510!

I always wonder - and have yet to discover - where the doctors got that "AHI 5" number. I too feel much better with an AHI between 2 and 3. And while they may have defined and AHI of 5 as "mild apena with enough breathing disturbances to warrant treatment" that does not mean 4.8 is good (yes, I realize those are not your numbers).

Hawthorne's point about the Resmed is important: Considering that Resmeds tend to report far more hypopneas than other machines - your resulsts are great.

It woud be interesting to see your pulse ox data.
O.

Ozij - I haven't done any kind of survey but my guess is that MOST people do better with an AHI of under 3 (that MIGHT be slightly higher with a Resmed since Randyd501 had an AI of .5 and it was his HI that was 3, probably because of the reporting of HI in Resmeds). He has great numbers though!

I have had my auto since February of 2008 and have been doing very well with an AHI below 1 most of the time (once I got a pressure range that works well for me(THANKS O)!)

I had a sleep study in April, which couldn't have given much meaningful data given the circumstances, but they got my AHI to 4.2 and just didn't try raising the pressure any higher. It was at 9 when they got the 4.2 AHI.

I expect, since it was a difficult night (as MOST sleep studies are!) they SETTLED for that.

On my auto at home, getting an AHI of under 1, my 90% pressure is 12 cm with a pressure range 10.5 cm - 13 cm!

My Oximeter showed Basal SpO2 at 98 for one night and (Minimum and Average Low SpO2- 93). Average pulse rate 64.9 and low pulse rate 54. When I used a different mask, a month later, the Basal SpO2 was 97.8 and minimum SpO2 - 94. Avg Pulse rate for this night was 67.8 with a low pulse rate of 59. I think I got all those numbers right!!

I would guess randyd501 might show very similar data on an Oximeter given his low numbers.

That still doesn't explain why or who picked that AHI of 5 or under as acceptable therapy!

I didn't ever get the full sleep study data from that study. I wish I had it now that I have an Oximeter of my own! Maybe I'll try again or try another route to get it!!

ozij wrote: . . . I always wonder - and have yet to discover - where the doctors got that "AHI 5" number. . . .

I am curious about that too. I think the number gets misapplied in treatment. I am guessing that the number was chosen in an attempt to have a meaningful number for diagnosis, since a lower number might include too many of the general population. For example, in one study published in 1993 (if I am reading it properly), it was estimated that 16% of women and 31% of men ages 50-60 in the general population have an AHI of 5 or more.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content-nw/ ... 17/1230/T4
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/ful ... 49b57a9750

jnk wrote:

ozij wrote: . . . I always wonder - and have yet to discover - where the doctors got that "AHI 5" number. . . .

I am curious about that too. I think the number gets misapplied in treatment. I am guessing that the number was chosen in an attempt to have a meaningful number for diagnosis, since a lower number might include too many of the general population. For example, in one study published in 1993 (if I am reading it properly), it was estimated that 16% of women and 31% of men ages 50-60 in the general population have an AHI of 5 or more.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content-nw/ ... 17/1230/T4
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/ful ... 49b57a9750

Oh Jeff! What's wrong with treating the general population - if they need it? I don't remember what the number is for back problems, but isn't it at least as high - or higher?

O.

O.

ozij wrote:

jnk wrote:

ozij wrote: . . . I always wonder - and have yet to discover - where the doctors got that "AHI 5" number. . . .

I am curious about that too. I think the number gets misapplied in treatment. I am guessing that the number was chosen in an attempt to have a meaningful number for diagnosis, since a lower number might include too many of the general population. For example, in one study published in 1993 (if I am reading it properly), it was estimated that 16% of women and 31% of men ages 50-60 in the general population have an AHI of 5 or more.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content-nw/ ... 17/1230/T4
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/ful ... 49b57a9750

Oh Jeff! What's wrong with treating the general population - if they need it? I don't remember what the number is for back problems, but isn't it at least as high - or higher?

O.

O.

I'm not defending it; I'm just guessing what may have been the reasoning behind it: It allows for something to be tested in a way that less than 100% get "diagnosed."

Personally, I wouldn't mind it if doctors started handing out prescriptions and machines to every patient who makes the subjective judgment that he/she is sleepy during the day, in order to let everyone see if a machine might help them sleep. (The machine-making people would love that, but the medicine-money people would hate that.) In fact, if I were in charge (heaven-forbid! ), I would make autobilevels over-the-counter, non-prescription devices. Just call them "individual-pressurized-humidification devices" to bypass all the red tape!

jeff