AHI going up

[SleepySydney]

I need some help here please, My AHI has been going up in the past few weeks. I have been running at and AHI of below 1 or 2 for a long time with an occasional 3 or so.
Now it seems like I am gett ing mainly 2's and 3's with an occasional 4. I don't feel it yet, but I want to make sure I don't.

I sleep with a chin strap and don't normally have a dry mouth when waking up. I will say I do toss and turn a lot, but I normally try to fix any leaks before I go back to sleep.

Thanks for any clarifications you can give me.



Details Most Recent Last 7 Days Last 30 Days Last 6 months Last Year
AHI 3.63 2.30 1.54 1.49 1.49
RERA Index 0.00 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.01
Hours per Night 08:48 08:41 08:40 08:33 08:33
Min EPAP 13.00 13.00 5.00 0.00 0.00
95% EPAP 13.00 13.00 13.00 13.00 13.00
Max IPAP 17.00 17.00 17.00 17.00 17.00
95% IPAP 17.00 17.00 17.00 17.00 17.00
Average Total Leaks 43.31 43.60 43.84 44.73 44.73
95% Total Leaks 60.00 62.00 61.00 65.00 65.00

[Mary Z]

Watch your leaks. Your AHI is good.

[Julie]

You can lose a surprising amount of air through your lips even with a strap... try taping for a couple of nights to see if that's the problem, and then consider a FF mask if necessary.

[ameriken]

5 and under is considered normal and if a person did a sleep study and had 2's, 3's, and 4's, they would not get a cpap machine. You're okay with 5 and under. If you run 5 to 10 for a while, then maybe it's time to think about an adjustment.

[robysue]

How old is the mask and mask cushion? Time to replace them perhaps?

[Pugsy]

What is the event breakdown for the higher AHI nights vs some of the lower AHI nights?
How much is Clear Airway Index...Obstructive apnea Index and Hyponea Index?
If the increase happens to be in Clear Airway events...maybe a few more sleep onset events or something???

[SleepySydney]

Its always been pretty even between Clear Airways and Hypopneas. The pressure of 17 plus the fact that I am a side sleeper keeps the Obstructive Airway events away.
I can't use a FFM because I have a full beard which is also why I can't tape real well. Maybe I should try a mouthguard or just a cork

I have readjusted my mask tonight (up now with a Dog related event) and will check numbers in the morning. The mask and pillows are only 2 months old or so but I had a heck of a time at first.

What is an acceptable leak rate for the Swift FX anyway ? I have read the manual and have been looking at the charts in Sleepyhead and when I know its not leaking it runs about 39
and when I go int rem It loks like it peaks at about 65 most nights. My graphs look like a series of mountains. That is why I got the chin strap.

[Pugsy]

What is an acceptable leak rate for the Swift FX anyway ? I have read the manual and have been looking at the charts in Sleepyhead and when I know its not leaking it runs about 39
and when I go int rem It looks like it peaks at about 65 most nights. My graphs look like a series of mountains. That is why I got the chin strap.

Respironics says they can handle leaks up to "large leak" without compromising therapy but we are never told what the number is for "large leak" so we wing it. From my past experience with Respironics machines and Encore Pro and Viewer which will flag a large leak time, I have found that it seems to happen somewhere between 85 and 90 L/min when reporting Total Leak. I have seen large leak flags and it never has been below 85 L/min.

SleepyHead's leak line actually will often look worse than it really is due to the scale and the same report on Encore Pro isn't quite so horrible looking.

[SleepySydney]

Last night was pretty good and I woke up cold, but feeling good.

Here is a chart, it still looks like I have leaks, through I don't notice it.

This is indicitive of most nights about the same time my total leaks goes up up up....

[Pugsy]

I can't see your leak line up close.. image is too small.
But generally most of what you see that really appears "ugly" is not all that bad but looks worse than it is due to the scale that SleepyHead uses.
If your maximum leak is 60 to 65 L/min and you stay below that amount most of the time and your sleep is not disrupted by the leak....I wouldn't worry about it.
It is below large leak territory and I wouldn't worry about not having a "perfect" leak line.

Here is an example of what I mean by scale and large leak flags.
Here is what a leak line looks like in Encore Pro with a time in Large leak.



Same night in SleepyHead. And looks like it got flagged under 85 L/min but 80 L/min doesn't.


And another night with ugly line but below large leak territory and looks horrible but I slept well and I just shrug my shoulders and move on. If a leak is below large leak territory and doesn't disrupt my sleep....I count that as acceptable night and move on.


Disregard your 2 lines compared to my single line..For some reason I don't get the double leak line with this new Beta version of SleepyHead. Seems like some people do and some people don't.