Interesting Question...

Good morning,

So recently I was thinking (and doing some testing/research) and here's the question:

Regardless of the type of apnea you have, obstructive, central, complex, mild, moderate, extreme, etc... AND regardless of the type of MACHINE you use, bipap, asv, auto, etc... if you can achieve
an AHI of 5 (considered the "treated" score) or under, does it matter what machine you use or type of apnea?

Thanks for all thoughts,

Z

To me no... but I have always had an issue with the 5. I know the medical community had to put a benchmark out there, but dang, a 5? Five apnea events per hour is ok?

No mater what machine you use, at the end of the day, they all pump air into your throat in attempt to clear your airway. Some have different bells a whistles to treat folks with a certain condition they have, but if you get that certain mask that fits you, is comfortable and doesn't leak, you have reached the cpap Promise Land.

Sheriff

Zzzzzzzzzzz... wrote:Make that "Interesting"...

If you want to correct that, go back to your first post, click on Edit and change the spelling in the subject line.

Zzzzzzzzzzz... wrote:Thanks. Missed that! Now, how do I delete my follow up post?

When your post was the last response in the thread the delete button was available but once someone responds the delete button goes away.

So now you you have a couple of options as to remove a post. First is to spam remove your own post.
It's okay to spam remove your own post. I have done it often myself to my own posts when I have changed my mind.

The other alternative is to edit the post that you wish gone...
Sometimes we just delete the entire contents and put a "dot" .
in place of the text. This way whatever you said is totally gone.
If you spam remove a post without changing anything the post is still visible via the reply to scroll box.

If the therapy is working and your AHI is within normal range, then yes it matters what machine/equipment you're using because it's that combination of stuff that's working so you shouldn't change it.

Pugsy wrote:

Zzzzzzzzzzz... wrote:Thanks. Missed that! Now, how do I delete my follow up post?

When your post was the last response in the thread the delete button was available but once someone responds the delete button goes away.

So now you you have a couple of options as to remove a post. First is to spam remove your own post.
It's okay to spam remove your own post. I have done it often myself to my own posts when I have changed my mind.

The other alternative is to edit the post that you wish gone...
Sometimes we just delete the entire contents and put a "dot" .
in place of the text. This way whatever you said is totally gone.
If you spam remove a post without changing anything the post is still visible via the reply to scroll box.

Thank you!

There are other factors besides AHI that determine if the right machine is being used and adjusted properly.

Zzzzzzzzzzz... wrote: ...Regardless of the type of apnea you have, obstructive, central, complex, mild, moderate, extreme, etc... AND regardless of the type of MACHINE you use, bipap, asv, auto, etc... if you can achieve an AHI of 5 (considered the "treated" score) or under, does it matter what machine you use or type of apnea?

Depends on if an AHI of 5 is as good as it can get for you. If another machine could address any unique problems more effectively, then it would matter to me. For instance, if you are using a machine that does not address centrals, and if your AHI of 5 is made up totally of centrals and some of the events are of long duration with desats, then a different machine could make a difference. Or another for instance, If a pressure of 20 can get your AHI to 5, a bi-level machine that can go a bit higher might be able to get it even lower. An AHI of 5 would leave me still in a pretty bad way. But in general, whichever machine can get you to your personal best sounds like a winner.

Zzzzzzzzzzz... wrote:So recently I was thinking (and doing some testing

Zzzzzzzzzzz... wrote:if you can achieve
an AHI of 5 (considered the "treated" score) or under, does it matter what machine you use or type of apnea?

Thanks for all thoughts,

IMO it doesn't matter who the vendor/mfg is as long as it is working for you. But to define working for you, IMO, knowing what I know now I would not be happy with 5 even tho 5 may be a huge improvement from an AHI of 65, you may notice the difference and hopefully feel the difference.

I say that now because my average AHI is .2 so that means there are several zeroes in there.

afaik RERA and RDI can only be measured with equipment found in a sleep lab. I am not aware of a Resmed or Respironics cpap/bipap/ASV that can measure either RERAS or RDI's.

So the normal patient can only measure success by their AHI and how they feel. But success can take many months, after all, most of us have had undiagnosed/untreated sleep apnea for 10, 20, 30yrs or more before beginning treatment, yet we expect to feel better after the first night or week or month. Give it time.

An xPAP cannot determine if a RERA is a true arousal or not. That takes a lab study to determine if reduced airflow is causing an arousal or not. xPAPs make a guess based on the shape of the airflow curve. This would mean that to use RDI then the medical profession must abandon the in-home testing unless they are able to incorporate an EEG to measure true arousals. Also, as of yet the importance of the RDI is not universally accepted, there is disagreement in the medical community as to its applicability.