Major leak but low AHI?

[andy2016]

So I switched from a medium nose piece to a large one hoping it would be more comfortable (which it was), but checked the data and saw I had a major leak. My question is....how is it possible to have episodes of major leaks and have a low AHI? I attached my readings below. Thx.

[LSAT]

I don't see a leak problem...Sleepyhead says that 95% of the time you were under 15

[andy2016]

I don't see a leak problem...Sleepyhead says that 95% of the time you were under 15

Idk.....the middle portion says major mask leak (the part in yellow). Can't figure it out.

[LSAT]

I have no idea what you are talking about ???????????????????

[Omne]

I don't see a leak problem...Sleepyhead says that 95% of the time you were under 15

Idk.....the middle portion says major mask leak (the part in yellow). Can't figure it out.

Actually the only thing in yellow is the RERA, Respiratory Effort Related Arousals, which aren't related to a leak rate. Your Large Leak percentage is 0.00%, it's 5 lines above the yellow one.

[Gasper62]

I suspect the SH "greeting message" is incorrect about your leak stats. The SH chart shows 0.00% Large Leaks. I'm not well versed in PR machines so I'm not 100% sure. Pugsy will know.

[Wulfman...]

I have no idea what you are talking about ???????????????????

+1

I don't see a "problem".


Den

.

[Gasper62]

One point I forgot to mention is, sometimes, when I have a ridiculous amount of mask leakage, my AHI will remain in low numbers and not be raised at all. Good luck.

[Pugsy]

It's that time over red line statistic that is the problem. You didn't have any large leaks...they would show up on the events graph if you did...see that LL on the events graph..that's large leaks.

SleepyHead defaults to the ResMed red line number which is a lot lower than Respironics.
Either turn it off or change the red line number from 24 to something that is more in line with Respironics reports...like 75
Go to Preferences/CPAP tab and on the right side you will see the 24 L/min line in the sand number.
Either remove the check mark to turn that statistic off or change it something like 75 L/min.
Respironics never gives us an exact leak number to plug in so we have to guess.

That SleepyHead warning....it often says things are worse than they really are so take what it says with a grain of salt.

Once you either change the red line number or turn it off your leak reporting will be more accurate.

When in doubt though...always look at the events graph because any large leak flags showing up there are coming directly from the machine and not a Sleepyhead calculation which in this case is incorrect because it is using a leak number for the ResMed machine.

[Pugsy]

Oh BTW....even if a person really does have 1% of the time over the red line number...that's not anywhere near a "major" leak. Another case of SleepyHead making things out to be worse than it really is.
I don't even take a second look at the leaks unless I see % of time over 10% with ResMed machine.

I really wish Mark when he wrote Sleepyhead had not made the default to ResMed leak numbers...it's caused a lot of undue stress and worry for Respironics users and more work for me in explaining away the panic.

Even if a person does have a period of large leak...that doesn't mean that the entire night's data is in the toilet.
It only means that the data is questionable during the large leak. It doesn't affect the other parts of the night at all.

[palerider]

saw I had a major leak. My question is....how is it possible to have episodes of major leaks and have a low AHI?

it's an issue of sleepyhead being reactionary and acting like you have resmed, which behaves very differently.

you can do what Pugsy said, myself, i'd just turn off the redline on that config page, since it's only really applicable to resmed machines.

[andy2016]

Thanks for the responses guys/gals. I am pretty sure my slight increase in AHI is due to me sleeping on my back. I do have some back problems and sleeping on my side all night is quite difficult. But I will try harder to maintain that position. Sometimes I sleep on my back without even realizing it.