18 year old with mild sleep apnea - will I ever recover?

[Pugsy]

No matter what the pressure or mask type, my AHI won't budge from around 3.0. What could account for this?

Maybe the AHI is composed of mainly central apneas which won't respond to pressure increases.
Maybe you are getting a lot of Sleep/Wake/Junk flagged events and they aren't real and no amount of changes will prevent SWJ events.

You need to use the software to see what the AHI is composed of and when the flagged events are happening.

So either download the software and look and see the details or wait and ask the doctor the same questions you are asking here.
We have no way to offer you anything but "maybes" in the terms of answers and you have the ability to maybe help figure out what is going on and answer your questions by using available software.

Your choice. We can't do much except offer wild ass guesses since we have zero detail information to work from.

[Mikebear]

12 is on the higher side for starting out and without using Sleepyhead you won't know what other factors may be involved to allow you to possibly lower the pressure but address other things you aren't aware of now. Why not download the program and get a real look at what happens for a couple of nights?

I've tried pressures ranging from 4-12, 8-12,8-20,11-20, and 12-20. No matter what the pressure or mask type, my AHI won't budge from around 3.0. What could account for this? I'm reluctant to download sleepyhead since I have a sleep study soon; if I have a steady AHI like that and still wake up tired, what's going on?

How long is a rope?

Until you post screenshots from Sleepyhead, YOU and WE can do nothing but guess. Changing your settings does you no good at all, when you have no clue what the results are.

A AHI below 5 is NOT the only thing to look for. Just because your AHI is consistently around 3, you don't know what else is going on, and there could be plenty of things to tweak.

[Julie]

You're asking us to guess at what might be going on, and that's so pointless. There are so many other health issues that could affect your AHI and how you feel re sleep, none of which might have anything to do with OSA or Cpap, so it's important to have bloodwork, exams, tests for cardiac, sugar, hormonal and even psychological issues routinely. And none of us should be guessing at your stuff anyway, not having your doctor's access to your records, etc... but what we can do at least is try to either rule out or confirm factors that can be seen on software - SH being far more comprehensive than any other program outside of the sleep lab (and designed by a member), whatever else might be relevant. And it's free.

[gogailg5]

have you checked your B12 and D levels...are you veggie

[Cryssied]

I can VERY much relate to your fears. I went from being a 4.0 undergrad in college to failing all of my classes and being diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment. It turns out that one of my medications was completely destroying my nighttime breathing. Coming off of that medicine still left me at 28 events per hour. So I went on CPAP. I'm at almost 2 months now and getting better every day. The doctor told me that I should feel better in 3 months and it has only been 2 I am very optimistic that I may end up better than my old self. (I think I've had SA for a long time undiagnosed)

I can't say that you will get all the way back to where you were because everyone is different. I can say that I am doing better than I was before I knew there was a problem, and that may generalize to you too.

[pinguin420]

A mild apnea doesn't mess you up that much ... I'd make sure to do a blood test, might be something else
And that something else can cause apnea as well, so you'd fix this problem with one try.