At home sleep study ahi 2.5

[Miss Emerita]

Your study shows an RDI of 12.4. An RDI represents the average number per hour of the following: apneas, hypopneas, and RERAs. A RERA is a respiratory effort related arousal.

Some sleep professionals -- though not many insurance companies -- would regard this as warranting treatment with CPAP. They might use the term UARS to describe a condition like yours: upper airway resistance syndrome. There's a lot more information here:

https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical- ... ments.html

But all of that may be getting ahead of the game. A full polysomnographic test would be preferable to the home test you have in order to determine whether you have UARS. And it would be worth seeing whether you'd feel more rested if you faithfully observed these precepts:

• Keep a consistent sleep schedule. Get up at the same time every day, even on weekends or during vacations.
• Set a bedtime that is early enough for you to get at least 7 hours of sleep.
• Don’t go to bed unless you are sleepy.
• If you don’t fall asleep after 20 minutes, get out of bed.
• Establish a relaxing bedtime routine.
• Use your bed only for sleep and sex.
• Make your bedroom quiet and relaxing. Keep the room at a comfortable, cool temperature.
• Limit exposure to bright light in the evenings.
• Turn off electronic devices at least 30 minutes before bedtime.
• Don’t eat a large meal before bedtime. If you are hungry at night, eat a light, healthy snack.
• Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy diet.
• Avoid consuming caffeine in the late afternoon or evening.
• Avoid consuming alcohol before bedtime.
• Reduce your fluid intake before bedtime.

[Glass14]

Your study shows an RDI of 12.4. An RDI represents the average number per hour of the following: apneas, hypopneas, and RERAs. A RERA is a respiratory effort related arousal.

Some sleep professionals -- though not many insurance companies -- would regard this as warranting treatment with CPAP. They might use the term UARS to describe a condition like yours: upper airway resistance syndrome. There's a lot more information here:

https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical- ... ments.html

But all of that may be getting ahead of the game. A full polysomnographic test would be preferable to the home test you have in order to determine whether you have UARS. And it would be worth seeing whether you'd feel more rested if you faithfully observed these precepts:

• Keep a consistent sleep schedule. Get up at the same time every day, even on weekends or during vacations.
• Set a bedtime that is early enough for you to get at least 7 hours of sleep.
• Don’t go to bed unless you are sleepy.
• If you don’t fall asleep after 20 minutes, get out of bed.
• Establish a relaxing bedtime routine.
• Use your bed only for sleep and sex.
• Make your bedroom quiet and relaxing. Keep the room at a comfortable, cool temperature.
• Limit exposure to bright light in the evenings.
• Turn off electronic devices at least 30 minutes before bedtime.
• Don’t eat a large meal before bedtime. If you are hungry at night, eat a light, healthy snack.
• Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy diet.
• Avoid consuming caffeine in the late afternoon or evening.
• Avoid consuming alcohol before bedtime.
• Reduce your fluid intake before bedtime.

Thanks yea my sleep hygiene covers all of your helpful points you suggested. The doctor said once I have my second home sleep study I can do the in lab sleep study. Does what I posted mean I'm actually having breathing problems or closed airway?

[Miss Emerita]

Why a second home study? I'd raise that question with the doctor if I were you. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

The first study does suggest you are having breathing-related problems, though not of the kind involving a closed airway. Your study doesn't show anything about why you would be having RERAs. It isn't even a terribly good way of determining whether you are having them.

If you are, there could be different causes or contributors, including "flow limitations" (like baby hypopneas) and restless legs. That's a reason why a lab sleep test would be more helpful than another home test -- the lab test could provide information about possible causes for the RERAs; or, contrariwise, it could show you aren't really having them.

[Ograx]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I was led to believe from the sleep techs and doctors I've talked to that almost noone ever has an AHI of 0.

[Jas_williams]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I was led to believe from the sleep techs and doctors I've talked to that almost noone ever has an AHI of 0.

An AHI of 5 is considered treated

[chunkyfrog]

Just throwing this out there:
Many years ago, I was falling asleep at work.
I was in an HMO. (I believe this was instrumental to the malpractice I endured.)
I was given a "sleep study", which involved a few leads and a sleep drug. ---WTF?
The "diagnosis" was negative, but years later, the exact same symptoms got me a
REAL sleep study, where the diagnosis was moderate OSA,
finally getting me on CPAP.
So, my point is if your medical service is in an HMO---WATCH OUT!

[Pugsy]

To have for sure documented RERAs there has to be some way of determining sleep status and that involves EEG leads to the face and head.....home study or in lab study.

AHI....apneas and hyponeas only
RDI....Respiratory Disturbance Index (average) includes apneas, hyponeas and RERAs.

http://www.mysleepapneamd.com/what-is-sleep-apnea/rdi

The thing they put on your finger was probably a pulse oximeter to measure oxygen levels in the blood.
The 2 things stuck on the chest might have been related to heart monitoring.
If you didn't have anything stuck on your face and head to do brain wave monitoring they had no way to know if you were asleep or not for sure and it makes for a questionable RERA number.
You really need to have an in lab sleep study and unless they do a more comprehensive home study for the second home study you are just wasting time and money.

It's impossible to know for sure if you are having airway issues causing sleep disordered breathing from the data so far.
For sure not OSA though....might be UARS....so that's why they want to go on more fishing expeditions with another home study and an in lab study. They are hoping something will stand out and give them a diagnosis.

[Glass14]

To have for sure documented RERAs there has to be some way of determining sleep status and that involves EEG leads to the face and head.....home study or in lab study.

AHI....apneas and hyponeas only
RDI....Respiratory Disturbance Index (average) includes apneas, hyponeas and RERAs.

http://www.mysleepapneamd.com/what-is-sleep-apnea/rdi

The thing they put on your finger was probably a pulse oximeter to measure oxygen levels in the blood.
The 2 things stuck on the chest might have been related to heart monitoring.
If you didn't have anything stuck on your face and head to do brain wave monitoring they had no way to know if you were asleep or not for sure and it makes for a questionable RERA number.
You really need to have an in lab sleep study and unless they do a more comprehensive home study for the second home study you are just wasting time and money.

It's impossible to know for sure if you are having airway issues causing sleep disordered breathing from the data so far.
For sure not OSA though....might be UARS....so that's why they want to go on more fishing expeditions with another home study and an in lab study. They are hoping something will stand out and give them a diagnosis.

There might have been a sticky on my head, I cant remember. I had the test done last June I think. I can find out what program/device they used. I forgot to post this last photo that says snoring statistics and sleep stages chart

[Pugsy]

Looks like you probably have a mild case per the RERA numbers.
It's not classic OSA though...the AHI isn't high enough.
It might be UARS.

Doesn't really matter though...treatment is still cpap. You are probably borderline getting insurance to pay for the equipment though. They tend to look for any excuse to not pay. They might fixate on AHI and not want to look at RDI.

You must have had some sort of sticky leads on your face and head to get sleep stages...so a fairly comprehensive study.
It's probably fairly accurate.

I assume you also had some unwanted symptoms to earn you the sleep study in the first place so symptoms plus a mild diagnosis per the RDI and not AHI though.

There are 2 kinds of arousals that make us have crappy sleep.
Spontaneous arousals and respiratory related arousals.
It's only the respiratory related arousals that cpap can help with. Spontaneous means we don't know the cause but it wasn't related to the airway and thus cpap won't help with spontaneous arousals.

You really have no choice but proceed with the doctors plan if you want to have any chance of having your insurance pay for anything.

[Glass14]

Pugsy, does mild apnea turn into moderate or severe over years unless intervened by CPAP? If you had a case with the numbers I have would you use CPAP or just sleep on your side?

[Pugsy]

Pugsy, does mild apnea turn into moderate or severe over years unless intervened by CPAP? If you had a case with the numbers I have would you use CPAP or just sleep on your side?

It can get worse simply because we age and as we age everything starts to sag or we gain weight and excess weight can make it worse.
It can happen with or without cpap treatment.

If I had your numbers and side sleeping resolved those numbers and I was sleeping good and feeling good....I would choose side sleeping over cpap. I always factor in how I sleep and how I feel and I have never just targeted any number all by itself.
The reason I use cpap is so I sleep better and feel better and reduce stress on my body....it's not to get a good math score.
If I get a good math score..that's just icing on the cake but the lowest numbers in the world don't mean squat if I feel like crap during the day and I sleep like crap.

Now it's not always so easy to stay on one's side all the time. Believe me I know this because I try to stay off my back because it makes my arthritis back pain so much worse...but I often wake up hurting like hell...on my back despite my best attempts to stay on my side.
Probably partly related to the fact that now my shoulders are acting up and causing pain because they don't want me laying on them. Tried sleeping mainly on left side for a long time. Now that left shoulder simply hurts too much to lay on it...so I started right side sleeping and it occasionally is starting to act up. I am caught between a rock and a hard place for sure.

Now I say this without knowing what your O2 levels went to. I know you posted your sleep study but it's sideways and tiny and I simply couldn't read it so I couldn't see how long your O2 levels might have been low or how low they went.
So let me add in....if my O2 levels didn't tank for a prolonged period of time and side sleeping resolved any drops that I might have had....I would try to sleep on my side and probably not try cpap. Now if side sleeping didn't resolve any oxygen level issues I might have.....I would go with cpap.
The usual line for oxygen level concerns is 88% and I forget for how long....15 seconds at 86% isn't enough to cause a problem...15 minutes might though. See what I am getting at.

So....if sleeping on my side resolved all my issues...and I felt good and slept good...and I could reasonably stay on my side the bulk of the night....I would choose side sleeping over cpap if I had numbers like yours.

Would it get worse as I aged...maybe and maybe not. That's an unknown but it could also happen even with cpap being used.
We don't have crystal balls to tell us the future and I tend to deal with the here and now.

[Miss Emerita]

For what it's worth, the report from the home sleep study I had through Kaiser included charts with sleep-stage information on them -- but there was definitely nothing on my head. I assume the test-makers use algorithms that produce guesses based on respiration and heartbeat rates.

[Pugsy]

For what it's worth, the report from the home sleep study I had through Kaiser included charts with sleep-stage information on them -- but there was definitely nothing on my head. I assume the test-makers use algorithms that produce guesses based on respiration and heartbeat rates.

Ahhhh....if that's the case it's an educated guess based on lord knows what and when it comes to sleep apnea and I might need to be using this stuff for the rest of my life I sure wouldn't want to be guessing and I don't care how educated that guess might be.
I know a guy who had one of those home studies and it told him he was asleep and having apneas when he was up letting the dog out to pee. Just saying....

You get what you pay for and yes those less comprehensive studies are cheaper and are useful as screening tools....why not have a home study that is essentially just like an in lab study in terms of data collection because it doesn't cost THAT much more. It's not like the cheaper studies are 50 bucks and the comprehensive study is 1000 bucks. Penny saved and pound foolish.

[Miss Emerita]

You get what you pay for and yes those less comprehensive studies are cheaper and are useful as screening tools....why not have a home study that is essentially just like an in lab study in terms of data collection because it doesn't cost THAT much more. It's not like the cheaper studies are 50 bucks and the comprehensive study is 1000 bucks. Penny saved and pound foolish.

Kaiser, are you listening?

[Glass14]

I have autoimmunity as well- that is if your arthritis is autoimmune. The good news is there is a lot of research going on about treatment as so much autoimmunity is on the rise. The thing is I haven't slept well in years. Constantly waking up during the night. Like you said, something else could be going on though. ... It says oxygen restoration % 4-9 with 2 events so I guess 2 times my oxygen went a little bit low? One question is, dont people who are considered non SDB still have occasional apnea and occasional drop in oxygen? What else could an in lab study tell me besides if I have SDB or not besides something like restless legs?