low pressure with 0 AHI

[airborne2016]

I have been a member here for awhile, and I read a lot of info here in the beginning, but once I got used to CPAP therapy, I've been MIA on here cuz I've been plodding along just fine... In fact, I have been on a pressure of 4 (as low as my machine can go), with 0 AHI, and with 0-1 leaks per night for the past 3-4 years.

I recently had a question about covid-19 as it pertains to CPAP, so I dug up my old logins and came back. Y'all had the answers I was looking at for covid-19, but I was reminded while searching that in all my time I used to spend on here, I never really saw people with profiles saying their pressures were as low as mine and had 0 AHIs every night.

Who else out there has similar stats? I'm curious if anyone else has lower pressure than I have, too. If so, which machine/masks do you use? How did you know you needed CPAP? Do you still think you need it? What do your doctors tell you about if you *need* your CPAP?

[zonker]

I have been a member here for awhile, and I read a lot of info here in the beginning, but once I got used to CPAP therapy, I've been MIA on here cuz I've been plodding along just fine... In fact, I have been on a pressure of 4 (as low as my machine can go), with 0 AHI, and with 0-1 leaks per night for the past 3-4 years.

I recently had a question about covid-19 as it pertains to CPAP, so I dug up my old logins and came back. Y'all had the answers I was looking at for covid-19, but I was reminded while searching that in all my time I used to spend on here, I never really saw people with profiles saying their pressures were as low as mine and had 0 AHIs every night.

Who else out there has similar stats? I'm curious if anyone else has lower pressure than I have, too. If so, which machine/masks do you use? How did you know you needed CPAP? Do you still think you need it? What do your doctors tell you about if you *need* your CPAP?

congrats on your therapy! have been on the hose now for five years and can say i've only had zero ahi 6 times now. good work!

here's a thread where folks talk about how they got to the point where they needed cpap in their lives-

viewtopic/t179192/What-Triggered-Your-N ... -CPAP.html

yup, i think i still need it. the only way anyone could know for sure if they didn't need it anymore would be to get another sleep test. me, i think that's too much money to waste. but that's just me.

there WAS a user on a month or two ago that really didn't need it anymore and he had the sleep test done to prove it. but that situation is few and far between. i think the majority of us will be on cpap for the rest of our lives.

[SleepyPaolo]

I’m not 0 every night, but average around 0.8.
My range is 5.2 - 6.0, which would be considered low.
My pressure requirements have dropped significantly since getting fitter.

[jimbud]

Insult Pugsy. One gets:


https://youtu.be/K8E_zMLCRNg



JPB

[Tranquilsky]

I'm so glad you posted this because I am brand new to cpap and was recently diagnosed. I have severe sleep apnea (44 events per hour) and was given the Resmed Airssense 10 for her. It has set my pressure to only 5.8 which brings my AHI to 0.4. I am using the full face F20 mask. I was sort of worried I was incorrectly diagnosed, to be so easily "cured" by such a low pressure.

If I may ask, what was the severity of your sleep apnea? And what has your doctor said about the low pressure?

[nanwilson]

Tranquilsky

No, pressures are not set by the number of events, they are set by how much pressure will stop the ahi's. For instance someone might have an ahi of 60, and the pressure needed to keep the airway open is 7 or 8. On the other hand, someone that had 16 event needs a pressure much higher. Its the amount of pressure given that will keep the airway open. For example: my optimum pressure is 11 and I had an ahi of 27, but my son has an ahi the same as mine, and his pressure is 17.

Cheers and be well
Nan

[Dog Slobber]

I don't believe there is a strong correlation between untreated AHI (Obstructive) and required pressure.

My untreated AHI was 59, and that was based on a sleep study where I never hit REM. And given my apnea is worse during REM, my AHI is likely to be considerably higher.

After optimizing my therapy, my treated AHI is 0.15 and I get 0.0's all the time. My pressure is 8.2-25 PS 5. Typically inhalation pressure averages about 12.5 and rarely hits 13.

AHI_history.png

The linked study suggests that untreated AHI, as well as other markers were not good predictors of treatment pressure.

Conclusion: CPAP titration in laboratory is a time consuming process and involves human resources. A-CPAP titration is an efficient and faster option. The existence of clinical markers could help to determine an appropriate pressure ab initio. However, this study showed that none of the evaluated variables can predict the pressure necessary to correct the respiratory events in patients with OSA, keeping A-CPAP a viable strategy.

https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/46/suppl_59/PA2392

[Miss Emerita]

Airborne2016, the only way to know for sure whether you still need CPAP is to have another sleep study (without the machine, of course). But as everyone else has explained, the fact that you have great results with low pressure doesn't show anything one way or another about your continuing need for treatment.

[SleepyPaolo]

I'm so glad you posted this because I am brand new to cpap and was recently diagnosed. I have severe sleep apnea (44 events per hour) and was given the Resmed Airssense 10 for her. It has set my pressure to only 5.8 which brings my AHI to 0.4. I am using the full face F20 mask. I was sort of worried I was incorrectly diagnosed, to be so easily "cured" by such a low pressure.

If I may ask, what was the severity of your sleep apnea? And what has your doctor said about the low pressure?

If that's asked of me, my sleep study reported an AHI of 30, all hypopneas. This is right on the border of moderate/severe.
As everyone is saying, I don't think there's a correlation between OSA severity and pressure required to cure it.
There does seem to be a persisting dogma on these forums that more pressure improves OSA, most people seem to recommend ranges starting at 7 as a minimum. This may be generally good advise, but not always, sometimes less pressure is better. In my case pressures above 10 actually cause obstructive apneas to happen, even though none weren't detected in my sleep study. I think it causes me to start gagging/choking which looks like an OA to the machine.
I'm a big (6'3") football playing bloke, but apparently I have the respiratory system of a dainty, sensitive flower.