AHI isn't everything

[SeanyB011]

Hey Team,

Just wanted to put this up for discussion and give my perspective on the matter.

Don't let your AHI dictate your quality of sleep. There's so many other factors. For example;

I've been on APAP therapy the past few months and my AHI has probably been a 1.5 on average (From a staggering 21.7 before sleep therapy majority of which hypopnea).

I Should be feeling better right. Well no, I still feel like shit.

My arousal index before sleep therapy was 25.1. So while it seems APAP therapy is working for my apnea hypopnea. There's some other factors at play here.

I seem to get a lot of arousals in my sleep (during the sleep study my arousal index was 25.1 majority spontaneous). So doing another sleep study soon while on APAP to get some further information as this might be a cause for my fatigue.

Would be great to get some input from other members on the matter.

[palerider]

SDB includes Apneas, Hypopneas (AHI), Snoring, and Flow Limitations.

Yes, AHI isn't everything.

One needs to look deeper than AHI, unfortunately, that's all that many "professionals" see.

[SeanyB011]

SDB includes Apneas, Hypopneas (AHI), Snoring, and Flow Limitations.

Yes, AHI isn't everything.

One needs to look deeper than AHI, unfortunately, that's all that many "professionals" see.

Couldn't agree more. Find a sleep specialist that cares and hold onto them haha

[palerider]

SDB includes Apneas, Hypopneas (AHI), Snoring, and Flow Limitations.

Yes, AHI isn't everything.

One needs to look deeper than AHI, unfortunately, that's all that many "professionals" see.

Couldn't agree more. Find a sleep specialist that cares and hold onto them haha

Or, better yet, learn to treat yourself.

[ChicagoGranny]

Would be great to get some input from other members on the matter.

How's your sleep hygiene? Drugs? Caffeine? Stress?

[Miss Emerita]

There are so many things that can contribute to frequent wake-ups. If you have another study, be sure it includes leg movements, for one thing. Also, stress, anxiety, caffeine, and alcohol can make contributions. You might try reducing stress by taking walks or meditating to see if that helps. Try limiting caffeine after noon and alcohol after 6 pm.

Also make sure your bedroom is dark at night, and quiet, with cool air. Your mattress and pillow should be replaced if they're getting to the end of their useful life. Make sure you get up at the same time every day, and schedule enough time to sleep for eight hours.

It may be tricky to pin down what is causing the arousals, but it's well worth doing. Here's wishing you luck!

[SeanyB011]

Would be great to get some input from other members on the matter.

How's your sleep hygiene? Drugs? Caffeine? Stress?

It's pretty good to be honest. That's something I'm always trying to improve.

naturally on weekends it isn't the best but monday to friday I avoid alcohol and caffeine at night/afternoon, exercise and keep a pretty regular bed time.

[SeanyB011]

There are so many things that can contribute to frequent wake-ups. If you have another study, be sure it includes leg movements, for one thing. Also, stress, anxiety, caffeine, and alcohol can make contributions. You might try reducing stress by taking walks or meditating to see if that helps. Try limiting caffeine after noon and alcohol after 6 pm.

Also make sure your bedroom is dark at night, and quiet, with cool air. Your mattress and pillow should be replaced if they're getting to the end of their useful life. Make sure you get up at the same time every day, and schedule enough time to sleep for eight hours.

It may be tricky to pin down what is causing the arousals, but it's well worth doing. Here's wishing you luck!

Like some of these ideas. Life can get pretty stressful for me at times. I find exercising a good way of channeling that stress into something positive.

As for my mattress and pillow it's pretty dated but I don't find it uncomfortable at all to sleep with. I do like waking up to ambient light personally so naturally I leave the blinds up but wouldn't consider the light pollution into my room to be significant.

[Wulfman...]

Hey Team,

Just wanted to put this up for discussion and give my perspective on the matter.

Don't let your AHI dictate your quality of sleep. There's so many other factors. For example;

I've been on APAP therapy the past few months and my AHI has probably been a 1.5 on average (From a staggering 21.7 before sleep therapy majority of which hypopnea).

I Should be feeling better right. Well no, I still feel like shit.

My arousal index before sleep therapy was 25.1. So while it seems APAP therapy is working for my apnea hypopnea. There's some other factors at play here.

I seem to get a lot of arousals in my sleep (during the sleep study my arousal index was 25.1 majority spontaneous). So doing another sleep study soon while on APAP to get some further information as this might be a cause for my fatigue.

Would be great to get some input from other members on the matter.

My input:

We have no idea what your machine settings are.
Have you scrutinized your reports? have you tried keeping a log of the times you've woken up and do they correspond to machine pressure changes?
Do you have lots of pressure changes during the night?
Lots of Flow Limitations and snores? Those are what trigger pressure increases.

Some people using pressure ranges have their sleep disrupted by pressure changes and thereby need to at least TRY straight pressure.



Alternately, try setting the minimum pressure high enough to where it prevents almost all of the events.

Den

.

[SeanyB011]

Hey Team,

Just wanted to put this up for discussion and give my perspective on the matter.

Don't let your AHI dictate your quality of sleep. There's so many other factors. For example;

I've been on APAP therapy the past few months and my AHI has probably been a 1.5 on average (From a staggering 21.7 before sleep therapy majority of which hypopnea).

I Should be feeling better right. Well no, I still feel like shit.

My arousal index before sleep therapy was 25.1. So while it seems APAP therapy is working for my apnea hypopnea. There's some other factors at play here.

I seem to get a lot of arousals in my sleep (during the sleep study my arousal index was 25.1 majority spontaneous). So doing another sleep study soon while on APAP to get some further information as this might be a cause for my fatigue.

Would be great to get some input from other members on the matter.

My input:

We have no idea what your machine settings are.
Have you scrutinized your reports? have you tried keeping a log of the times you've woken up and do they correspond to machine pressure changes?
Do you have lots of pressure changes during the night?
Lots of Flow Limitations and snores? Those are what trigger pressure increases.

Some people using pressure ranges have their sleep disrupted by pressure changes and thereby need to at least TRY straight pressure.



Alternately, try setting the minimum pressure high enough to where it prevents almost all of the events.

Den

.

I've just recently been doing a straight pressure as I did find the pressure changes were giving me awakenings in my sleep.

I went through a phase were I was over analysing my reports so my process now is pretty simple.

I've found that without measuring other variables like O2 levels and EEG activity you can only make an educated guess as to certain events.

Also my AHI is very low. Last night was a 1 so unless I know I had fragmented sleep or my AHI is bad i'll usually not scrutinise my sleep data.