High AHI with low leak rate

[John_M]

I have been having a lot of trouble with sleep patterns and leak rates recntly and am feeling very tired. So I took a nap this afternoon lying on my back rather than my usual side. The reults

show a nice low leak rate but a surprisingly high AHI. My AHI"s recently have been running around 5.0.

Does sleepiing on my back mean that I need to retitrate?

I would appreciate receiving comments and suggestions

John_M

[Flying_Norseman]

You probably need to go a little higher on your pressure. I was Titrated at 10cm but, it turns out I need about 12cm. My AHI is usually around 0.5 when I sleep on my side and 1.5 when I sleep on my back.

[billbolton]

Does sleepiing on my back mean that I need to retitrate?

You need a much larger data sample than just a single one hour nap to realistically form an opinion on changing your treatment.

Also, were you really asleep for the whole hour the flow generator was running? The scoring algorithm is predicated on sleep breathing and if you are not truly asleep, what it scores may not be indicative of anything much.

Cheers,

Bill

[rested gal]

As Bill said, a one hour nap is not usually something on which to base changing treatment. I've seen much, much higher AHI's produced on my own data from a one hour nap than I ever see with a three hour or longer sleep session. Nothing as high as what you got there, however.

Considering the extreme blocks of OA's and hypopneas you registered while napping on your back, I agree with Flying Norseman that you probably should be using a higher pressure than the straight 9 you have your machine set for. Anytime you know you'll be sleeping/napping on your back, I'd raise the pressure to 10, 11, or 12...if it were me.

Your leak rate does look good, if you really were asleep all that hour.

My AHI"s recently have been running around 5.0.

That's ok, but again, you might do better in general with more pressure. I think I'd up it another cm or two even for your "every night" sleep.

[Snoredog]

my opinion:

Looks like a train wreck from the start in my opinion, you obviously need much higher pressure than you are using or did you just have a blender before that nap?

snore is a partial closure of the airway (soft palate/base of tongue) which causes the vibration the machine picks up as VS, further deterioration or closure of the airway condition can be hypopnea, further deterioration beyond that an apnea.

Many times you go from snore straight to apnea because it happens on inhale with no hypopnea between (i.e. it slams shut suddenly), but the 9.0 cm pressure is probably what kept that from happening in your case. I would bump your pressure to 11.0 cm and have a looksee again for comparison.