Holy Crap!!!!

[danimal71]

I hit an AHI of 0.4 last night. That is the lowest I have ever been since starting CPAP in September '10. I felt like I would never get that low. Now the numbers don't mean everything. I don't have that Hallelujah totally rested sleep yet but I do have to say that some days it does feel better.

To those of you that feel like it won't happen don't give up. I didn't go through as many masks as some have that post on here. I don't have the horribly bad DME stories to tell. Neither have been a bed of roses either. Just make sure to know what you're entitled to and don't settle. Because of the info on this site I spoke with my insurance and found what and when i could get supplies. I left my unhelpful DME and kept trying masks until I found one that I liked, felt comfortable and produced results.

Here's to hopefully another good nights sleep. I need another recharge as I am training for my first sprint triathlon.

[BleepingBeauty]

I hit an AHI of 0.4 last night. That is the lowest I have ever been since starting CPAP in September '10. I felt like I would never get that low. Now the numbers don't mean everything. I don't have that Hallelujah totally rested sleep yet but I do have to say that some days it does feel better.

To those of you that feel like it won't happen don't give up. I didn't go through as many masks as some have that post on here. I don't have the horribly bad DME stories to tell. Neither have been a bed of roses either. Just make sure to know what you're entitled to and don't settle. Because of the info on this site I spoke with my insurance and found what and when i could get supplies. I left my unhelpful DME and kept trying masks until I found one that I liked, felt comfortable and produced results.

Here's to hopefully another good nights sleep. I need another recharge as I am training for my first sprint triathlon.

Congrats! Wishes for more good nights like that one. (And good luck in the triathlon!)

[bayourest]

thanks for your post...it's good for those of us who are still trying to get it all figured out (if such a thing is possible)

[danimal71]

No problem. I have those great numbers and went right back to 2.4 last night. Could be worse I guess. really what matters is how you feel. I feel better than I did in September....never thought I'd say that.

[kempo]

Congrats, anything under 5 should please you but anything under 1 makes you feel like you "have arrived".

[danimal71]

Thanks and your right. Since I started wearing this mask I have been consistently under 5 and have been very happy with it. I would have to say that I am consistently in the low 2.x range and many times hit upper 1.x....of course there are days I hit the 4 range but those aren't very regular anymore. The other night was the first night I hit below 1 and the title of this thread is exactly what I said when I saw that.

[Alsacienne]

PLEASE PLEASE could some one give me the MEDICAL REFERENCE(S) that show that under 5 is what you are trying to achieve. (I know the closest to 0 is gold standard but let's stay reasonable.)

I am desperate to show REAL OFFICIAL MEDICAL PROOF BASED ON RESEARCH to my sleep team because my AHIs are between 6 and 7 and in France where I live and am treated, under 10 is considered acceptable and compliant.

I don't feel really very comfortable about this level because on every CPAP forum there are folk quoting that you need to be under 5 and preferably less.

QUOTABLE REFERENCE SOURCES please ... and not just " 'x' or 'my doctor' says ........." I'd be so grateful and it might also settle a niggling doubt in my mind as to whether my treatment needs tweaking. My team did try by changing me to a full face mask plus increasing pressure, but the AHIs stayed the same. What's the next step? Thanks in advance for your help, and for reading this.

[JayC]

Gotta say..... if you are actively training for a sprint tri...... you are getting some pretty good results in a few months

With an actively advancing plan like that, I say don't sweat the numbers too much!

Congrats!!!!! And all the best in the race!!

J

[danimal71]

Gotta say..... if you are actively training for a sprint tri...... you are getting some pretty good results in a few months

With an actively advancing plan like that, I say don't sweat the numbers too much!

Congrats!!!!! And all the best in the race!!

J

Thanks.

One thing about me is I will force myself to do stuff....even if I am tired. I definitely notice when I am off of the hose for a night....like last night. I think I am at the beginning of a cold and was up with my 3 year old so did not sleep with my CPAP on last night. This morning I don't feel like I slept and know I will have a rough day. Tonight when I go to bed I will probably pass out. I think I can still function well at times because my OSA isn't as severe as some on here. My starting AHI was 11...if they didn't fudge the test. That's a whole other story.

[LinkC]

PLEASE PLEASE could some one give me the MEDICAL REFERENCE(S) that show that under 5 is what you are trying to achieve.

Sorry, there aren't any that I know of...and I've looked. It's an arbitrary goal. Probably dreamed up (no pun intended) in the mind of some insurance actuary, not in a sleep lab. Maybe the same guy who decided 30 is "moderate" and 31 is "severe".

[cflame1]

notmuffy or SWS might be able to give a history lesson and explain it.

[-SWS]

notmuffy or SWS might be able to give a history lesson and explain it.

Well, here's a brief rundown from a past discussion:

This excerpt from Promise of Sleep describes how Stanford sleep medicine pioneers William Dement and Christian Guilleminault devised an AHI-of-5 as the original apnea/hypopnea clinical cut off in 1973:

In 1973 Christian Guilleminault and I proposed the measure that is still used for the clinical definition of sleep apnea and for rating its severity. We called it the Apnea/Hypopnea Index (AHI). Hypopnea is the term we use when the throat doesn't quite close entirely, but air flow is reduced sufficiently to lower oxygen and cause an arousal. The AHI score represents the average number of Apnea and Hypopnea episodes that a patient has during an hour of sleep. We decided that an AHI of 5 should be the lower limit for making a diagnosis of apnea, so a score of less than 5 (breathing stops fewer than 5 times per hour) is considered too low for clinical diagnosis and doesn't require treatment. However treatment may be necessary if a patient has an AHI of 5 to 10 with other signs or symptoms of apnea such as daytime fatigue or high blood pressure. Although not all my colleagues agree, I feel strongly that people with an AHI of 10 to 20 should definitely consider treatment, even if they are not feeling sleepy during the day. In my opinion, anyone with a score over 20 should always be treated - they will soon have a serious, life-threatening problem."

Sleep medicine and Medicare still adhere to Dement's and Guilleminault's AHI-of-5 as clinical cut-off criterion to this day.

Below is a recap of one classic debate between doctors Sullivan and Rapoport, two sleep medicine legends in their own right. They argue AHI's usefulness as an apnea/hypopnea severity marker in the year 2002: http://www.respiratoryreviews.com/sep02 ... Index.html

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=54618&p=511023&sid= ... 7d#p511023

[Alsacienne]

Thanks for the pm references and for the suggestion that it's all subjective ... which is what I was coming round to myself. I know I've 'come a long way' in reducing my AHIs and if my 6-7 on treatment with good sleep and more energy than is usually good for me is considered 'good enough' by my sleep team, well good enough it will be, and I'll stop beating myself up over the magic '5 and below score'!!

( Perhaps I'm just a teeny bit green with jealousy over those of you who have managed to lower your AHIs so successfully!!! )