How is can I lower the AHI?

[Dreamingofsleep]

I am getting more events. My leak is around 22. My AHI is now near 2.0. I can't help but wonder if I could just get down to lower numbers I might feel better. Should I change my mask? Any suggestions?

I usually tape.


thanks,
Dreaming

[Pugsy]

What is the event category breakdown of that AHI?
How much of it is clear airway?
We can't do anything about the clear airway events.
Are any of the events (whatever kind they are) coming in clusters? or are they just random throughout the night.
Could you post an image of your report?

What do you mean "feel a little better"? What is going on? Sleepy? Tired?
How many hours of sleep are you averaging? Are those hours of sleep fragmented? If so, why?
Do you take any meds of any kind, even OTC? If so, what med and dosage?

You know that there are other things that affect how we feel besides OSA. Even a nice 0.0 AHI doesn't guarantee that we feel the good numbers that we might expect.

If you want to try to reduce the AHI make sure that what you are trying to reduce will respond to any pressure changes.
Clear airways won't respond. They are just there and in small random numbers we just ignore them.

[Dreamingofsleep]

Hi Pugsy,
I still can't figure out how to share the photo shots Went to photo bucket and spent about 45 minutes, lol...I'll try again later. Thanks for your willingness to help

Dreaming

[Triadz]

Hi Pugsy,
I still can't figure out how to share the photo shots Went to photo bucket and spent about 45 minutes, lol...I'll try again later. Thanks for your willingness to help

Dreaming

In photo bucket copy the link it assigns your picture and paste the link in your post here. I think that's right. It's late. Good luck..

[kaiasgram]

Dreaming, after you upload your screenshot to Photobucket, click on the uploaded image and you should see a page with your image like this:



Then click inside the Links to share this photo box over on the right -- the box will turn yellow and say "Copied." Then just hit Paste in your post and the code (not the image) should appear. To make sure it's working, click the Preview button before you Submit your post -- if you can see your image, then we will see it too.

[Dreamingofsleep]

[Dreamingofsleep]

Thanks for all your help, I did it. I did it!!!! After four months, lol. You guys are awesome. Now, pray tell what do you think??

Dreaming

[Pugsy]

I think your reports are in much better shape than most of mine.
There really isn't much to improve on and nothing at all that really needs improvement.
No clusters. Just random events.
I would be doing the Happy Dance if most of my reports looked that good.
No leaks to speak of.
Pressure line is very stable (those saw tooth like things are the normal test pressure probes)
Random rare events scattered throughout the night.
There is nothing at all that even remotely really needs work and the pressure line is showing no need to increase the pressure at all.

I know you were thinking of reducing the AHI...but it isn't all that high. It doesn't need reducing.
You have to remove the CA part..that's 0.5...remember that CAs we don't treat with pressure with this machine. We ignore them.
so that leaves you with Hyponeas and obstructive apneas...1.4 per hour average...
I don't know if a little more minimum pressure will reduce those events or not. Perfect 0.0 AHI is nice to brag about but not something that happens a lot for most people.

[Dreamingofsleep]

Thanks so much for this, Pugsy. I have to say my health is better than it was before CPAP. However, I still struggle with fatigue and wake a lot too. Ah well, I am thankful that I can work. What a blessing that is!

Dreaming

[Pugsy]

However, I still struggle with fatigue and wake a lot too.

Waking a lot will definitely impact how we feel the next day...even with an AHI of 0.0. It isn't all about the numbers.

Why the wake ups? Trouble going to sleep or going back to sleep after a wake up? How many wake ups?
Fragmented sleep can come from any number of reasons and not all of them are related to sleep apnea and the machine only fixes sleep apnea problems. If the problem isn't related to sleep apnea then the best perfect AHI possible isn't going to fix things.