Newbie: Drastic AHI changes???? Help

Rastaman · Post by **Rastaman** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:43 am

They've been 8.4, 7.9, and 7.5. I missed one night. Last night I was on the phone with internet tech support for over 2 hours fixing a browser issue. (AT&T/SBC Yahoo DSL) And I got to bed about 12:15am and woke up about 6:30am with a few alarms going off between 6am and 6:30am.

17.something this morning when I checked. What could've caused this? Is this alarming? Should I be concerned. I use the below equipment. Resmed Autoset Vantage S8.

Fubar2u · Post by **Fubar2u** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:54 am

Hi
My cpap was at 9.5 for several years and over time bumped up to 11.
new sleep study and they decided 15cm was new number.
apap on 3 day reading 5-20cm range median 7.0cm, 95% 9.6cm and maxed at 10.4cm.

you were stressed anytime you deal with internet providers! Any drinks? taking prescriptions later then normal, more caffine ?
If your chest and arms don't hurt give it a couple normal nights to poss. even out the data.

What alarms?

Rastaman · Post by **Rastaman** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:12 pm

Yes, took medication at midnight right before bed. Drank Diet Coke right up til I laid down. I'm an idiot. I know.

Alarm clocks. I have one on my watch. (I'm a light sleeper apparently) and one next to the bed that would wake the dead. I keep it because it has a temperature sensor and it's battery powered so if the power goes out, which it does here in Austin from time to time, then no worries. I can still get to work.

birdiebaby · Post by **birdiebaby** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 3:07 pm

It's funny that you should post this. I've been sleeping well enough that I thought I had put poor sleeping behind me. But, a couple of nights ago, I had a terrible night. I woke up every couple of hours... woke up for a couple of hours in the middle of the night, etc. My AHI stats more than doubled. I think that I can attribute my poor night to bad congestion and asthma issues since the DME still hasn't gotten the humidifier to me. (hope I don't sound too bitter )

It could very well be those environmental factors and late-night caffeine that kicked in for you. I know you have been on the S8 for a pretty short time. How were your stats and leak rates for the days preceding??

littlebaddow · Post by **littlebaddow** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 3:26 pm

I've not had the quite the same variance as you've experienced, or at the same levels. I normally average an AHI of just over 1 but have some nights when it's 5 or 6.

No real explanation when it happens and I think a number of things could cause it, including sleep position, food/drink before going to bed, seasonal allergy/nasal congestion, mask working loose - perhaps even my wife trying to strangle me for the insurance, though I think she gave up on that a long time ago

If you're worried about it, check with your sleep doc, though it may settle down if you monitor it over a longer period.

Rastaman · Post by **Rastaman** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 5:54 pm

[quote="birdiebaby"]It's funny that you should post this. I've been sleeping well enough that I thought I had put poor sleeping behind me. But, a couple of nights ago, I had a terrible night. I woke up every couple of hours... woke up for a couple of hours in the middle of the night, etc. My AHI stats more than doubled. I think that I can attribute my poor night to bad congestion and asthma issues since the DME still hasn't gotten the humidifier to me. (hope I don't sound too bitter )

It could very well be those environmental factors and late-night caffeine that kicked in for you. I know you have been on the S8 for a pretty short time. How were your stats and leak rates for the days preceding??

Rastaman · Post by **Rastaman** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 5:57 pm

[quote="littlebaddow"]I've not had the quite the same variance as you've experienced, or at the same levels. I normally average an AHI of just over 1 but have some nights when it's 5 or 6.

No real explanation when it happens and I think a number of things could cause it, including sleep position, food/drink before going to bed, seasonal allergy/nasal congestion, mask working loose - perhaps even my wife trying to strangle me for the insurance, though I think she gave up on that a long time ago

If you're worried about it, check with your sleep doc, though it may settle down if you monitor it over a longer period.

oldgearhead · Post by **oldgearhead** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 6:03 pm

I still think you are snoring, and the S-8 is responding with higher and higher pressure. Try a voice recorder.

Rastaman · Post by **Rastaman** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 7:41 pm

My wife watches me alot when I sleep. She's also a light sleeper. She said she can't hear any snoring but she has heard a snort or two and she's heard choking. Last night.

Now, I'm not putting it past myself to snore. But I am a little confused. I'm seeking to understand this. My sleep lab treated me with a 13 on cpap. Why would 17 not work? Why must I go up to 20 to remove snores? I do have 'sever' OSA but I thought it must be less than others who needed say a 16 to 20. In reality it's sounding like I need a 20 setting all night long.

TinyTim · Post by **TinyTim** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 9:12 pm

I have been using the S8 Advantage for just over a week and would like to share something that I have observed twice. I like the machine, it helps. I feel better. I also like that it gives some info about the previous night's session. However, I have realized that I should be careful not to (over)play the numbers.

When I am falling asleep, my breathing is forced and unnatural as long as I am conscious of breathing against the machine. When I wake up in the middle of the night, my breathing is relaxed, regular, and seems to take less effort.

On two occasions I have awakened in the early morning and looked at the AHI/AI/HI numbers. Nice and low. Then I tried to catch another hour of sleep before beginning my day. Once I sleep about 20 minutes out of an hour. The other time I tried about 15 minutes then gave up. When I looked at the machine's numbers again, they had gone up significantly (e.g. AI from 0.9 to 3.6)! I cannot explain how an hour of mostly awake breathing could offset the average of the previous 7 hours so much.

The only reasonable conclusion I have is that the machine doesn't correctly interpret my wakeful, unnatural breathing. One other day, I woke up and sat up and watched the pressure in the display climb from 7.2 to 8.4. It just didn't like the way I was fighting it or moving around in bed.

My suggestion, though I am neither a doctor nor a late night comedy show host, is not to exaggerate a single reading. Probably the trend over time is more important. There may be some bumps, either because of issues such as I have observed or personal 'bad' nights. Also, consider other measurements/observations (alertness, sleepiness, etc.) and whether they agree with the magic numbers or not.

Rastaman · Post by **Rastaman** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 9:18 pm

My most recent thoughts on this are that it's a good thing I went on apap because the lowest setting I've seen is 15.4 and the highest is 17.2 Sure, it's below that sometimes at night too but my guess is 13 wasn't taking care of all the snores. Maybe 17.2 isn't either. I don't know. My wife says I'm not snoring since I got the S8 Vantage but I was starting to snore towards the end of the first 2 weeks before I switched machines.

Machine	Mask

Newbie: Drastic AHI changes???? Help

Newbie: Drastic AHI changes???? Help

Relax - don't overrate the numbers