Newbie - Sleep Study AHI=110

[ChevyKeith]

Hello everyone. Great board with lots of useful information.
I was just diagnosed with Apnea, AHI=110.

I decided to jump in myself and drop the center as I felt they were not adding value.
Been on CPAP 2 days now. AHI=7.66 day 1, and 9.63 day 2.

I am reading all I can and listening to the advice/stories on here. My real concern right now is related to the AHI numbers.
Seems like these treated numbers are still pretty high compared to many of you. I am not sure if that's just cause I started out worse or what expectations I should have from CPAP.
Maybe one of you with more experience/knowledge could give me some thoughts. I feel like its got to be good for me to get it from 110 down to around 9. But is it reasonable to get it low like many of you ? Should I be concerned if I cant get it below 8-10 ?

Thanks for a great board,
Keith

[2 B Sleeping Soundly]

Keith,

Welcome to the land of the Hose Heads! Yes, it can take time for your mind and body to adjust to the machine and PAP therapy. Though we all aim for a AHI of 5 or less, it is still amazing for you to have the reduction you have seen with just two nights of therapy. Give it some time for everything to adjust and I feel that you should see the results you are seeking.

A AHI of 30 or higher is considered severe, so you can see that with your untreated number of 101 you have real severe SA/OSA. My untreated AHI was 73.8 and I found that it did not take long at all for me to see huge reduction to 5 or under. Hopefully you will have the same success .

John

[SleepyToo2]

Welcome to our world. The reduction is great! Ideally, you want to get the AHI below 5, but it is a little too soon to tell if you should be concerned - you may find over the next couple of weeks that the AHI drops even further. As there are several machines in the System One range, can you be a bit more specific? Is it an auto? What pressures have been set for you? Do you use the ramp feature, or humidity?

The selection of the mask is a huge challenge for many people, and if you have leaks that can obscure the effects/reduce the effectiveness of the treatment. The type, size, and shape of mask and the size and shape of your face/nose/nostrils all have a big effect. If you have the Pro version of System One machines, and have an SD card, you can get a lot more information about your results using software called SleepyHead. That will help in understanding what is going on and what might be able to be done to improve your therapy.

In the early stages of treatment it is best to work with your sleep doctor, but many of them don't know just what software is available and what it can tell them about how you are doing. So continue to investigate the options for discussion with your doc. Finally, the most important question is How do you feel?

[Foggy1]

Give it some time before you worry much about the new AHI. You're doing really well for just the first couple of days. Once you've been on treatment for a few weeks, then you can make some tweaks and adjustments to see if your AHI can be improved further. In my opinion, you need several weeks to really establish a pattern. Pay more attention to comfort, how much sleep you are getting, and how you feel.

[Bill44133]

Welcome Keith.. I had AHI of 140 during my sleep studies. What are your pressure settings and is your machine Bilevel or straight cpap?
You need to get your AHI to below 5. To help you understand exactly what is going on with you I encourage you to take a few minutes to view this video:
http://www.resmed.com/us/multimedia/und ... 40x380.swf

This put the whole thing in perspective and will help in your fight to get a good nights sleep.

[ChevyKeith]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
I have the Auto 560 machine. The sleep doctor prescribed a constant machine set at 10. I veered off course a little based on all my reading and bought the Auto machine. Day one I set min/max to 8/12. Day two I set min/max to 7/13. I used ramp and humidity each day.

I am just working on SleepyHead it looks like a great tool. I am sure once I have more data it will make more sense.

I do feel a little better than before already. Less of a morning headache. It sounds like I need to just give it some time and see how things settle in. I have been a little freaked out about the 110 number after learning <5 is normal and >30 is severe.

Thanks again for all the help and all the great information on this board.
Keith