Drastic AHI Drop

[LoneRangerCA]

In April, 2015 I had an at home sleep study reporting an AHI of 41.
In May, 2017 I had an at home sleep study reporting an AHI of 14.

No surgery, no new drugs, no behavioral changes.
How is this possible or was the first study in error. I can nap in the afternoon but it never felt like a 41 AHI.

[LSAT]

This is a question for your doctor or the sleep center. Why were you having 2 sleep studies a month apart?

[TASmart]

Thats 2 years and 1 month apart.

At an AHI of 14 you still may need treatment if there are any other symptoms. I would look at positional factors for the difference.

[Julie]

You could have been back-sleeping for one (the high number) and side sleeping for the other. Or 10 other variables could have been in place like equipment (in whatever state of state it was in), or weight gain or loss, a software glitch, humidity diffs, etc. etc.

[Guest]

Thats 2 years and 1 month apart.

At an AHI of 14 you still may need treatment if there are any other symptoms. I would look at positional factors for the difference.

Yeah, I'm getting an oral device. I was just surprised that the AHI could drop so much in 2 years.

[zoocrewphoto]

In April, 2015 I had an at home sleep study reporting an AHI of 41.
In May, 2017 I had an at home sleep study reporting an AHI of 14.

No surgery, no new drugs, no behavioral changes.
How is this possible or was the first study in error. I can nap in the afternoon but it never felt like a 41 AHI.

What does an ahi of 41 feel like?

I knew I had sleep apnea before I was tested, but I thought I slept pretty well. I had an ahi of 79 in less than 2 1/2 hours. Never reached REM. Barely slept on my back. So, my real untreated ahi is likely to be higher. Yet, I thought I slept fine.

Do your studies show how long you spent on your back, side, etc? Did you have more REM in one than the other? Did you wake up more in one than the other?

[DeeCPAP]

In April, 2015 I had an at home sleep study reporting an AHI of 41.
In May, 2017 I had an at home sleep study reporting an AHI of 14.

No surgery, no new drugs, no behavioral changes.
How is this possible or was the first study in error. I can nap in the afternoon but it never felt like a 41 AHI.

What does an ahi of 41 feel like?

I knew I had sleep apnea before I was tested, but I thought I slept pretty well. I had an ahi of 79 in less than 2 1/2 hours. Never reached REM. Barely slept on my back. So, my real untreated ahi is likely to be higher. Yet, I thought I slept fine.

Do your studies show how long you spent on your back, side, etc? Did you have more REM in one than the other? Did you wake up more in one than the other?

Zoo, an AHI of 79 is darn high. Lucky you discovered you had sleep apnea. Can you describe the difference before and after treatment?

[zoocrewphoto]

Zoo, an AHI of 79 is darn high. Lucky you discovered you had sleep apnea. Can you describe the difference before and after treatment?

I did a split night study, so they did diagnosis phase for just under 2 1/2 hours and then put the mask on. My sleep study was awesome with an awesome tech. Perfectly chosen and fit mask. I rolled over and slept for over 5 hours straight. I can't even remember when I had done that last. I had requested the next day off work as I planned to go home and go back t o bed. I am a severe night owl and I also sleep sleep horribly in hotel rooms. So I expected to feel like crap that day. I never went back to bed.

The next night, I actually dreamt that I was going to have to wait 6 months to get my cpap machine. I was angry. I wanted it NOW. Even my brain, while asleep, knew that cpap was awesome. The next day, I felt like crap. Then I realized that I really didn't feel any different than normal. I just knew it was crap now. Litterally a difference like night and day. I had not realized how poorly I slept. I have never been so excited about a doctor appointment in my life. Yet I had dreaded the idea of a cpap machine for years.

Once I had my machine at home, I did have mask fitting issues for almost 6 weeks. I had to get smaller sized headgear which the first DME refused to order. Once I had it, my mask fit a lot better, and that helped immensely. Even so, within a couple weeks, I realized I had several improvements, most I had no idea were related to sleep apnea. I just thought it was part of getting older.

no more headaches
only one bathroom trip a night
no more choking/gasping fits
fall asleep within 5-10 minutes (used to be an hour)
arms and hands not going numb from sleeping tense
more cheerful
standard answer to "How are you?" no longer "Tired"
don't need energy drinks
sleep well in hotels

It took a bit longer, but with steady use of cpap, my blood pressure is better. I still require medication. And a bad night will cause it to go back up. But it is an obvious difference. I had never gotten a normal reading without cpap, even on 3 medications. But with cpap, I can be in the normal range with only two medications.

[zoocrewphoto]

you were lucky

i only got almost 3 hours total sleep in the sleep lab
and they woke me up so they could go home

took me several days to get back to normal and feeling decent again

I had dreaded a sleep study and cpap for many years. My mom's sleep studies were bad. Supposed to sleep at 9pm and they woke her up at 5am. I normally go to bed between 4 and 6am, and I was always a clock watcher in hotel rooms. I finally decided to get it done when I learned about sleep apnea causing high blood pressure (which I had) and that it leads to stroke and heart attack. My doctor had told me I was at high risk for those even though I was only 38. She never mentioned sleep apnea though. I saw that on the news.

So, I was really amazed at how well my sleep study went. I was actually tired early, though they were willing to wait until midnight to try sleeping. I brought my own pillow, blanket (I normally sleep between blankets, so when staying in hotels, I put a blanket in between the sheets). The room and bed was comfortable and quiet. I was allowed to sleep in any position I wanted, except propped up on the headboard. The tech was awesome. She really helped me feel comfortable. She picked the perfect mask. And she had me use it for 5-10 minutes before I went to sleep, so it wasn't a shock later in the night. When I woke up about an hour in, I needed to use the bathroom. I was embarrassed (didn't know that was normal for sleep apnea), so I was trying to fall asleep. The tech came in, said something about needing to fix a wire and noticing that I was awake. I think she was giving me the opportunity to unhook the wires for the bathroom without having to call for help. When she woke me up later for the titration, she said they had enough data, and suggested a bathroom trip before the cpap. I didn't have a single leak from the mask, and I slept over 5 hours straight. I was amazed. I think they woke me up about 7am.

I'm glad I didn't know the cost before I signed up. I might not have done it. They billed over $6,000, got over $4,000, and $900 was from me. It took me awhile to pay it off. But that was the only downside, so it was worth it. Having that clear night and day difference between good and bad sleep really helped me to understand how bad my sleep was and also to know how good my sleep could be. And having the right mask, right from the beginning was a real bonus. It did take me awhile to learn about the smaller headgear and get it.

That sleep study gave me a running start that a lot of people do not get. My mom had been using cpap for 20 years and didn't feel that great. After I got past my doctor appointment, I was able to use my full data machine to run two half nights with her. ONe was at her prescription of straight 10. She had an ahi of 3.4, but the events were long and clustered. Her sleep study showed more oxygen drop than me, so those longer events were probably causing a lot of low oxygen. The second half night was set at 10-13 to see what the machine wanted to do. I printed both reports, and we got an appointment with my sleep doctor for her. He looked at the reports and prescribed a new auto machine with 10-15. She is doing a LOT better. So, my sleep study helped her too.

[jweiner]

Did you lose a substantial amount of weight in the interim between sleep studies?

[WearyOne]

If you did lose weight, that could definitely do it. I've lost about 50 pounds and my sleep doc asked if I wanted to drop my pressure some and see what happens. My AHI on the machine is less than 1 right now.

[WestResid]

Did you lose a substantial amount of weight in the interim between sleep studies?

Maybe 10 lbs