Can continued CPAP use affect at-home test result?

[casereport]

Hi,

I have had all the markers(loud snoring, deviated septum, large tonsils, recent weight gain, etc.) and lots of risk factors for sleep apnea, but the at-home test I ordered from Singular Sleep indicates that I don't have sleep apnea (and recommends that I take in-lab test). I also remember that at the time I took that at-home sleep test, I've been using CPAP machine every day for 3 weeks (although only 2-3 hours a day, b/c I couldn't find the right mask), switched to a wedge pillow, worn nasal anti-snore strips for four weeks. My snoring has definitely decreased. But I am still very sleepy during the day and my concentration has yet to come back.

The sleep test says:
AHI 2.4 OAI 0.2 CAI 0.4 Lowest Desat(oxygen level) 89

But my CPAP says my last night's AHI, taken over 4 hours, was 8.5.

Is it possible my practice has affected the test result? How reliable is an at-home test?

I guess after trying to treat myself with CPAP and mouth guard for past few weeks, at this point I don't want to think I have something like narcolepsy...brain tumor... a sign of upcoming major depressive episode.

[chunkyfrog]

Or that the home test is not all that good . . .

[palerider]

How reliable is an at-home test?

Depends on what class of at-home test it is... I think there's II, III and IV classes.

[casereport]

How reliable is an at-home test?

Depends on what class of at-home test it is... I think there's II, III and IV classes.

Thanks! I got an at-home test from Singular Sleep, using Alice NightOne. Just got really perplexed that the result says my AHI is 0.2/hour. I still have all the classic symptoms of sleep apnea and lots of risk factors.

https://singularsleep.com/pages/sleep-a ... home-study

[palerider]

How reliable is an at-home test?

Depends on what class of at-home test it is... I think there's II, III and IV classes.

Thanks! I got an at-home test from Singular Sleep, using Alice NightOne. Just got really perplexed that the result says my AHI is 0.2/hour. I still have all the classic symptoms of sleep apnea and lots of risk factors.

https://singularsleep.com/pages/sleep-a ... home-study

Ok, that's not one of the better home tests. So it doesn't know if you're asleep or not.

What I will say is that there are a lot of false negatives in sleep tests, because of the tubes and connections and stuff, that can cause your sleep to be different.

False negative results happen fairly often, false positives are very rare though.

As to your 0.2.... stuff happens. *shrug*

[casereport]

How reliable is an at-home test?

Depends on what class of at-home test it is... I think there's II, III and IV classes.

Thanks! I got an at-home test from Singular Sleep, using Alice NightOne. Just got really perplexed that the result says my AHI is 0.2/hour. I still have all the classic symptoms of sleep apnea and lots of risk factors.

https://singularsleep.com/pages/sleep-a ... home-study

Ok, that's not one of the better home tests. So it doesn't know if you're asleep or not.

What I will say is that there are a lot of false negatives in sleep tests, because of the tubes and connections and stuff, that can cause your sleep to be different.

False negative results happen fairly often, false positives are very rare though.

As to your 0.2.... stuff happens. *shrug*

This really gives me hopes! I will just wait for my full sleep study.

[Stom]

The sleep test says:
AHI 2.4 OAI 0.2 CAI 0.4 Lowest Desat(oxygen level) 89

But my CPAP says my last night's AHI, taken over 4 hours, was 8.5.

Is it possible my practice has affected the test result? How reliable is an at-home test?

That is a pretty dramatic difference.

CPAP treats sleep apnea but it doesn't cure it. It doesn't do anything for your sleep apnea when you aren't using it. So having used a CPAP shouldn't make you score lower on a sleep test when you are not using the CPAP.

Also, if you aren't using CPAP for a full nights sleep then your sleep is clearly interrupted since you are awake in the middle of the night to start or stop using it.

If you have a data recording CPAP machine you should follow the tips on the site's front page to use the free Sleepyhead software to post the graphs of your sleep and post the graphs and data from your sleep study (with all of the personal information cropped out, including the doctors name, your name, phone numbers, etc.) It's really just speculation to figure out what might be going on without more specific data to look at.

As some one noted, home sleep studies don't do brain wave recordings, so they don't have the gold standard data to score when you are asleep. Sleep apnea (basically reduced or stopped breathing for 10 seconds or more at a time) is only sleep apnea when you are **asleep**. But the same is true for a CPAP machine. Both may incorrectly score reduced or stopped awake/voluntary breathing as sleep apnea. But the home test may have been manually scored by a doctor who looks at the inhalation and exhalation pattern of your breathing from the test and may manually throw out incidents that appear to be from when you are awake.

Even with a low AHI score, you could still have a sleep disturbance from your breathing. Or you could have something else contributing to your daytime sleepiness other than sleep apnea. So I'd think you have some more research ahead of you. It is good to have the snoring undercontrol, though.

[casereport]

The sleep test says:
AHI 2.4 OAI 0.2 CAI 0.4 Lowest Desat(oxygen level) 89

But my CPAP says my last night's AHI, taken over 4 hours, was 8.5.

Is it possible my practice has affected the test result? How reliable is an at-home test?

That is a pretty dramatic difference.

CPAP treats sleep apnea but it doesn't cure it. It doesn't do anything for your sleep apnea when you aren't using it. So having used a CPAP shouldn't make you score lower on a sleep test when you are not using the CPAP.

Also, if you aren't using CPAP for a full nights sleep then your sleep is clearly interrupted since you are awake in the middle of the night to start or stop using it.

If you have a data recording CPAP machine you should follow the tips on the site's front page to use the free Sleepyhead software to post the graphs of your sleep and post the graphs and data from your sleep study (with all of the personal information cropped out, including the doctors name, your name, phone numbers, etc.) It's really just speculation to figure out what might be going on without more specific data to look at.

As some one noted, home sleep studies don't do brain wave recordings, so they don't have the gold standard data to score when you are asleep. Sleep apnea (basically reduced or stopped breathing for 10 seconds or more at a time) is only sleep apnea when you are **asleep**. But the same is true for a CPAP machine. Both may incorrectly score reduced or stopped awake/voluntary breathing as sleep apnea. But the home test may have been manually scored by a doctor who looks at the inhalation and exhalation pattern of your breathing from the test and may manually throw out incidents that appear to be from when you are awake.

Even with a low AHI score, you could still have a sleep disturbance from your breathing. Or you could have something else contributing to your daytime sleepiness other than sleep apnea. So I'd think you have some more research ahead of you. It is good to have the snoring undercontrol, though.

Thank you so much for responding. Reading your reply, I realized I need to push to get in an in-lab study done as soon as possible.

The funny thing is, whenever I relax or manage to take a brief nap with CPAP, I do feel dramatically changed. Not enough to last for the rest of the days, but hours. I haven't been able to wear CPAP mask for more than 3-4 hours a day total because I still haven't succeeded in finding the right mask. So maybe the at home sleep test wasn't accurate - maybe I have a breathing problem that's not really sleep apnea - etc.

I hope it's not something that's more complex than OSA - like Narcolepsy or ever elusive CFS. I will try to post my sleep data as well.

Thanks!!

[zonker]

The funny thing is, whenever I relax or manage to take a brief nap with CPAP, I do feel dramatically changed. Not enough to last for the rest of the days, but hours.

i know you are speaking in relation to your low hour use. even so, baby steps. this good feeling from cpap treatment comes upon most of us very slowly. sure, someone will pop in here now and then to tell us they took right to it and woke up ready to rassle wildcats!

but typically, it takes some time to see the small benefits.

[casereport]

The funny thing is, whenever I relax or manage to take a brief nap with CPAP, I do feel dramatically changed. Not enough to last for the rest of the days, but hours.

i know you are speaking in relation to your low hour use. even so, baby steps. this good feeling from cpap treatment comes upon most of us very slowly. sure, someone will pop in here now and then to tell us they took right to it and woke up ready to rassle wildcats!

but typically, it takes some time to see the small benefits.

Thanks. For the first time had CPAP mask on for more than 3.5 hours yesterday, and I am getting through the day without taking a nap for the first time in 4 months. Maybe I do have sleep apnea... a mild one... maybe the test result was completely off... but I won't try to self-diagnose and stress myself out, will just try hard to get used to using a cpap machine.
Thanks.