Alcohol lowers my AHI?

[F3adventure]

I have been on therapy for two and a half months and have been struggling to get my AHI down. I have noticed an interesting possible correlation. The last two nights I happened to drink alcohol before bed and have seen significantly lower AHI numbers in the morning. My recent AHI has been 10+ and as high as 17 in the last week or so. Actually It was 16 on Tuesday night and 17 on Wednesday night. Thursday and Friday night I had a few drinks in the evening and the following AHI numbers were 6 and 5.5 respectively. I know this is only two data points but it seems like there is a connection here. I have had a lot of great support from the members here so I thought I'd share this with the group. Has anybody else seen a correlation between alcohol and AHI?

Doctors orders- Drink two margarita and call me in the morning!

[deerslayer]

hydrocodone would have the same affect, not a prudent decision .
i like a JD every now & then but not before turning in. PROST
all things in moderation*

[DocWeezy]

My hypothesis on this (based only on my own experiences with occasional glasses of wine and occasional pain pills--NOT on the same nights!) is that I don't sleep as well or as deeply when I've had a couple glasses of wine or a pain pill. For me, it seems to be that on the nights when I don't sleep as well, my AHI is usually zero because I spend little time in the deeper sleep stages. There's a real dividing line for me: one glass of wine a couple hours before bed doesn't impact my sleep (AHI is in normal ranges); more than that, or closer to bed, and I'm not sleeping as well all night. Pain pills mean that I'm sleeping lightly all night so my AHI is a guaranteed zero....hate taking them because I know I'm only going to doze lightly. Used only when absolutely necessary.

Just my experiences, YMMV.

[Rickd1]

Mine goes up My AHI is around 1.5 not drinking and 2.5 when I have a few. But I dont feel bad in the morning anymore

[Country4ever]

My guess is that you sleep more soundly and move around less. I know when I take a zanax before bed, my AHI is lower, because I toss and turn less.

[Lizistired]

Google alcohol or alcoholism and sleep. Alcohol disrupts sleep, even though it may help you get to sleep. I doubt that you're getting deep sleep where most event occur.

[DreamDiver]

Alcohol (two drinks) generally raises my AHI.

[F3adventure]

My hypothesis on this (based only on my own experiences with occasional glasses of wine and occasional pain pills--NOT on the same nights!) is that I don't sleep as well or as deeply when I've had a couple glasses of wine or a pain pill. For me, it seems to be that on the nights when I don't sleep as well, my AHI is usually zero because I spend little time in the deeper sleep stages.

Very interesting. I had not considered the possibility that my AHI was low due to poor quality sleep. One of those situations where you win the battle but lose the war...

I knew it wouldn't be as simple as being prescribed medical margaritas!

Thanks to all for the input.

[LinkC]

Darn! I was already on hold with my new DME: The Stagger Inn

[Starlette]

Nice try there linkc

[OntarioKevin]

Just posted a similar thread!

The only issue I've had with alcohol is that if I drink a large amount, I wake up in the middle of the night to guzzle water and Tylenol. The issue seems to be just becoming sober and hungover sometime around 3am.

And if I consistently drink two or three drinks a night, any effect sort of goes away.

But a few nights off and then a night of two or three drinks seems to result in low AHIs for me.

Not recommending it as a therapy - just wondering what the physiological factors are. Does it lower central apneas?

Some are suggesting that it's a less deep sleep, which I guess also results in low AHIs. But that hasn't been my experience, at least as far as I can tell. Generally I think I've had a deep sleep if I can recall a long continuous dream. I know even deeper sleep is supposed to be dreamless - but I'm not there yet, with or without drugs or alcohol!

[Smooth]

This is very strange. I experience the same thing. On weekdays I have an AHI around 5 to 7, when there's a party you're invited to or something like that with a lot of drinks then the AHI is clearly much lower, mostly around 2.. Last night only 1 central apnea, so an AHI of almost zero! There's clearly a connection. But the reason: no idea.
Perhaps there are more people experiencing this?

[LSAT]

Maybe you should drink more ....AHI 5-7 is not very good, do you monitor your data on sleepyhead?

[Smooth]

Hi,
I have only started using the CPAP machine recently, after a couple of months trying in the beginning & putting it aside, but restarted like 3 weeks ago.
Somehow it now feels much more comfortable (mask fit is always 100%), and I'm currently monitoring the data with the 'DreamMapper' app.
Haven't installed sleepyhead yet, so no experience with that. Still figuring out what you can do to lower the AHI (besides going for drinks ).
I wanted to wait a couple of weeks to see what the average is, I think I'll raise the minimum pressure (now it's the standard setting 4-20), I think I'll raise it to 5,5 (which seems to be my lowest 90% pressure)
But it's obvious there is a connection that in my case my AHI is much lower during weekends (I'm a social drinker, only on occasion). Hence me looking for clues online..
I've also read that for some people it's the opposite.. But perhaps there are more people who have the same thing, or perhaps can explain what is going on.
I'm not planning on drinking more to lower my AHI, imagine.. Sounds like a good joke but a very bad idea

[Morbius]

Some random thoughts:

1. Disrupted sleep can generate events that may be interpreted as SDB, but in fact are not. Automatically assuming that an increased AHI is due to SBD may not be correct.
2. It is safer to assume that ANY alcohol may increase the likelihood of increased SDB.
3. Large quantities of alcohol will destroy your sleep architecture.
4. People generally severely under-report their alcohol intake.
5. Small quantities of alcohol may improve sleep quality and therefore improve faux AHI (events associated with SWJ).

Fun With Booze