Another CPAP NEWBIE ( TIPS FOR AHI )

[OvelhaNegra]

http://imgur.com/a/rHQ03

Any tips to lower the AHI

[Pugsy]

Next time hide the calendar so we can see the total AHI without having to add anything together and machine information is shown. No need to redo these though.
Also...don't need all the various graphs. Just do the basics
Events
Flow rate
Pressure
Leak
Flow limitation graph if using a ResMed machine and it looks very active.

What makes you think your AHI needs to be lower?
It's 2.62 on this night which is pretty darn good and 0.52 of that is central that we can't do anything about (and it's not bad enough to need to do anything) with your machine.

But if you just have to try to reduce it....a little more minimum pressure should do the trick.

[OvelhaNegra]

Next time hide the calendar so we can see the total AHI without having to add anything together and machine information is shown. No need to redo these though.
Also...don't need all the various graphs. Just do the basics
Events
Flow rate
Pressure
Leak
Flow limitation graph if using a ResMed machine and it looks very active.

What makes you think your AHI needs to be lower?

I rarely feel rested

It's 2.62 on this night which is pretty darn good and 0.52 of that is central that we can't do anything about (and it's not bad enough to need to do anything) with your machine.

So another machine can help central apneia ?

But if you just have to try to reduce it....a little more minimum pressure should do the trick.

Thanks

[Pugsy]

I rarely feel rested

Ahh...the old "I don't feel the good numbers" thing.
I understand.
You can try reducing the AHI and it might be the magic bullet but if it isn't then you need to sit back and take a hard look at all the other stuff could be affecting your sleep quality and how you are feeling.
And there's a really long list of stuff that has nothing to do with sleep apnea and the cpap machine can only fix problems related to sleep apnea. It can't fix a problem that is caused by something unrelated to sleep apnea and as much as we might want to put all our problems in the sleep apnea basket for the machine to fix...it's often not that simple.

There's so much more to feeling better than just the AHI.

[palerider]

I rarely feel rested

Ahh...the old "I don't feel the good numbers" thing.... There's so much more to feeling better than just the AHI.

in all fairness, if my ahi is over 2, I don't feel as good as I do when it's under.

[Pugsy]

in all fairness, if my ahi is over 2, I don't feel as good as I do when it's under.

I know and you aren't alone.

But there's no guarantee that everyone can find that magic bullet. How many people here with AHI darn near 0 all night and still feel like crap?

Hurts nothing to try though...but if it doesn't work out so great they gotta look for other stuff.

My absolute best "day" in terms of how I felt early in my therapy was following a night with AHI of 10.2....go figure that one. Getting the nice low AHI is really fairly easy...feeling it is a whole different story sometimes.

[LSAT]

You are right...My AHI is always in the 1.5-2.5 range and I always feel rested. In my 9 years on CPAP I can only remember being under 1.0 about a dozen times. I have been on the same pressure range for about 6 years.

[palerider]

My absolute best "day" in terms of how I felt early in my therapy was following a night with AHI of 10.2....go figure that one.

I blame your aliens.

[Guest]

My avg AHI over the last 3 yrs has been 0.2 so zeroes are certainly achievable tho not necessary.
No wonder all the regulars are pumped and cranky.

[Pugsy]

I blame your aliens.

As good of an excuse as any. I thought for sure after having that day that my AHI just HAD to be 0.0. Back then I waited til evening to check stats so that I wouldn't have how I felt clouded by the numbers..
Totally blew my mind to see 10.2. Now after all these years...I average AHI less than 1.0 and those miracle days are still few and far between but I have learned that how I feel during the day...at least for me...is more related to the sleep quality and actual hours of sleep than it is to the AHI. And my sleep quality when it gets messed up, gets messed up from the other stuff that I have going on and not so much the OSA.

Unless using more minimum pressure in an effort to reduce OAs and hyponeas further (I remove any centrals from the evaluation because normally we can't fix those with more pressure unless they are post arousal centrals brought on by the OAs and hyponeas causing the arousal in the first place and chances of that are slim with an already low OA and hyponea index)
causes problems..... Hurts nothing to try more pressure to see if further reduction of the obstructive stuff will make a difference in how a person feels.
Centrals caused by more pressure...extremely rare but not a total impossibility. More often the main problem with more pressure might be aerophagia. If no problems with more pressure...hey go for it and see if sub 1.0 AHI makes any difference in how one feels and then make plans accordingly.

I just hate to see people go chasing something that isn't guaranteed to make them happy with how they feel....they get further disillusioned with cpap "not working" and abandon therapy because cpap "didn't work" so they decide not to use it when the problem was most likely unrelated to OSA in the first place and the poor little cpap machine couldn't fix it in the first place. Then they have zero chance of ever feeling better and OSA reeks havoc on the body when the machine is in the closet.

But it doesn't hurt to try further reduction of the AHI to see if they get to their goal...just as long as they understand that there's more to feeling the good numbers than just getting them.

[Okie bipap]

After almost two years of treatment, I think I have found my happy place. My pressure is high enough to control the OAs and hypopneas and I have enough pressure support to make exhaling easier without triggering a lot of CAs. If I use more PS, the CAs go up. Less pressure and the OAs, hypopneas and flow restrictions go up.