numbers not great but not tired anymore

sleepyhead63 · Post by **sleepyhead63** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 9:50 pm

My numbers are not the best average AHI is between 5 and 8 but I wake up for work in the morning and I have not hit the snooze in months and have not taken an afternoon nap in a long time. Its amazing because it seems like forever I would hit the snooze and take naps in the afternoon and not no why I was soo tired all the time. I just thought it was some kind of depression or bad diet or I don't know what that I was soo tired all the time. I can remember when I was a kid and I would feel sleepy durning the day at school and thought it was allergies and I could not breath properly and left it at that, because back then we never heard of sleep disorders. I wonder how much better I might have done in school if I was on cpap back then?

bdp522 · Post by **bdp522** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 4:53 am

Glad to hear that you're feeling so much better!

With an AHI of 5-8 you still have mild apnea(while on cpap). Just think how good you would feel if your AHI was under 5. How are your leaks? Once you are sure all leaks are under control, and you are 100% compliant, and you are getting a decent # of hours of sleep, you can start tweaking pressures.

Brenda

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 7:40 am

Whenever I use a pre-S9 series ResMed machine (have used 4 of them... S7 Vantage auto, S7 VPAP III, S7 VPAP III S/T, S8 Elite) I always get a higher AHI (usually because of the Hypopnea Index) with those machines than with the other two major brands -- Respironics and Puritan Bennett.

It's just a difference in the way each manufacturer designs their machines to look at "limited flow." Because that's what an hypopnea is -- your normal air flow lessening due to a partial collapse in the airway, but still getting some air through. Unlike an apnea which means no air or almost no air getting through.

Since I felt equally rested each morning, no matter which brand of machine I used, I didn't worry about the "HI" reported by the ResMed S8 machines driving the overall AHI up anywhere to twice to four times what my AHI was on other brands. The treatment I was getting was the same. Effective. The "numbers" reported (especially for hypopneas) were simply different.

I don't think you can really compare "AHI" (especially when it comes to the hypopnea index part of the AHI) between ResMed S8 machines and the other brands. That's going to be reported differently even if the treatment and "how you feel" results are exactly the same as with another machine reporting a lower AHI.

In other words, if it were possible to be hooked to two cpap machines at the same time, the ResMed S8 might report an AHI of 7.0 and the other brand report an AHI of 2.0. Yet the good treatment you got was the same from either.

None of these machines can use real PSG sleep study criteria for "hypopnea" anyway, so how much decreased air flow from the person and for how long, etc., constitutes an "hypopnea"...that's a somewhat arbitrary design thing that each manufacturer chooses to use for how their machine will look at air flow and how it will be reported.

Doesn't mean that one brand or another is more accurate, or "better" at identifying hypopneas, or is reporting false hypopneas. They are simply designed differently from each other. What really matters is what kind of results a person gets in how they feel each day. Results as far as what "numbers" (especially hypopneas) are reported...useful, but not as important as how you feel.

Brenda (bdp) brought out a good point... leak rate is always important to keep an eye on. With ResMed S8 machines, you want the average leak to not be above .40 l/sec (liters per second.) If it's higher than that, you'd want to start playing detective and figure out if it's mouth air leaks, mask leaks, hole in the hose, shaky hose connection, or what.

Puritan Bennett and ResMed S8 report leaks as "liters per second." Respironics calculates leak rate in liters per minute, so with a Respironics machine a leak rate that doesn't get above 40 l/min is good with most masks and with the usual pressures most people are prescribed.

My edit: Added "S8" to all my references to ResMed machines in this old post, since the definition of hypopnea was changed by ResMed in the later S9 series machines.

Flying_Norseman · Post by **Flying_Norseman** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:09 am

RG, you mentioned a leak rate of .40 l/sec. Is there supposed to be a decimal in front of the number? Because if there is then I must have serious leak issues since mine read 40.3L last night. My AHI was also 14.2 which isn't good either. I can't seem to nail this down. On Friday with the same mask I had a 1.1 AHI the best I have had yet in my short CPAP career. The last two days it has been above 14. This is really tricky to get right.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:28 am

Flying_Norseman wrote:RG, you mentioned a leak rate of .40 l/sec. Is there supposed to be a decimal in front of the number? Because if there is then I must have serious leak issues since mine read 40.3L last night. My AHI was also 14.2 which isn't good either. I can't seem to nail this down. On Friday with the same mask I had a 1.1 AHI the best I have had yet in my short CPAP career. The last two days it has been above 14. This is really tricky to get right.

Well, I'm the world's worst to put decimal points where they don't go...
But I think I stuck 'em in the right place this time. Hope so!

Norseman, you've got a Respironics machine.

The .40 (with decimal point in front of the four) max before a leak is considered bad is for resmed machines, not Respironics machines.

Most of the resmed machines (and Puritan Bennett machines) figure the leak rate per SECOND, not per minute.

Respironics machines figure it per minute.

Your 40.3 L/MINUTE is good....with a Respironics machine.

Flying_Norseman · Post by **Flying_Norseman** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 10:48 am

Ok, thanks RG. I wonder what is making my AHI so high?

curtcurt46 · Post by **curtcurt46** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 7:25 pm

[quote="Flying_Norseman"]Ok, thanks RG. I wonder what is making my AHI so high?