AHI lower but feel worse

[nobody]

Here's what I don't get. When my AHI goes low like this, I wake up with a headache and feel more groggy and tired. Yet on the nights when the AHI was around 2, that doesn't happen as much. I don't get it?

[Slinky]

It looks to me like 9 cms is the pressure for you. But what do I know? I'm just a patient myself, and not even a professional patient!

You spent more time at a pressure of 9 than any other pressure, 7 or 8 times more time than you spent at the 90th percentile. And your AHI, AI and HI were all good during your time spent at a pressure of 9 cms. Because I'm not real experienced at finding the best pressures and am just going by what I've read in the forums I would guess a pressure range of 8 cms to 11 or even 12 cms would be the next pressure range to try. But see what our experienced users have to say.

Maybe 9 cms to 12 cms. But for that particular night 9 cms to 11 cms look ideal. The problem is you don't always sleep the same every night so going by just one night's data isn't the ideal. See what your week's averages look like.

[kest874]

Not sure it has anything to do with how you feel but your leak rate is a little high. What mask are you useing?

[rested gal]

I agree with Slinky that it looks like 9 (perhaps 10) is a pressure that prevents most events for you, nobody.

kest874 is right about the average leak rate of 40 L/m or more seeming a little high, when the pressure(s) used is generally just 9 or 10. Not terrible, but a bit of extra leaking going on somewhere -- mask, or mouth if not using a FF mask. In the equipment comment at the end of your post, I don't see what mask you're using, but I'd probably be working on controlling leaks a little better. However, I don't think there's enough leak problem there to interfere with your treatment, or account for ever feeling groggy and headachy the next day.

Instead of suspecting a difference of 1 or 2 in AHI from night to night as having anything to do with a difference in the way I felt, I'd probably be looking more to factors outside the CPAP treatment. You're using your autopap at a range so tight it's practically like using just straight "cpap", and there's nothing on your data for that one night that looks unusual to me. But I'm not a doctor.

I guess I'd wonder if there might be other health issues having an impact on some days of feeling groggy and having a headache. Might be just coincidence that you've occasionally noticed that feeling on some days with AHI below 1.0. Without keeping a log of a month's worth of downloads and seeing an absolutely consistent relation between "AHI around 2, feel ok -- AHI below 1, feel bad" I don't know if I'd draw a conclusion that an AHI that is varying so little has anything to do with grogginess/headaches on some days and not on others.

Wouldn't hurt to set your autopap for cpap mode at 9 (or 10) cm pressure and see if you feel better on straight "cpap", even though that's essentially how you're using your machine now.

I'd also think about other health issues (pain, med side effects) or sleep environment issues (mattress, neighbor's dog barking, too warm, too cold) that might be causing repeated arousals, messing up the sleep architecture on some nights. "CPAP" can be doing its job perfectly, but there can always be other factors which have nothing to do with cpap treatment that can affect how a person feels upon awakening in the morning.

Might want to have your doctor order the DME to do an overnight recording pulse oximeter test on you -- sleeping at home with a SpO2 finger probe on, to see how your O2 levels look while you're using your machine/mask. Most DMEs will do that free one time, if the doctor orders it.

[Raj]

Aside from agreeing with the useful comments above, I'm wondering if you're sleeping longer on nights when you have the lowest AHI. Past some point, usually between 8 and 9 hours (this varies greatly from person to person), sleeping actually has a paradoxical effect, making the over-sleeper feel groggy, tired, and these symptoms are often accompanied by a headache.

[ozij]

Or else maybe not getting enough deep sleep.

O.

[araminta]

As a newbie, I know nuthin about the significance of your data.

But I'd suggest going to your doctor and getting a blood test to rule out other issues: anemia, high blood sugar, low thyroid, to name a few options.

[rested gal]

I'd suggest going to your doctor and getting a blood test to rule out other issues: anemia, high blood sugar, low thyroid, to name a few options.

Very, very good suggestion, araminta!

[nobody]

I suppose I should have put a . instead of a ?. This is a pattern I've noticed over time (as in months), so it is not just a one night thing. I have had a complete physical just a couple of months ago and all my blood tests and everything are normal. That is a lower leak than I usually have. Obviously I have other sleep disorders which at least according to my doctor do mess up my night sleep, but that still doesn't explain the correlation between low AHI and tiredness/headaches. I don't expect anyone here to really have the answer why, I'm just making a comment that it's a strange pattern I've noticed that seems counterintuitive.

Oh yeah that was the fisher paykell 432 ffm that I used last night. I alternate between that and the quattro depending on nasal congestion.

[Gerald]

Nobody....

Boiled out...what you're saying is....that there seems to be a contradiction between your low AHI and feeling bad.

Since the purpose of CPAP therapy is to help keep your O2 saturation levels at 93% or better all night, you need to hang another gauge on yourself.

You need to view the situation from another direction. If you can get your hands on a recording oximeter, you need to see what your O2 levels really are doing while you're asleep. Your CPAP machine won't tell you....it'll just help you make a "guess". You need to know "for sure".....and that's why an oxiometer is soooo handy.

Gerald