Can someone interpret this for me please?

[jimmye4golf]

My Dr just called with my sleep test results. This is what he gave me and they want me back in to try out a machine and do another sleep study. I'm not sure if this is good, average or bad. I suppose I can wait until next week when I go back in to ask but I hate being clueless. Thanks

19.9 apnea episodes per hour and oxygen level 84. 

REM 3 times and 68 episodes of apnea during those 3 times.

[bwexler]

That is not too bad, my AHI was 84 per hour in my sleep study. When I checked my machine this morning my average for the week was 1.4, so treatment really can make a difference.
You would like you oxygen level to stay above 90 and with successful treatment of your Apnea it probably will.

[Pugsy]

It would be helpful to know overall sleep recording time and how much of that time was in REM sleep...so a person could get an hourly average for just those REM stage sleep events.
Looks like your OSA may be worse in REM sleep which is fairly common. I have it myself. If those 3 time periods of REM sleep add up to 60 minutes...your AHI in REM would be 68...if you had 2 hours of REM sleep then the AHI in REM would be 34. See where I am going with this?

Overall the AHI would be in moderate OSA category because not so much goes on in non REM sleep when compared to REM sleep and that brings the overall AHI numbers down...example might be 2 hours with not much going on and 30 minutes of REM where a person might have 30 apnea events. We don't normally spend but around 20% of the night in REM stage sleep.

Regardless though...the overall AHI is still diagnostic and the O2 levels warrant therapy and in the long run you get the OSA diagnosis of maybe moderate overall but probably severe in REM and the treatment is the same no matter what it is.
5 -15 events/hour = (mild)
15-30 events/hour = (moderate)
>30 events/hour = (severe)

[jimmye4golf]

Yes they said the apnea was worse during REM. So what exactly is AHI? Or should that be something I can search and find out. I don't mind reading and learning to some point. I've had this fatigue and extreme tiredness as far back as I can remember. I can't even sit and watch a 30 minute TV show without falling asleep on the couch. It seems like the tiredness has gotten a lot worse in the last 5 months. I also take 60mg of Vyvanse for my ADHD (amphetamines) and can still fall asleep within an hour of taking it. I take 3 naps a day at work to avoid falling asleep at my desk. I'm tired of fighting the sleepies! Thanks for the info. That's good stuff!

[Pugsy]

AHI and other useful acronyms and definitions can be found here
wiki/index.php/Category:CPAP_Definitions

Essentially indexes are an hourly averages of whatever we are looking at.

[The Latinist]

As you can see, your numbers are not as bad as those of many people who make it to this forum. Your diagnosis would probably be moderate sleep apnea based on your AHI* being between 15 and 30. That is certainly bad enough that your OSA is affecting your sleep and perhaps your health, and it should definitely be treated.

When I was first diagnosed with sleep apnea, it helped me to think of my AHI in terms of time. Your AHI of 20 means that at least 20 times an hour you are either stopping breathing or getting inadequate breath for at least 10 seconds each time. That's a minimum of 200s or 3 min 30 sec. Percentage-wise, that's at least 5.5% of your night with inadequate breath. If your apneas were longer than 10s -- as is likely -- all of those numbers are actually low estimates; if your apneas average 13s in length, it would be 4 min 30 sec or 7.2% of the time not breathing. Moderate sleep apnea.

If it makes you feel better, for comparison purposes, my untreated numbers were AHI 96, mean oxygen saturation of 79%, and a nadir (lowest oxygen saturation) of 60%. My AHI of 96 meant that at least 16 minutes (actually, since my average event seems to be about 13 seconds, it was more like 20 minutes) out of every hour I was not getting enough breath. That's 33% of the time not breathing adequately -- in my case, mostly not breathing at all). Severe sleep apnea.

*AHI = Apnea-Hypopnea Index, which is the average number of times per hour that you either stop breathing (apnea) or breath inadequately (hypopnea) for at least 10s. It is the primary measure we use to tell how severe someone's apnea is and how well their treatment is working.

[jimmye4golf]

Thanks for all the info. I went back in Monday night and slept with a CPAP and went with a mask that just covered my nose. The tech said the mask was new and they just got it in. It was comfortable and since I was going off of about 3.5 hours of sleep the night before it didn't take long to fall asleep. I either dreamed I woke up in a panic or I did 4 or 5 times. Other than that it wasn't too bad. About 20 minutes after I left I started getting a headache and it lasted about half the day. I was also EXTREMELY tired. I was nodding off at my desk so bad that I took half the day off and went home and slept. After my daughter's soccer practice, dinner and family time I went to bed about 11pm. My wife came to bed about 1:30am and bumped into her night stand which startled me and woke me up. I layer there for 2 hours and couldn't go back to sleep. So I've been up since 1:30am and it's now 4:50 and I have to leave the house by 6:30am to get to work on time. I suspect I've had this Apnea problem all my life because I've always woke up tired. Most days I feel more tired when I wake up than I do when I go to bed. Now for the past 5 months or so I have just been exhausted beyond belief. I'm constantly napping, nodding off and no energy at all. I hate that my wife and kids suffer from something they don't even have. I've never had tons of energy but this is horrible. I sure hope the CPAP helps. Thanks again for all the info and when I get my machine I will update with what I have. One quick question. I have United Health Care and couldn't find anything online for CPAP etc. So I'm curious what percentage of the machine they will cover. Also can I tell my Dr which machine I want or is that up to them to decide? If I can choose the machine which would either of you choose and why? They should be calling me later today with my results and to talk to me about a machine. Thanks again and sorry for rambling.

[jimmye4golf]

Ok, I guess that wasn't just one quick question. LOL

[Pugsy]

For your % of copay you need to call your insurance company. Plans vary even within same company.

Some docs don't care which machine you get...some docs do.
You might start by reading these 2 pages from forum member Janknitz's blog.
http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/what-y ... me-part-i/
http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/

I suggest ResMed S9 AutoSet or S9 Elite or the comparable Phillips Respironics 60 series AutoCPAP (model 560) or the Pro (model 460).
Software for either is easy to obtain, use and is free. These 2 brands are the main players in the cpap market.

[jimmye4golf]

I will start reading those now. Thank you again for the input and advice.