Hypopneas vs complete obstruction

schaefer1271 · Post by **schaefer1271** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:50 am

My sleep study indicates that over 90% of my events are hypopneas and not complete obstructions. would that be the reason my pressure is set low, 8? Also does anyone think that since it is not a complete block that losing some weight could eliminate this problem completely?

thanks

wading thru the muck! · Post by **wading thru the muck!** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:09 am

Both your assumptions are potentially correct, but NOT guaranteed to be.

derek · Post by **derek** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:15 am

I had exclusively hypopneas during both the diagnostic and titration studies, but was titrated a 12 cm. I don't think there is an absolute relationship between type of obstruction and pressure.

It's whatever works for you...

derek

schaefer1271 · Post by **schaefer1271** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:48 am

Derek

Since we both seem to have a similar problem...do you feel better now that you have been using apap? I was reading your other post about how the remstar auto seemed to be missing your hypopneas. Do you think it is worth it to use an apap if i suffer only from hypopneas?

thanks

Hugh Jass · Post by **Hugh Jass** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 11:31 am

An APAP will work for hypopneas, but my experience has been that the minimum pressure will need to be raised to eliminate them before they happen. My APAP was not very good at responding to and reducing/eliminating hypopneas.

My opinion is that for my type of breathing pattern, the Remstar Auto with C-Flex is not very good at preventing hypopneas unless the minimum pressure is at a high enough level to do so.

derek · Post by **derek** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 1:37 pm

schaefer1271,
See my post today, A Useful Chart (for me) on my relationship between AHI and PAP pressure. I will use this to decide just where the minimum pressure should be set. Now I couldn't have made the chart without an APAP since it is based on the nightly meandering of the pressure. Last night when I set the minimum pressure to 8.5 cm, it basically sat between 8.5 - 9 cm all night. So it wasn't aggressively acting in APAP mode trying to eliminate every last hypopnea.

I really don't know how to answer your question about needing an APAP, since I don't know whether I need one myself BUT at least an APAP will get you into the ball-park and let you understand what is going on. It has been well worth the money as far as I am concerned.

The answer to your other question - yes, I am feeling much better since I started this whole process. As my wife says, I'm sleeping so much more peacefully now, and I don't feel zonked in the afternoons.

derek

Bullwinkle · Post by **Bullwinkle** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 9:26 pm

Interesting, I too am a 90% hypopnea person, and my titrated pressure is also at 8cm. For me, my RT believes that the auto CPAP is an excellent choice for my condition, and he has set my initial C-Vlex level at 3 even considering all that.

I can't say if it works or not, I will be hooking up the unit for the first time tonight (fingers crossed). My RT did remark, though, that his primary reason for saying the auto is a good choice for me is that the majority of my hypopneas and all of my complete obstructions happened while I was in stage 3 or stage 4 sleep. His logic is that this suggests that I will have higher pressure needs during stage 3 or 4 sleep than in stage 1 and 2. So, if his logic is true, the percentage of total events that are hypopneas may not be the most relevant issue in deciding if an auto is right for a particular patient.

I figure I will give it a solid go, though, and see if it can handle my particular situation. If it can, the comfort factor of the auto and C-Flex will pay their dividends.

-Jeff