What AHI shows successful treatment

I've been using a Remstar auto w/cflex for a little over a month now. I've downloaded all my detailed reports on a daily or every few days basis. From my best recollection, my ahi hasn't been above 3.0 since I got the apap. (I'm at work and don't have access to the reports right now).

What ahi indicates that treatment is doing it's job? I'm still feeling pretty fatigued on some days and I'm trying to figure out if it's the OSA or the depression.

Thanks!

Generally an AHI of 5 or less is considered good, but AHI is not the only thing that affects your sleep quality. If you are not sleeping well or long enough you may still be fatigued. The fact that the apneas and hyponias have been minimized does help though.

murried, I agree absolutely with Wader. Especially about the fact that other things can disturb sleep besides just the apneas/hypopneas that are counted in the AHI.

An AHI of 3.anything is usually very good. As Wader said, any AHI of 5 and below is considered good. I do think for some people it takes a lot longer than a month to get really comfortable with this kind of "new way of sleeping" no matter how nice the AHI figure looks.

Machine, mask, occasional leaks (hopefully you don't have treatment air gushing out the mouth)...so many things about this kind of treatment can cause micro-awakenings throughout the night, even if a person thinks they are sleeping "ok" with it.

Until a person gets really used to sleeping "this way", I do think it might be as sleep-disrupting as before. Leaving some even feeling more exhausted than before for awhile. That makes it hard to stick with, but working on any discomfort issues (usually an uncomfortable mask, or mouth leaks) can make it gradually better.

Other underlying health problems can be factors too... arthritic pain (or any kind of pain) that keeps causing micro-arousals can disturb good sleep, even if one is not awakened enough to be aware of getting thrown up into lighter stages of sleep repeatedly.

Lots of pieces to the puzzle, but generally when a person gets reasonably comfortable with the mask and the treatment, the time comes when one can look back and say, "Hmmm, even if I don't feel great yet...even if I still get sleepy during the day... I do feel better than I did pre-cpap."

As one woman's doctor put it, "It took a long time for you to get this way. It's going to take some time to get better."

Some see instant relief the morning after their first night on cpap. I did. But for most it is a longer process of getting all the pieces of the puzzle in place - starting with a machine and a mask that can give comfortable treatment.

Thanks for the replies.

I've been on pap treatment since January 24th but it was straight cpap until last month. I've found since switching to the auto that although my prescribed pressure is 13, I spend more time at 16. I use the resmed ultra mirage ff mask because I know that I'm a mouth breather since I usually breathe through my mouth when I'm awake.

I do feel much better than I did prior to starting pap therapy. It's just that some days the fatigue seems to be worse than it was prior to being diagnosed.

I also suffer from moderate depression and I've been going through some changes in my antidepressant medication so that probably has something to do with the fatigue as well.

Again, thanks for the replies. Now that I know that the pap is working I can work on figuring out what's making me tired.

Murried, I found when I used that mask that my pressure was also much higher with the Remstar Auto. I was thought to be a mouth breather, but I found with a chin strap and a few nights I cured myself of that. I have yet to wake up with a dry mouth or not feeling like I got therapy.

Also, when I switched to a nasal mask, my pressure was lower, and I did feel better. My AHI was below 5 too, but with either my Aura or my Comfort Curve, I have an AHI around 1

Hi Murried,
I'm so jealous! After 9 years, I can't get my AHI under 10 (I average about 12, AI>1, HI<10) on my apap. That's still better than they did in my titration study. What is important though, is that I feel great on the hose. It gave me my life back, and I am energetic and well rested. I did notice that the mask does make a difference. When I sleep in a ffm mt AHI is higher. It's only a number, and yours is a very good one!
Sleep well!

I think an easier question might be..."Whats the meaning of life?"

That is a very valid and very complex question as others have pointed out.

"Under 5 AHI" is the text book answer.

After my last sleep study, my doc told ME to ignore my Remstar Auto Encore software hypopnea numbers because the sleep study said I was getting enough oxygen during hypopneas and my oxy desat rates were staying above 95% when on CPAP. So he told me I should only look at my APNEA numbers from the encore software readouts. (since I can't measure oxy desat at home). So below 4 or 5 of APNEAS ONLY is supposed to be "good" for me. I am STILL not TOTALLY convinced that the hypopneas don't count on the Remstar readouts.

I managed to get my AHI from 9-14 down to 5-9 with major nose surgery, and the Apnea index was only 3-5. Now with a new tongue guide to stop mouth leaks the Apnea index is down to just a couple of events PER NIGHT.

BUT similar to you, I was still feeling a bit run down and fighting sleep during the day. NOW my doc is pursuing the possibility that I may ALSO have RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome) which has been showing up on SOME of my sleep studies. More stuff to deal with.....sigh....Never thought such as simple thing as sleeping could be such a complex thing to deal with!

Be persistent in searching for solutions and realize it could be multiple causes.

For me, the ResMed Spirit would show AHIs between 4 and 8, but I would
feel like crap most days. With the PB 420e, the AHIs are between
3 and 5 and I feel much better. Adding a Dental Device in conjunction
to the PB 420 got my AHIs between 1 and 3, and I felt much better.
But I still don't feel "back to normal", or totally rested and refreshed
as others describe ... so the search continues. There are just so many
variables like the weather or your stress level that day. Some nights
I wake up from dry mouth even when using a Heated Hose and Heated
Humidifier, whereas other nights I wake up from getting too warm.
The next night it might be arthritis pain, or a thunderstorm. Just really
hard to sleep. The best solution to your problem is very simple ... you
just need a couple of nights of good sleep!