My Sleep Study

Hi. I recently had a sleep study. My results were that I had 6 apneas and 52 hypopneas. From my research these are low numbers in the normal range, but I have been referred to have a cpap test. Does anyone know why I would need a cpap for such low numbers? I do have daytime sleepiness. Thank you very much for reading my post and for any insight you can provide.

Falcon, you didn't say in what length of time this occurred, what your AHI is, or your O2 stats.

falcon wrote:Hi. I recently had a sleep study. My results were that I had 6 apneas and 52 hypopneas. From my research these are low numbers in the normal range, but I have been referred to have a cpap test. Does anyone know why I would need a cpap for such low numbers? I do have daytime sleepiness. Thank you very much for reading my post and for any insight you can provide.

Hi, falcon.

Your apnea and hypopnea numbers are added together to reach your apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). In your case, that number appears to be 58, which puts you in the category of having severe sleep apnea. (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong about that.) A normal person (without OSA) has an AHI of under 5. That's the goal of all of us "hoseheads" - an AHI of less than 5.

Your upcoming titration (the sleep study with CPAP therapy) will help to determine what pressure works well for you. It can be difficult to sleep under strange circumstances, with leads on your head and body, a new and strange mask on your face, etc., but it's well worth the effort to get it done.

Click on the yellow lightbulb at the top of the page ("Our Widsom") and/or the second thread from the top ("Where a CPAP Newbie Should Start") and start reading. There's tons of info available on this site, and you'll be ahead of the game if you know what to expect beforehand.

I don't think any of us would choose this therapy if there was an easier way to prevent all of the other medical difficulties that can result from untreated OSA, but it's a good thing it's available to us. Welcome to the forum.

Falcon,
There's a total of events per sleep time, and then there's an events per hour index.
The index takes the total and divides by hours of sleep, creating the AHI = Apnea Hypopnea Index.

Now, lets assume the best: you slept 8 hours, and those event numbers are the totals (two optimistic assumptions).
The sum of events (6+ 52) makes 58. The Apnea Hypopnea Index (that is the event index) would be 58/8 = 7.25.

That would mean you get waked up by your breathing problems more than 7 times an hour. Under the best assumptions, you have mild sleep apnea, but it definitely justifies a cpap.

O.