Little Worried by LOW Numbers

I've been ill the last five days and getting zero AI, so I am worried and wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar. The background is I've had this cold/flu (coughing and runny nose) for the last five days, although it's beginning to clear up now. I moved into the spare room (so wife wouldn't get it) and used spare machine (S8 II Auto). Instead of my usual Activa Gel nasal mask, I turned to the ol' trusty quattro full face mask. Been using nighttime cold-flu tablets to try to stop nose from behaving like a faucet. So you'd think my AHI, and particularly my AI, numbers would be quite bad, but it's the reverse.

For the last five days my AI has been 0, while my AHI has hovered been 1.2 - 1.5. This is spookily low. To put it in perspective, normally when I'm on either my S8 II or S9 (regardless of the mask) my AI numbers fluctuate between 0.3 and 0.5 (sometimes up to 1.0) and the "zero days" are so rare that when they happen I do my mental dance with imaginary fireworks. But to have 5 in a row is unheard of. That speaking, it's hard to tell if I feel any better because of it since I've still got this @@@###! cold.

Bit worried that the machine may not be recording them, although I've plugged/unplugged it and it has been recording HI. Maybe it's the spare bed, which is a futon, rather than the softer mattress of my normal bed? I doubt it's the medication or the illness. Anyone with a similar experience?

My numbers tend to be much lower on the Quattro, but my pressures are higher. I think this is because the Quattro leaks more than nasal pillows--not enough to be too much for the machine to handle, but enough to drive the pressures up, and as a result I'm actually getting better therapy.

However, if you''re consistently showing 0 for AHI and leaks, I'm guessing your machine needs to be reset. Seems to me that I've seen this issue before with ResMeds.

BanjoPaterson wrote:Been using nighttime cold-flu tablets to try to stop nose from behaving like a faucet. So you'd think my AHI, and particularly my AI, numbers would be quite bad, but it's the reverse.

Since your flow generator is indeed still scoring events, I would be looking closely at the impact of the medication you are taking... even though you appear to have already dismissed it as a factor.

Cheers,

Bill

Hi Bill and JankNitz - Thank you for the input.

Bill - the reason I discounted the medicine is that it's paracetamol with codeine, and I would expect this to relax the throat more than normal thereby creating a more ideal situation for obstructive apneas to occur. However, it could be that it makes the pre-cursor to an apnea more apparent to the APAP algorithm, thereby allowing it to 'detect' the initial stages faster and thereby respond quicker & better.

JankNitz - I did wonder if the machine is 'off', except it does seem to be correctly reporting 95th pressure (between 9 and 11), and HI. If it continues to report this consistently, even after I'm well and have stopped the medication, then I will know the machine is off and will send it back to resmed for a check.

Update: Last night was the first night in over a week to show an AI number > 0 -- got 0.2. So the machine is working and I just had a lucky week of zeroes... although any benefit is still tempered by the lingering cough/runny nose.

Being ill, you may not have been sleeping as deeply or as well....I know that I have fewer events when I don't sleep as well, figuring it is because I don't have as much REM sleep. Codeine may have messed with your REM sleep.

Weezy

Thanks, Doc, you're assessment sounds correct. Certainly feeling dreadful all week, including today, so any tiredness from poor sleep would be masked by this @@@### linger cold.

Still, I'm at work and will 'paracetamol' my way through it.

Lingering colds... ugh.