AHI vs Leaks

New to board, I have been using CPAP for about 1 year and consider it unsuccessful so far. My AHI w/cpap blows (pun intended), from 5+ to 60 a few days ago.
Leads me to think I am not using the machine right, wrong mask or the software is inaccurate.

Last night I had my lowest AHI in months 9.33

Leaks and AHI increase seem to be directly related -- higher leaks = higher AHI
Avg Total leaks / 95% total leaks 75/151 .

These numbers are so bad I keep thinking i am using the wrong scale or misreading.

My machine is Philips Resperonics Sys One RemStar Auto with A-flex 560p
Mirage Quattro Full Face +chin strap.
Pressure 17 (I was prescribed 12 but have been messing around with it)
C-FLEX x3(highest), which as I understand gives most pressure relief on exhale.

I feel if I got the leaks down I would lower the ahi more.

Can the high pressure make leaks more likely?

Thx

The problem seems to be your "messing around with it" without knowing what you are doing. YES...too high of a pressure can cause leaks and cause a higher AHI. Are you using "Sleepyhead"? If not you should.

hecramsey wrote:Can the high pressure make leaks more likely?

Definitely.
1...it's harder to get and keep a good seal at the pressures in the upper teens.
2...if you are fitting the mask to the starting pressure of 13 it might work great there but when it goes to 17 or higher it doesn't seal so great.

hecramsey wrote:I feel if I got the leaks down I would lower the ahi more.

Definitely the leaks need to be control first before pressure changes are evaluated. When big leaks are present the machine can't keep the events warded off like it should prevent them.

Also when evaluating AHI..you need to look at the entire picture and not zero in on the AHI.
So what is the event category breakdown for those AHIs?
How much is central (CA in the PR S1 machine)? How much is OA and how much is Hyponea? Make sure what you are wanting to reduce is treatable by more pressure before you go increasing the pressure.
If the bulk of your AHI is CA or central...more pressure won't fix it and could make it worse.

Can you please post an image of last night's detailed data?
If you don't know how see this this thread..Examples of how we like to see the graphs are also there.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=81072&p=737779#p737779

Great, thank you all. I can't post to image sites at work so I will do tonight.