CPAPtalk.com

Chase the statistic so that you can at least answer the question "would I feel better if the AHI is lower?" and be comfortable with the answer to the question.

You may or may not find your answer to why you don't feel so great with the AHI numbers though. I have been down that road myself.
Good numbers don't always mean good sleep or feeling good. So I don't want to rain on your parade....maybe you will be one of those people who can see and feel a marked difference with different AHI numbers. I hope you are.
I really, really wish that feeling/sleeping great was just related to the AHI numbers because I can get nice low AHI numbers pretty easily. That's the easy part. Feeling them now...not always so easy. Long ago I did the "would I feel/sleep better with more pressure minimum" experiment myself.
I discovered that with a minimum of 13 that I felt/slept and had no real difference in AHI. For me the answer wasn't related to sleep apnea or machine numbers or anything that I could fix with the machine.
But I did get an answer to my question even though it really wasn't the answer I had hoped for.

It hurts nothing to try to answer any questions we might have as long as what we might try doesn't turn around and create more problems.

Rainmom17 wrote:Yes everything. Also head to toe neuro exam. Will get vestibular physical therapy starting in 3 weeks although neuro concluded there isn't anything really wrong with me. Vitamin D and ferritin are low-ish so I'm working on both of those. In perimenopause and progesterone is also low-ish, so that may be impacting my sleep and daytime energy levels.

Rainmom17 wrote:Thanks for the list. I do most of those things.

I can tell you that after I got my AHI to a satisfactory level, working diligently on Sleep Hygiene and getting my Serum Vitamin D3 level up to around 50ng/ml seemed to help provide the restorative sleep that a low AHI alone did not. When I started, my D3 level was less than 30. I brought it up by supplementing with 6000 IU per day and now maintain it with 2000 IU per day. I believe all the principles of good sleep hygiene are important, especially moderate daily exercise and caffeine avoidance. Do work to do all of Granny's Checklist, not just most.

Interesting discussion. Not that this has anything to do with the question but after reading some of yesterday's advice, I adjusted my minimum pressure to "the minimum needed to keep your airway open." So I raised my minimum from 7 to 9 since my titration showed the best results at 9. I also raised my maximum "to 2 cm above your 95% pressure." So I raised my maximum from 12 to 14. I ended up having the best uninterrupted sleep since I started last April. My AHI was 0.41, the lowest I've ever experienced. Of course this was only one night, but I don't ever recall improving my treatment when I experimented with lower pressures.

Jay - my vitamin D tends to hover at 32 unless I really hit it diligently with 5000 iu/day. Which I'm currently working on. Limited sunlight here in the Seattle area.

Numb - congrats on your pressure setting changes. Will be interesting to see if it continues to pay off.

I never had a titration study (if I'm understanding it correctly). I had a "split night" but they didn't put a mask on me halfway through. Just got an email 6 weeks later with the results.

Speaking of limited sunlight, part of sleep hygiene for those of us in the Pacific Northwest includes the use of bright lighting to battle SAD (Seasonal Affected Disorder). It is pretty common to be dragging during the dark days of winter and maybe this is one of the factors coming into play, at least to some extent.

Why is max pressure not going above 11 but set to 14.5? See https://imgur.com/uM5evxG

freetimecreations wrote:Will someone explain why this user's CPAP machine is not raising max pressure above 11? Viewing the SleepyHead screen shot https://imgur.com/uM5evxG it peaks at 11cm but the Max Pressure is set to 14.5.
Thank You

Because the machine either doesn't have time to go to where it needs or it doesn't sense the need to go higher for some reason or other.

Just because a machine can go higher doesn't mean it will go higher.

Okeedokee, The second Sleepyhead post it went to 12.5
This was about Rainmom17 topic on CPAP . Does this https://imgur.com/uM5evxG show leaks and CPAP does not know what to do?

freetimecreations wrote:Does the graph show high leaks and does that confuse the machine's complex algorithm?

Which graph are you referring to?

Link put in

The graphs are from Rainmom17. To OP, Keep it up

freetimecreations wrote:Will someone explain why this user's CPAP machine is not raising max pressure above 11? Viewing the SleepyHead screen shot https://imgur.com/uM5evxG it peaks at 11cm but the Max Pressure is set to 14.5.
Thank You

It is very important to understand that the auto algorithm is not perfect. Algorithms operate on the settings (max, min) and various responses (VS, FL, H, OA). If perfect, the pressure range would be open (4-20) and treatment would be perfect. Until auto has been perfected, setting the minimum will impact treatment.

The direct answer to you question is that the need for more pressure surpassed.

In my opinion, the minimum pressure needs to be high enough so that small changes in pressure called by the auto-algorithm are sufficient to minimize most OSA events. Instead of reacting to the fire, instead try to avoid it.

TedVPAP wrote:It is very important to understand that the auto algorithm is not perfect. Algorithms operate on the settings (max, min) and various responses (VS, FL, H, OA). If perfect, the pressure range would be open (4-20) and treatment would be perfect. Until auto has been perfected, setting the minimum will impact treatment.

This statement smacks of a failure to consider design limitations.

ChicagoGranny wrote:

TedVPAP wrote:It is very important to understand that the auto algorithm is not perfect. Algorithms operate on the settings (max, min) and various responses (VS, FL, H, OA). If perfect, the pressure range would be open (4-20) and treatment would be perfect. Until auto has been perfected, setting the minimum will impact treatment.

This statement smacks of a failure to consider design limitations.

I don't understand what you are saying. Please explain.

TedVPAP wrote:I don't understand what you are saying. Please explain.

Ted, You should explain what you mean by a "perfect" algorithm and how "perfect" would work. This might be an interesting discussion. Otherwise, "perfect" just means "magic".