Almost all of my AHI events are hypopneas

I've only been using the cpap machine for a few days now, and my highest AHI has been 1 on 1 night and the rest were less than 1. However, I noticed that except for a single event on one night, all of my events are hypopneas with several clear airway apneas. I only have a single recorded obstructive apnea. What does this mean? It's usually not a high number, but should I be worried that I am apparently not breathing properly despite no obstruction?

Definition criteria for Obstructive Apneas and hyponeas.

Obstructive apnea....reduction in air flow that is at least 80% (so 80 to 100%) that lasts at least 10 seconds.

Hyponea...reduction in air flow of either 40 or 50 % (depends on brand reporting) to 79%...that lasts at least 10 seconds.

So really might not be all that much difference in real life between an air flow reduction of 78 % which gets the hyponea flag and an OA which is an 81% reduction in air flow. Hyponeas will hurt you and they are more than just shallow breathing. They are reduced air flow because of airway tissues collapsing and blocking the airway....they just haven't grown up to earn the OA badge.
They still disturb sleep...they still can cause oxygen level drops if the reduction in flow is bad enough and lasts long enough.
Hyponeas are flagged because they are indeed important and they are part of the AHI and they are just as unwanted as full grown OAs.
They can still hurt you.

serabeth wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 09, 2018 2:12 pm

What does this mean?

Typically, that your pressure is too low.

serabeth wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 09, 2018 2:12 pm

It's usually not a high number, but should I be worried that I am apparently not breathing properly despite no obstruction?

You have partial obstruction, not no obstruction.

As your AHI is typically less than 1 through the whole night it means your only having 5 or 6 Hyponoea and your machine is treating you successfully. Nothing to worry about there well done.

Serabeth,
Is you machine set to a fixed pressure of 11 or are you using auto mode? In you signature you only say "pressure 11 cfmh2o. As palerider stated you may need more pressure to prevent the partials (hypopneas)

Hypopneas are a partial obstruction of the airway and honestly it's not fair to think of them as much of a 'lesser event' compared to a closed-airway apnea. Hypopneas can still disturb your sleep and result in oxygen desaturation. I would ignore the few 'clear airway' events. A bit more pressure should help with the hypopneas. Your AHI is great and not much to worry about. I would check SleepyHead for any snoring or flow limitations being flagged as well.

serabeth wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 09, 2018 2:12 pm

my highest AHI has been 1 on 1 night and the rest were less than 1.

I wouldn't blink over an AHI less than 1.0 no matter what kind of category it was.
I don't even start blinking until it's over 2.0 and then I only blink if it's consistently higher so that I can go check it out and see if the flagged events are real or not. The machine can and will give us false positive awake breathing irregularities flags.

For less than 1.0 AHI and I am sleeping good and feeling decent....I do nothing...not even blink.

Thumper68 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 10, 2018 8:10 am

Serabeth,
Is you machine set to a fixed pressure of 11 or are you using auto mode? In you signature you only say "pressure 11 cfmh2o. As palerider stated you may need more pressure to prevent the partials (hypopneas)

It’s set to go up to 11 but then it can go as high as 16 if I have any airway obstruction. According to my app, I spend 90% of my time around 11.8-12, so it is increasing the pressure on its own slightly. This isn’t something I can adjust myself as the setting is locked.

My sleep has been pretty decent, which is surprising given that I feel like I’m not sleeping much at all because I wake up a lot because the mask is annoying me. Still I feel more clearheaded and rested than I have in about a year.

Jas_williams wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 10, 2018 12:42 am

As your AHI is typically less than 1 through the whole night it means your only having 5 or 6 Hyponoea and your machine is treating you successfully. Nothing to worry about there well done.

Okay, that’s good to know. I thought so because I feel much better but I didn’t know if I should be concerned about the partial obstructions. And yes, usually I only have 4-5 hypopneas per night. Sometimes I think the clear airway obstructions might be mistakenly recorded when I leave the mask hooked up but I am messing with my bed sheets or leaning over to get something or coughing. Because I feel the little test puff of air it sends down my throat when it thinks my breathing is too shallow, but I’m awake.

The stuff that happens when your awake does not really count we call that SWJ Sleep/Wake/Junk if you roll over and hold your breath for over 10 seconds you’ve just scored one CA.

Jas_williams wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 10, 2018 12:52 pm

The stuff that happens when your awake does not really count we call that SWJ Sleep/Wake/Junk if you roll over and hold your breath for over 10 seconds you’ve just scored one CA.

btw, just realized as i went to bed last night; we shouldn't call this sleep/wake/junk. we should call this "fake snooze"!

serabeth wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 10, 2018 10:15 am

Thumper68 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 10, 2018 8:10 am

Serabeth,
Is you machine set to a fixed pressure of 11 or are you using auto mode? In you signature you only say "pressure 11 cfmh2o. As palerider stated you may need more pressure to prevent the partials (hypopneas)

It’s set to go up to 11 but then it can go as high as 16 if I have any airway obstruction. According to my app, I spend 90% of my time around 11.8-12, so it is increasing the pressure on its own slightly. This isn’t something I can adjust myself as the setting is locked.

My sleep has been pretty decent, which is surprising given that I feel like I’m not sleeping much at all because I wake up a lot because the mask is annoying me. Still I feel more clearheaded and rested than I have in about a year.

Actually you can adjust your own pressures if you would like to. Go here https://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap- ... tup-manual if you are interested. You may want to post a sleepy head chart here first and see what our resident experts (which I am not) say about your current pressure settings first.