Elevation effect on AHI

I live at 2,389 feet above sea level and my AHI is normally .5 or less. I spent a week at 6900 Feet above sea level and I was getting a nightly AHI of 27-58
I felt like i was sleeping really well and getting a deeper sleep during this time period.
When I came home the first night i was back at .5 Looking at the data from the bad week at the higher elevation the increase in AHI was all from Central events being flagged.
Has anyone else noticed elevation playing a role in their AHI ?

I bounce back and forth between 6,000 ft and 1,500 ft (spending a month or so at each) with no issues once my body adjusts to the elevation. But I’ve been doing it for 20 years or so, so am used to it. The first few nights are a bit wonky, but usually by night 3 and I am back to my usual numbers. I may see an AHI spike of 1 or so above my normal, but nothing like you are seeing.

The article referenced by LSAT is a good read to help understand what happens at elevation. I never really thought about it before.

I just spent a week in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was there about 2 years ago, and although I noticed some shortness of breath, it didn't bother me. This time I had a rough time, especially when we spent a day in Santa Fe which is 2200 feet higher. My O2 sats were terrible and I felt very short of breath and like I was wearing a cement suit. My medical resident daughter was considering taking me to the ER in Santa Fe. Returning to AlbQ helped, but I didn't really start to feel acclimated to AlbQ until about day 5, and didn't feel all that great until we returned home where we live near sea level. I was surprised by how badly I felt after doing fine on my previous trip. Someone suggest we take a tram trip up the Sandias, but my daughter nipped that idea in the bud. We did have a lovely time at the balloon fiesta, though.

My AHI's weren't too bad. They were higher than usual, but still under 1.0. So the altitude didn't bother my OSA, at least with CPAP.

jtravel wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 25, 2022 12:26 pm

Looking at the data from the bad week at the higher elevation the increase in AHI was all from Central events being flagged.
Has anyone else noticed elevation playing a role in their AHI ?

Yup. Periodic breathing due to altitude. I do it too, and I don't even use CPAP.