Page 2 of 2
Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:35 pm
by Shilohcane
jdwilson16
I don't have your answer but I did find a good article that finaly gave me a good handle on what AHI, AI and HI were about.
http://www.medicinenet.com/sleep_apnea/article.htm
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:49 am
by bap40
I have been wondering how the C and A/flex affect your AHI's myself. If I understand correctly C/Flex does NOT affect it or not as much. What about A/Flex? I do not use either on my A/flex due to the fear of it making it easier to have AHI's. Right or Wrong?
This has been on my list of things to try and understand from the begining of therapy.
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 8:30 am
by DreamStalker
bap40 wrote:I have been wondering how the C and A/flex affect your AHI's myself. If I understand correctly C/Flex does NOT affect it or not as much. What about A/Flex? I do not use either on my A/flex due to the fear of it making it easier to have AHI's. Right or Wrong?
This has been on my list of things to try and understand from the begining of therapy.
Everyone responds differently to specific aspects of the treatment. Some have lower AHI with CLFEX, others with AFLEX, and still others without any exhalation relief. And not forget that even using APAP mode as opposed to CPAP mode can also add to the complexity.
Like with masks, one needs to try out all of the various options (and their settings) to determine what works best for them.
Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:05 pm
by socknitster
You might try sleeping on a wedge (gravity helps). Sleeping on your left side and addressing any GERD issues could also help. GERD causes inflammation of the airway which makes the cpap work harder to move aside the inflamed airway.
My ahi has gone down to below 1 since I seriously treated my "silent" GERD and had my tonsils out one year ago.
Don't know if any of these things would apply to your situation, and I would always hesitate to add more complexity to a sleep situation if it weren't needed. But there sure seem to be a lot of GERD sufferers here.
BTW, silent GERD means you don't really experience heartburn during the day, but it comes up your throat when you sleep. Google it for more info. I didn't even know I had it until I talked to an ENT doc.
Jen
Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:19 pm
by jdwilson16
Well I finally got 3 days with a total AHI at 5.3 or less and AI around 1 or less.
I did several things to get here and I hope that the trend continues.
1. Slowly increased my pressure from 10 to 11.6 over the past 2 weeks
2. Changed EPR level from 3 to 1, then 1 only on ramp
3. Switched to a Swift LT so I can sleep on my side without leaks and it also eliminated the sores I got from the Opus.
This seems to be working well for me. At the start I was set to 10 and an EPR of 3 and my AHI were in the upper 20s. Without EPR I could get in the upper teens. Now my HIs are between 3 and 5 and that is good for a Resmed device. This board has been very helpful to the newcomers tin giving advise on adjusting their systems to meet their needs. Thank you all for your help. Now I hope I will start to feel more alert and energized.