What do these numbers mean?

I don't have a card reader yet, but just checked the numbers shown on my machine. This is the first time that I checked these so I don't know how to interpret them. The 7 day average for AHI is 0.8 and the leak is 27.4, the 30 day average for AHI is 0.7 and the leak is 27.8.

Can anyone tell me what they are supposed to be?
Will it help to analyse if I give you the other numbers that show on my screen (90%, etc.)?
If my numbers are not where they should be what could I do to change them?

I should also note that I wake up feeling terrible. My eyes are swollen and gritty and I often have a headache or feel nauseous. I almost always don't feel right - I'm not groggy anymore but it takes a good half an hour before I feel like a person again. My vision is foggy, my mind is foggy. I am moderately sleepy during the day but can get through the day without a nap if I keep busy.

Thanks for any help you can give!

Ally

Hi,

AHI is your average number of events. It should be under 5. The leak is the volume of air that is escaping from your mask. Every mask is going to let some air out, so every mask will have a baseline leak number. It should be in your instruction booklet. The masks that I have are all between 30 and 35. Both of the numbers that you report appear to look very good.

If you still don't feel good, then maybe you want to do a follow-up visit with your sleep doctor. There are other dynamics that could be happening. You might still be getting low oxygen levels, you might have sleep structure issues, or other sleep problems.

-john-

These are averages of many nights unless you reset the values to zero each night.
Pressure used impacts the leak rate. Higher pressures allow for more leak.
If you don't feel so hot, are there possibly other issues? How many hours of sleep do you get? Wake up a lot during that sleep?

The averages show decent numbers but averages are just averages and they don't really show what happened in one night. Before I got my software I would reset the averages to zero to see a one night example.

ResMed machines (the ones that record full data, that is) let you see "just last night" in the machine's little window the next day. You can also see weekly/monthly averages in the window, but to me, just the previous night's data is what I want to see. I'm not interested in a long trend that is probably skewed by some bad nights along the way.

I wish Respironics gave figures for "just last night", the way ResMed does, but they don't. Respironics even had a chance to bring that in, in the new "PR One" series machines. But they didn't.

So, for now, momof2, if you want to get a look at nightly data instead of rolling averages, and if you feel comfortable going into the setup menu on your machine, you can reset the totals to zero, as Pugsy suggested:

Here's how to do it:

viewtopic.php?p=239127#p239127

viewtopic/t29141/Resetting-the-data-on-Respironics.html

If you decide to get software for your M Series BiPAP Auto, Encore Viewer software will let you see much more data from the Smart Card of your machine.

Welcome to the board, and good luck with your therapy. Keep us posted on how it's going for you!

If I reset the numbers each day will that also reset or erase the smart card?

momof2inmn wrote:If I reset the numbers each day will that also reset or erase the smart card?

No, it does nothing to the data on the smart card.

I reset mine for 1 week before I got my software. I still had detailed data available for all those nights that I rest the on screen averages. It will not affect your compliance hours of usage either. Only way that data can be compromised is by deliberate erasing or reformatting the data card and it takes a special utility program to do that.

I reset the numbers every night for the last five nights and here are the numbers I got. I still wake up with swollen eyes and never wake up on my own. I still have some nausea as well. As for tiredness, I'm ok if I have something to keep my busy, but even right now reading these posts I am barely able to keep my eyes open. If the tiredness isn't totally from the apnea, what others things could it be from? I had my ferratin levels checked and they are a little low, but not too bad. Also, what is the difference between the Therapy Hours and Therapy Usage below? I have the mask on the entire time the machine is on so I'm not sure what that means.

9/29
Therapy hours: 8.3
AHI: 0.4
Leak: 28.3
90% Pressure: 10.0/7.5
Therapy Usage: 6:48

9/30
Therapy hours: 9.1
AHI: 0.1
Leak: 26.8
90% Pressure: 10.5/8.0
Therapy Usage: 6:42

10/1
Therapy hours: 8.3
AHI: 0.0
Leak: 25.7
90% Pressure: 10.5/8.0
Therapy Usage: 5:54

10/2
Therapy hours: 9.1
AHI: 0.4
Leak: 30.3
90% Pressure: 10.5/8.0
Therapy Usage: 6:48

10/3
Therapy hours: 7.9
AHI: 1.0
Leak: 28.3
90% Pressure: 10.5/8.0
Therapy Usage: 6:00

Bumping . . .