How bad is "severe?"

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
User avatar
SleepyTiger
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon May 17, 2010 2:27 pm

How bad is "severe?"

Post by SleepyTiger » Fri May 28, 2010 8:19 am

Finally got a hold of the write-up for my sleep study...

Lowest O2 saturation: 74%
42% of the time spent below 90%

AHI 66%,
REM AHI 12.6 /h
Arousal Index 51.3

My numbers on the S9 alternate between 1-2 and between 8-10 depending on if I remember NOT to sleep on my back.

So... how bad was it before?

SleepyTiger
I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday. ~Author Unknown

User avatar
LinkC
Posts: 3154
Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2008 1:06 pm
Location: Amelia Island, FL

Re: How bad is "severe?"

Post by LinkC » Fri May 28, 2010 8:57 am

If you are asking the definition, "severe" is AHI of 30 or more.

How "bad" it is depends on how well your therapy controls it. My study showed 96AHI. However, with CPAP I rarely go over 1.5 and average about .5. Most of my symptoms have subsided and life is pretty much normal. So even tho my OSA is "severe", I don't consider it "bad".

_________________
MachineMaskHumidifier
Additional Comments: 11-14 cmH2O
The OSA patient died quietly in his sleep.
Unlike his passengers who died screaming as the car went over the cliff...

User avatar
Julie
Posts: 20052
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2006 12:58 pm

Re: How bad is "severe?"

Post by Julie » Fri May 28, 2010 11:30 am

I think a couple of things need to be separated here - the fact that your 02 sats were low for most of your test is one thing (and not very good, unfortunately), but the number of times you stop breathing at night can be quite high - and considered 'severe' in terms of a positive test - without your having had low sats throughout, so "severity" as doctors call it usually applies to number of events, but not necessarily low 02 sats, which is a different, if obviously connected, thing altogether.