more AHI? from a newbie

Hi I've been using my cpap for 1 month. I feel comfortable with the mask now that I have the nosepad. I saw the doctor for the 1st time 2 days ago. He seemed very nice. I expressed my concerns that my AHI is all over the place. It has ranged from 1.6 to 9. My pressure was set to 10 based on the titration study. He offered to change it to autoset and now it ranges from 8-12. (Last 2 nights, on auto set, the AHI was 4.4 and 5). He checked the machine and says there is no problem with the leak rate. Questions: what can I do to lower my AHI? what can I do to get my AHI to be more consistent? what should my expectations be? My doctor offered to fit a new mask style if I felt I needed one or to change the machine settings anytime. He seemed more willing to help than the DME company, although the DME does have an AWAKE support group (next meets in Feb). Thanks for tips and suggestions and advice. How do you experienced users seem to get awesome low AHIs??

I would say..."give it time"...Continue what you are doing for a month and see what your AHI is at that time. Right now, considering you are new to CPAP and the mask, you seem to be doing fine. Many on this board would love to have a 4.5-5 AHI. I'm sure that your AHI will drop.

Check this... viewtopic.php?f=1&t=44658&p=541387&hili ... LL#p541387

I second LSAT's suggestion to relax and settle in. You're off to an excellent start, actually. It appears that changing to auto and having a tight range has helped a bit. If you keep it like that for a couple of weeks and track your data you might have a clue as to what needs to be tweaked next. Try to relax and not obsess; this is a process and you really are doing well.

Thanks so much. I'll track for a month or so and see what happens. I am going to give the aromatherapy a try too, mainly because I think it sounds appealing. I just have no idea what to expect!! This forum is very helpful!