14 nights as a CPAP newbie - AHI/AI readings

14 nights of data -readings from night 1 to last night - AHI/AI - 12.7/8.9, 18.5/13.5, 5.7/3.7, 10.5/6.9, 7.8/5.1, 4.3/2.3, 3.9/2.6, 4.1/2.7, 4.2/3.1, 7.7/3.6, 7.4/4.9, 3.2/2.3, 5.5/3.0, 2.8/ 2.0, and 3.4/1.9. Statistics report for 2 weeks - Apnea Index - 2.9 (2.9 obstructive), Hypopnea 1.4, AHI 4.3. My leak level at the 95th percentile is 6.6. Pressure on my S9 Elite is 14. It appears my numbers are getting lower (I assume better). I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, so it appears I'm making progress...already feeling better. Any feedback on the numbers? Thanks to all you experienced CPAP users for helping out us new guys!

Your numbers show the importance of patience with first settings- they sure have gotten better over the two weeks.

These numbers are great. How are you feeling?

I saw that you posted about still having fragmented sleep but hours asleep are getting longer gradually. This is common. Part of it is the habit our body has got into in the past due to waking because of events. Time asleep should continue to lengthen. If you aren't feeling so hot it may be that your body still is not getting into the cycles of restorative sleep that is needed. This could just take time but you might also take a hard look at other possible factors that affect good sleep hygiene. The usual.. pain? meds? caffeine intake? bed/mattress comfort? other health issues?

You are early in your therapy. At 2 weeks I was still struggling with leaks and AHI of 7-9 and feeling pretty much awful.
You are really doing quite well as far as numbers go. Now just continue to work on getting more hours of sleep uninterrupted and feeling the good numbers. That can take time but you can also be alert to possible other factors affecting those hours asleep just to be aware that other things affect how we feel.

Pugsy wrote:These numbers are great. How are you feeling?

I saw that you posted about still having fragmented sleep but hours asleep are getting longer gradually. This is common. Part of it is the habit our body has got into in the past due to waking because of events. Time asleep should continue to lengthen. If you aren't feeling so hot it may be that your body still is not getting into the cycles of restorative sleep that is needed. This could just take time but you might also take a hard look at other possible factors that affect good sleep hygiene. The usual.. pain? meds? caffeine intake? bed/mattress comfort? other health issues?

You are early in your therapy. At 2 weeks I was still struggling with leaks and AHI of 7-9 and feeling pretty much awful.
You are really doing quite well as far as numbers go. Now just continue to work on getting more hours of sleep uninterrupted and feeling the good numbers. That can take time but you can also be alert to possible other factors affecting those hours asleep just to be aware that other things affect how we feel.

I am feeling better than I have in years, and it has only been two weeks. I no longer wake up with the crushing fatigue I have felt for the last 5 years. My mind is now sharper and clearer and I feel as though I am building mental stamina. Having the software allows me to quickly determine how certain food, the time I eat it before bed, pillows or no pillows, exercise or no exercise impact my sleep that night. I have never been much of an alcohol drinker - perhaps 4 drinks a week total. Twice last week I had customer dinners and had two drinks during each night - I could clearly see more Events and higher AHI/AI numbers the next morning. I'll stick to gingerale for a while now. I'm also not much of a snacker or sweets eater, but noticed that two choclate chip cookies and a glass of milk at 9pm also gave me higher numbers. I'll now do a protein shake in the evening. At some point I would like to move to a Nasal Pillow type of a mask but with a pressure needed of 14, and that I have been a mouth breather for a long time, I should just continue with my current mask...your suggestion of software was really helpful. Thank you so much.

If you can breathe through your nose during the daily, easily, then there might be hope for the nasal pillow type of mask. Sometimes we get into a habit of mouth breathing (especially at night) because of the events and body screaming for air and oxygen. So sometimes that habit can be broken.

If you have nasal congestion issues even during the day causing mouth breathing, then depending on cause, full face mask may be the best choice for you. Structural issues not easily fixed. Habits can be relearned. Minor congestion can be addressed in various methods.

Give yourself some time then evaluate the reason for mouth breathing to see if it is possible to switch mask types.
Everyone goes through what I call the "experiment phase" where we try new things to see what happens. Best to do this when we have the other stuff well controlled and are feeling better so bad experiments don't mess us up to much.

Glad you are feeling the good numbers. Hours of sleep will gradually increase. At some point you may reach a plateau of sorts but that is good and further improvements will be very gradual and hard to see but still preventing further damage to the body.

Pugsy wrote: Give yourself some time then evaluate the reason for mouth breathing to see if it is possible to switch mask types.
Everyone goes through what I call the "experiment phase" where we try new things to see what happens. Best to do this when we have the other stuff well controlled and are feeling better so bad experiments don't mess us up to much.

Good advice. Take your time, it's a long journey. I changed from nasal mask to nasal pillow but only after 6 wks of 'settling' in, and even then gently eased my way over to nasal pillow [got up 3 or 4 am to use for few hours a night for one week before making completely change].

And you may find need chinstrap and/or tape if mouth leaking