Starting Autopap

I have been on CPAP at a pressure of 8 cm for about 45 days. When I first started, I felt great. I slept well, my AHIs were low (around 2) and my energy was through the roof and I needed less sleep. Then about 2 weeks into therapy, I hit the wall. My AHIs gradually started climbing, I was more exhausted and needing much more sleep. I saw the sleep doc yesterday and he started me on autopap with a floor of 8 but a max pressure of 14. Has anyone else had the same experience? Does it take a while to equilibrate?
Thanks everyone for the support.

Trusting the AHI counter on the CPAP machine is dangerous in that it gives false impressions.

For an accurate AHI you need to know if the person is even asleep. Then you also need to know if the mouth is opening and allowing air leakage. This can mimic a hypopnea. Some machines can send "pings" of air to see if it is a actual obstruction, but most can't.

Maybe the mask had a high leak for some of the night without you knowing and it caused the therapeutic pressure to be lessened....so you basically suffered.

You also may have slept on your back that made your pressure needs greater. Those AutoCPAPs don't respond as fast as most people think. You know what.....I'm going to do a video that shows how slow those AutoCPAPs respond. Sure it'll be the most boring video ever created, but the point will be made that APAPs need to have a more snugged up pressure. Actually 8-14 isn't bad, but that is a huge pressure difference that takes awhile to get to.

There is a period of getting everything dialed in once you start CPAP.

Sorry. I should change my handle to TheRamblingLefty.

Before therapy I felt tired and lethargic and after very refreshed. Then as I settled into therapy I had mask issues, open mouth issues, and more. It did take awhile for me to settle in and get everything settled down. Keep on keepin' on : )

You should download the software for your machine, so you can view the charts for each night, and, if you choose, post them here for comment. The software may show at a glance what is the culprit. Be sure you are not experiencing mask or mouth leaks--very important to keep those under control. Sometimes masks work fine for awhile then, as oils build up on the silicon cushions, begin leaking badly--a little soap and water will fix that. The Auto settings are unlikely to be your problem, here, since you developed the problem first; but, when I have a machine in auto mode, I like keeping the settings tighter, say, 8-12, so that the machine starts out at a setting just under what I need 90% of the time, and doesn't have much opportunity to "run away" at the top.

I don't understand the leak graphs from the ReScan software, my physician was happy with it though. It gives me a 5th and 95th percentile, and then the average (I think). He said to shoot for under 20 but even under 40 is acceptable. I'm so new with all of this that it is still very mind-boggling.

I presume you're using an S9 Autoset but it would be helpful if you list your machine and mask in the User Control Panel. I believe that with leaks over 24/min the AHI data becomes unreliable. They really should be kept much lower than that. Keep us posted.