CPAPtalk.com

Mine varies due to many factors.
Last night was 0.0, on a mask I hadn't worn for a month (full life)
It had been creeping up with my Swift FX (just above 2-with leaks sneaking up), so I figured it was time to switch masks.
I'm surprised how well that works.
I'll clean the Fx really well, let it dry, and when my nose stops dripping, I'll consider switching back--if I feel like it.

LSAT wrote:It's too early for you to be worried about lowering your AHI or changing the pressure....worry about how you feel. Be concerned about getting a good nights sleep with your equipment and getting up feeling good. An AHI under 5 is considered good. There are people with very low AHI that still do not feel good and there are people with AHI of 5 that are doing very well.

I'm one of those blessed people with other possible medical issues that can make me tired and so before my primary will proceed "aggressively," he wants to know the the tiredness isn't from just the sleep apnea... So he's aggressive about making sure I'm getting the best possible sleep I can.

When I started the cpap, I only kept the mask on for anywhere from 4-6 hours and then apparently woke up, shut off the machine, took off the mask and went back to sleep all without noticing. But even then, those first few nights were pretty awesome.... Now i can usually get between 6-8 hours of sleep with the mask on by my ahi is higher than those nights and I'm still waking up taking off the mask but I'm sleeping way longer... Hubby says it's like I didn't use the cpap at all when he tries to wake me up..

And funny thing about my drs form of aggressive treatment, I'm currently sitting at the hospital with radioactive iodine pulsing thru my veins for a thyroid scan lol. So thanks to all of you for your replies.... It was nice to have something to occupy myself with lol...

I don't mind the pressure so I think I will drop the epr a lil more and see how tonight goes. I figured cpap therapy is one of those things that is pretty much customized per each person. I've contemplated keeping a sleep journal to help keep track of the days when it just doesn't feel like I'm getting enough rest. I've put notes into sleepyhead here and there and I've been trying this that or the other to see what works. Maybe I'll just go back to the couch as the first week on cpap was spent there, as well as my last year off cpap lol... It's just where I passed out and hubby who's worse off than I am (narcoleptic) was usually passed out on the floor and I've learned better than trying to move him haha.

Interesting concept about the drop in pressure from the epr maybe causing the I can't breathe issues..I don't believe the cpap at the sleep lab had epr... At least I never saw anything on my sleep report about it. I remember having a really hard time exhaling but that was also in a full face mask as when the tech said do you breathe thru your mouth I said yes, however half way thru the night he switched me to nasal pillows as I dozed off for 10 minutes and flipped out cause I couldn't breathe... With nasal pillows, i keep my mouth shut all night (hubby said hes been sleeping like a baby since ive been on cpap cause im not snoring anymore... This was him saying I'm quiet now cause the man can enter rem in less than 30 seconds.... He wouldn't know I even snored if I never fell asleep on the couch and left him to watch the kids!) Maybe it's just how my body responds to cpap lol, it automatically makes me think I'm suffocating when I'm really not just cause it doesn't like the idea of it.... either way I have an appt with my dme tomorrow to talk about the mask issues... But I'll give the pillows one more night, with my epr off to show me that they are right for me....

And yes I'm long winded today so pardon the book response. Im bored out of my mind waiting around... Thanks again for all the replies... I was sure I had read that cpap doesn't eliminate all apneas, but with the way my silly hubby talks in his attempt to understand sleep apnea, he freaked out when he saw my ahi and swore it was supposed to be 0.... I have lots of replies to prove this one to him now lol... I don't stick my hand in the narco jar and tell him how to deal with his sleep issues, altho I did build him a nightstand with a built in2 alarm system that includes 2 combo locks and an alarm clock cage lol, but he can keep his paws off what I think is true and not tell me that it's prob something I thought I read cause I'm sleep deprived... You know cause he has any room to talk *sighs* our poor kids!

esangston wrote:..... altho I did build him a nightstand with a built in2 alarm system that includes 2 combo locks and an alarm clock cage lol...

I like this! My teen has been trying to figure out how she will get herself out of bed when she goes to college and doesn't have me to roust her out.

My AHI's vary anywhere from my lowest .6 to 2.0, so usually anywhere in between.

Mine tends to be under 1, but the other night was over 1 and I actually felt like doggy doo the next day. Leaks are my biggest problem.

Okay, you lost me or maybe I'm just lost in general, LOL. You AHI went up when you traveled in Boston, so how is tht good for your AHI?

RationalEntropy wrote:My range is .5 - 4, and generally it is closer to 3. Almost all of them are hypopneas. Conditions such as position, amount of food close to bedtime, humidity, congestion, etc. all can contribute to AHI. When I traveled to Boston, MA my AHI was 1.5 - 2.0 ALL WEEK. I think that the humidity, and overall cleanliness of the hotel room (no pet dander, minimal mold/mildew/dust) may have been great for the AHI.

DrPepper00 wrote:

esangston wrote:..... altho I did build him a nightstand with a built in2 alarm system that includes 2 combo locks and an alarm clock cage lol...

I like this! My teen has been trying to figure out how she will get herself out of bed when she goes to college and doesn't have me to roust her out.

I'll post a picture when I get done adding the last few touches its quote a sight to see and works quite well... I may need to add dummy locks soon when he gets use to them but I just attached an egg crate with hinges and a combo lock to the top to house his sonic bomb alarm and the speakers then in thedrawer is the speaker controls, one of or cell phones with a bunch of annoying alarm tones that shuffle so you never know what your gonna hear and the power strip to it all. That's got a combo lock on the outside of the drawer. And I got an outlet cover designed for babies so they can't pull a plug out of the wall so he can't just do that...

Ya do what ya have to do lol

Mine usually range from .4 to 2.7.... and i can tell a difference about the 2.0 + range but they very rarely go above 2.0 ..... i feel slightly like doggy poo that day. I have found that if I get less than 6hrs a night, then I'm not my refreshed self normally. I also find that my apneas are higher on my side. I sleep most of the time halfway side sleeping and on my back.

I had surgery on the 24th and lemme tell you.... pain meds made a huge difference in apneas... it never went past 5 but they were higher than normal, but I was also out for atleast 10hrs a couple of those nights.

Meowser wrote:Mine usually range from .4 to 2.7.... and i can tell a difference about the 2.0 + range but they very rarely go above 2.0 ..... i feel slightly like doggy poo that day. I have found that if I get less than 6hrs a night, then I'm not my refreshed self normally. I also find that my apneas are higher on my side. I sleep most of the time halfway side sleeping and on my back.

I had surgery on the 24th and lemme tell you.... pain meds made a huge difference in apneas... it never went past 5 but they were higher than normal, but I was also out for atleast 10hrs a couple of those nights.

hmmm apneas higher on your side... thats intriguing... and pain meds can make you either sleep deeper, therefore if you have more apneas in rem, you have more apneas... also if they are a type of muscle relaxer, they can make your apneas a lil worse... my primary went over all the pain meds with me (i have a standing rx for a few different ones at the moment) and told me which ones would do what so id know what to prepare for if i took any of them...

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Kairosgrammy wrote:Okay, you lost me or maybe I'm just lost in general, LOL. You AHI went up when you traveled in Boston, so how is tht good for your AHI?

RationalEntropy wrote:My range is .5 - 4, and generally it is closer to 3. Almost all of them are hypopneas. Conditions such as position, amount of food close to bedtime, humidity, congestion, etc. all can contribute to AHI. When I traveled to Boston, MA my AHI was 1.5 - 2.0 ALL WEEK. I think that the humidity, and overall cleanliness of the hotel room (no pet dander, minimal mold/mildew/dust) may have been great for the AHI.

Perhaps I poorly stated all of the previous post, as I was REALLY tired when I wrote it. Sorry about that.

The upper number of the range dropped. Nights with 0.5 AHI are a weekly occurrence, at best. 2.5-4.0 is normal at home, but 1.5 is where my weekly average ended when I was in Boston (stayed there for a week). I felt exceptional. I feel better than normal when my AHI < 3.0 (almost all of them are hypopneas).

Like a lot of folks that have already posted, I have a range. Seems like anywhere from 0.2 to 4.0, with an average of 1.6. If I take out the days I didn't sleep (or use the machine) for at least 4 hours, it only goes up to 1.7.

Newbie here with about two months experience.

My AHI average is 3.8
OA usually stays between 1 and 2
H usually stays between 2 and 4

I'm using the max CFlex setting of 3 and wondering if I should experiment by lowering the CFlex setting or trying to do side sleeping only. I find myself sleeping on my back much more after starting CPAP than I did before CPAP.

My sleep is very much improved with CPAP but like the OP I wonder how much better it might be if I tried something different.
In addition, I'm wondering if getting an APAP machine might not be worth trying.

I talked to my dme regarding the ahi.... she said that at the sleep lab they read at a 95% blockage... where as the cpap reads at 75% so my ahi may seem high, but its really not.... made sense i guess lol...