High AHI score

Hi my name is Ron. I just received my first CPAP machine today. I also received a copy of my initial sleep study.
If over 30 is bad, how bad is AHI of 87.1 supine and an overall of 67.5 I did not get a copy of my follow up study with the CPAP machine, but will be asking my dr. For that information. How low should I expect in the first week on the machine? I am using a resmed elite machine and I should be able to see my results. Being a newby in any area is not fun. I look forward to your help and support.

Foxtail wrote:Hi my name is Ron. I just received my first CPAP machine today. I also received a copy of my initial sleep study.
If over 30 is bad, how bad is AHI of 87.1 supine and an overall of 67.5 I did not get a copy of my follow up study with the CPAP machine, but will be asking my dr. For that information. How low should I expect in the first week on the machine? I am using a resmed elite machine and I should be able to see my results. Being a newby in any area is not fun. I look forward to your help and support.

Think of it this way .. AHI stands for Apnea Hypopnea Index. That is the number of times per hour that you had an apnea (total cessation of breathing) or hypopnea (low level of breathing ... typically due to a partial obstruction). So, if you have an AHI of 67.5 ... You stopped breathing or were not getting enough air a little more than once per minute. Ouch!

Hope that helps.

Hi Ron, Welcome to the forum.

When you have time could you please add your equipment to your profile. Should you have questions or problems this helps us help you better if we can see at a glance what your equipment is.
If you don't know how this explains how to...please use text instead of icony because the images are tiny and we can't see model names. See my profile at the bottom of my post here for examples.
wiki/index.php/Registering_Equipment_in_User_Profile

The ResMed S9 Elite is a full data machine and there is easily obtained and used software available.

ResScan is the ResMed software and you can find a link in Uncle Bob's signature here
memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=38643

ResScan video tutorial on how to use it http://montfordhouse.com/cpap/resscan_tutorial/

You can also use SleepyHead if you wish. I have links for it in my signature line.
There is a Mac version available if you use a Mac. ResScan doesn't have a Mac version so it is strictly Windows based.

When evaluating your AHI it really doesn't matter so much how high it was before but what matters is how optimal your therapy is on the machine now. Generally we like to see the AHI be less than 5.0. Also we like to watch the leak reports because if leaks are large the machine's reported data could be incorrect.
ResMed machines report excess leak so it subtracts a generic vent/intentional leak rate based on your pressure and your mask type selection before it reports leaks. Your number to avoid is 24 L/min. Leaks up to 24 L/min ResMed says that they can do a good job of compensating for...above that and it starts to lose ability to sense and report things properly.

Leaks and mask issues are probably the hardest part to cpap therapy. Any leak that disturbs your sleep is unwanted even if it is a tiny leak but because it is waking you up and not so much because of loss of therapy.
When first starting therapy try not to worry about the numbers at first. Concentrate on getting good sleep with the mask and machine. You may get lucky and take to all this like a duck takes to water but it might also be a bit bumpy so don't panic over the rough spots. Most of us have had them.

Number one goal is good sleep and feel better...secondary goal is the AHI and leak control.
A 0.0 AHI with a 0.0 L/min leak rate doesn't guarantee that you will sleep well or feel great especially if it comes after fighting with the mask all night and maybe not getting good sleep.

Foxtail wrote:Hi my name is Ron. I just received my first CPAP machine today. I also received a copy of my initial sleep study.
If over 30 is bad, how bad is AHI of 87.1 supine and an overall of 67.5 I did not get a copy of my follow up study with the CPAP machine, but will be asking my dr. For that information. How low should I expect in the first week on the machine? I am using a resmed elite machine and I should be able to see my results. Being a newby in any area is not fun. I look forward to your help and support.

Hi Ron,

It depends.

If your oxygen nadir was above 85% - perhaps your nervous system is pretty intact and recovery will be quick.

If your oxygen nadir was below 65% - very bad - you have a long road ahead.

Between those it pretty much scales.

At any rate you do have severe sleep apnea and need to work hard on treatment.

Step one in my openion - rig to use the PAP nightly data to monitor what is going on.

Have a great week!

Todzo

Thanks for the input. I was lucky I fell asleep in 5 minutes during the second study with the nasal mask. I'm expecting a good first night with my own machine. I'll post how it turns out. This forum has already been a great help with understanding this malady.

Foxtail wrote:Hi my name is Ron. I just received my first CPAP machine today. I also received a copy of my initial sleep study.
If over 30 is bad, how bad is AHI of 87.1 supine and an overall of 67.5 I did not get a copy of my follow up study with the CPAP machine, but will be asking my dr. For that information. How low should I expect in the first week on the machine? I am using a resmed elite machine and I should be able to see my results. Being a newby in any area is not fun. I look forward to your help and support.

Hi. I'm new too. My AHI was 55.something. My first week on CPAP it was down to 5 and lately (in the second week) has been running 3.5ish. I have no clue if that is fairly normal or not, just my experience. I sleep with it all night, usually 7.5 to 8 hours per night.

I felt AWESOME!!!!!!! for the first couple of days. Then I got brain fog for a few days. The fog is starting to lift and I feel better than I have in a long time (minus the AWESOME!!!!! days).

Good luck.

I had a AHI at 85 when I had my sleep study and I also have the same Elite cpap. It took me almost 4 months before I noticed a change, Based on a setting of 14 I had a lot of leakage issues which prompted me to try so many masks.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

I don't know what "oxygen nadir" is, but I do know my oxygen level dropped to 61% in my study, which scared me pretty good.

OP, I've been using my machine for 33 days, 100% compliant, and saw my AHI go from 63 during my study, to less than 1, usually about .5 immediately. I hope you see the same results. I suspect your positive outlook will help immensely in you getting to where you need to be as well.

Todzo wrote:

Foxtail wrote:Hi my name is Ron. I just received my first CPAP machine today. I also received a copy of my initial sleep study.
If over 30 is bad, how bad is AHI of 87.1 supine and an overall of 67.5 I did not get a copy of my follow up study with the CPAP machine, but will be asking my dr. For that information. How low should I expect in the first week on the machine? I am using a resmed elite machine and I should be able to see my results. Being a newby in any area is not fun. I look forward to your help and support.

Hi Ron,

It depends.

If your oxygen nadir was above 85% - perhaps your nervous system is pretty intact and recovery will be quick.

If your oxygen nadir was below 65% - very bad - you have a long road ahead.

Between those it pretty much scales.

At any rate you do have severe sleep apnea and need to work hard on treatment.

Step one in my openion - rig to use the PAP nightly data to monitor what is going on.

Have a great week!

Todzo

If you were in sleep deprevation (like 2-4 hours/nite); you can expect what is called REM Rebound and waking to lethargy. This is due to a higher than normal percentage of REM stage of sleep/nite...which is about 20-25%. Dreams me aylso be vivid. Take into account that some ppl do not remembers dreams. You can also expect some stomach or diaphram muscle soreness; due to breathing against pressure. If your face is reacting to the mask; look up some online companies that provide a barrier for comfort. If you have facial hair; expect higher that normal leaks. Hope this helps.

cpapnewb wrote:... I felt AWESOME!!!!!!! for the first couple of days. Then I got brain fog for a few days. The fog is starting to lift and I feel better than I have in a long time (minus the AWESOME!!!!! days). ...

Think of it this way ... your body had to adjust to the CPAP therapy. Initially, you felt AWESOME because you had been so sleep deprived and then were able to get enough sleep. Now your body has adjusted. Though you no longer have that AWESOME feeling, you are still able to achieve much more than you had before CPAP. It's amazing how quickly our bodies adjust.

ughwhatname wrote:I don't know what "oxygen nadir" is, but I do know my oxygen level dropped to 61% in my study, which scared me pretty good.

OP, I've been using my machine for 33 days, 100% compliant, and saw my AHI go from 63 during my study, to less than 1, usually about .5 immediately. I hope you see the same results. I suspect your positive outlook will help immensely in you getting to where you need to be as well.

Todzo wrote:

Foxtail wrote:Hi my name is Ron. I just received my first CPAP machine today. I also received a copy of my initial sleep study.
If over 30 is bad, how bad is AHI of 87.1 supine and an overall of 67.5 I did not get a copy of my follow up study with the CPAP machine, but will be asking my dr. For that information. How low should I expect in the first week on the machine? I am using a resmed elite machine and I should be able to see my results. Being a newby in any area is not fun. I look forward to your help and support.

Hi Ron,

It depends.

If your oxygen nadir was above 85% - perhaps your nervous system is pretty intact and recovery will be quick.

If your oxygen nadir was below 65% - very bad - you have a long road ahead.

Between those it pretty much scales.

At any rate you do have severe sleep apnea and need to work hard on treatment.

Step one in my openion - rig to use the PAP nightly data to monitor what is going on.

Have a great week!

Todzo

Hi Foxtail!

I regret my choice of terms. Nadir is simply "lowest point". My oxygen nadir was 55%.

Have a great week.

Todzo

Foxtail wrote:Hi my name is Ron. I just received my first CPAP machine today. I also received a copy of my initial sleep study.
If over 30 is bad, how bad is AHI of 87.1 supine and an overall of 67.5 I did not get a copy of my follow up study with the CPAP machine, but will be asking my dr. For that information. How low should I expect in the first week on the machine? I am using a resmed elite machine and I should be able to see my results. Being a newby in any area is not fun. I look forward to your help and support.

For now, concentrate on wearing it and being comfortable. Don't obsess over the numbers if they're not good to start with. Just using it should make enormous improvements in your health. Look at your data, but it sometimes takes a while for your numbers to settle down.

Todzo wrote:If your oxygen nadir was above 85% - perhaps your nervous system is pretty intact and recovery will be quick.

If your oxygen nadir was below 65% - very bad - you have a long road ahead.

I'm very skeptical of those numbers.

Hello, my name is Stefanie, I am 28 yrs old and I have a AHI score of 109. something. Does anyone know how likely co-morbidities are at this level?

Stephanie, without knowing anything more about you, your test, etc. etc. a guess would be less than useless... that figure alone (I presume it was a test score) doesn't mean a whole lot all by itself. Why not start a new thread (this one's old) and give us more info.

Julie wrote:Stephanie, without knowing anything more about you, your test, etc. etc. a guess would be less than useless... that figure alone (I presume it was a test score) doesn't mean a whole lot all by itself. Why not start a new thread (this one's old) and give us more info.

alright. I just did so. thanks!