Cpap auto

My sleep dr. Gave me an auto cpap to use for a week to see what setting my machine needs to be at. He said the auto will adjust from 5-15 as needed. When I woke this morning it says AHI 1.1. What does that mean? Did I only have 1 apnea on the 5 setting all night?

Rogsu wrote:My sleep dr. Gave me an auto cpap to use for a week to see what setting my machine needs to be at. He said the auto will adjust from 5-15 as needed. When I woke this morning it says AHI 1.1. What does that mean? Did I only have 1 apnea on the 5 setting all night?

1.1 is a good, low number. (Above 5 is a problem). The auto machine is doing its job well!

Rogsu wrote:it says AHI 1.1. What does that mean? Did I only have 1 apnea on the 5 setting all night?

AHI is an hourly average...it means that over the entire night (however many hours you slept) that you averaged one apnea event per hour.

You might want to become familiar with the terminology and definitions.
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/s ... r_Glossary

One per hour...extremely good results....generally less than 5.0 per hour is considered acceptable therapy results.
One per hour...icing on the cake.
Of course it also depends on how many hours of sleep on the machine...I can get an AHI of 0.0 if I only sleep 2 hours.
Hard to get it when I sleep more than 2 hours.

When you feel like reading more...check out the links in my signature line...there's more to this therapy than just AHI but we have to start somewhere and AHI is as good as any...next thing for you to do is learn about leaks.

1.1 is stunning. My AHI even at 13 to 17 ranges from 60 to 80. I am currently at 20 cmH2O pressure with AHI range of
10 to 24. Above pressure of 20 the machine kicks my butt. New sleep doc threw out last 2 years data from previous group. Started me at 17 cm and I raise 1 cm per week trying to adapt my body slowly to high pressure. 1st group sent me home with machine set at 29. They had to alter default setting that prevents machine from exceeding 24. Going from never using a machine to day one at 29 was missrable. Tech refused to turn down. I quit using machine for a year then decided to try myself. Got a tech manual and turned it way down. Spent a year dial winging to no avail. Now using new group with doctor I really like. Be says I probably can not be controlled with cpap but wants cpap data at increasing pressures before trying bipap. Like fact he is moving slow and not trying to fix me with one study then kick me out the door.

I guess what i really want to know is if the machine is on a sliding scale from 5-15 did I have 1.1 apnea before it had to adjust the pressure up from 5 or did the machine adjust as needed between 5-15 and that prevented me from having apneas except for the 1.1 per hour. Any answers would be apprecieated.

Without seeing the data it's hard to determine, but most likely the machine adjusted your pressure up and down as needed all night.

It's more likely the machine ramped up to an effective level then pretty much stayed there. In my experience they don't range "up and down all night" unless something unusual drives that. The 1.1 AHI suggests things worked well from the git-go. And that's GREAT!

Post by rogsu on Thu Sep 12, 2013 9:02 am
I guess what i really want to know is if the machine is on a sliding scale from 5-15 did I have 1.1 apnea before it had to adjust the pressure up from 5 or did the machine adjust as needed between 5-15 and that prevented me from having apneas except for the 1.1 per hour. Any answers would be apprecieated.

Without seeing your data graphs, it's hard to say when your events occurred. Do follow Pugsy's advice and download the software so you can see your graphs. And do post them here. Because then we can see when your events occurred during the night, and at what pressures, or if it was possibly during REM sleep, that sort of thing. We can also see what the break-up of the events was, like how many OA's (obstructive apneas), H's (Hypopneas), or if any were CA's (Centrals). I'm not sure if your machine marks centrals. It may not. But, yes, it sounds like your machine did a very good job of changing pressure during the night to prevent you from having more than 1.1 AHI per hour, which means it's doing a really good job for you already.

LinkC wrote:It's more likely the machine ramped up to an effective level then pretty much stayed there. In my experience they don't range "up and down all night" unless something unusual drives that. The 1.1 AHI suggests things worked well from the git-go. And that's GREAT!

No, with straight Cpap, if you have the ramp feature on, then it will ramp up to it's set pressure and then stay there all night. But an Autopap machine is designed to change pressures up and down through the night, according to your needs. If you have more events during REM sleep, the pressure will rise as the machine senses precursors to your OA's or H's. Then when you're not in REM, the pressure drops back down until it's needed again. For me, this occurs many times per night, like it's supposed to. The same goes for positional apneas. Some people tend to have more events when lying prone (on their back), as opposed to when they lie on their side. The auto machine will sense the events and pressure will rise accordingly, then lower again when necessary.

Rogsu,

What kind of machine do you have? If it is a ResMed there will be a word around the on button (Autoset or Escape Auto). If it is the former you are in luck in that it records efficacy data to the SD Card. If it is the latter, not much data is stored.

Your machine could be a Phillips Reperonics PR System One. It will have the model number on the bottom (take out the humidifier tank BEFORE you turn over the machine)

Go into Control Panel select Profile select edit equipment and insert your CPAP type in the Machine list. That will allow us to know what equipment you have and give you guidance on how to get to the (hopefully) saved data.

-tino