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- LonghornGary
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- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 3:10 pm
Average CPAP AHI of 3.1, should I be concerned?
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Postby LonghornGary » Thu Oct 06, 2011 6:51 am
Well I'm six nights into my CPAP machine things seem to be going pretty well, I started with a Go Life nasal pillow mask and swapped it two days ago for a swift fx nasal pillow, which after two nights wearing I prefer. I downloaded my data to encore viewer and have the following results an average AHI of 3.1, Average pressure 9.8, no major leaks any night, and an average usage of 6hrs and 9 mins. While I would like to see my average usage creep up from 6 hours, I was sleeping only about four or five a night prior to CPAP, so I'm hoping to get my body adjusted to sleeping longer. Would like to get to the point of 7-8 hours. Should I have any concerns of an AHI of 3.1, I know 0-5 is considered normal not on CPAP but I thought CPAP would eliminate them altogether. Thanks for any responses
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- Mary Z
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- Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:55 am
Re: Average CPAP AHI of 3.1, should I be concerned?
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Postby Mary Z » Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:01 am
CPAP does not eliminate apneas/hypopneas totally. 0-5 AHI is considered a success on CPAP. Some people do have an AHI of 0 some nights, but it is not the norm. As you stated, AHI under 5 is conidered normal. Many members do achieve lower AHI's. Since you have only been on therapy six nights I would give it at least a month before I tried any fine tuning. What are your AUTO settings? How do you feel?
One of the most important things is to wear the mask all night, every night, and naps. This means the entire time you are in bed. No waking up early and taking the mask off for a little while. Hope you can extend your sleep time as you mentioned.
Good luck, keep us posted. I'm glad you are utilizing the forum.
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- mayondair
- Posts: 523
- Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 11:55 am
- Location: Michigan
Re: Average CPAP AHI of 3.1, should I be concerned?
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Postby mayondair » Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:05 am
Hello LonghornGary, and welcome. It sounds like you are off to a really good start. An AHI like yours is great , especially after only a week. Few see an AHI of zero, people without OSA may have the occasional event, machines scoring varies between brand/ algorithm. Some other things to consider , how do you feel? Do your encore viewer reports show clusters of events ? Your AHI may decrease as you get used to sleeping with the machine and mask. Some notice the difference when their AHI is lower, but chasing numbers is not the entire story. Give you self some time . Post some graphs , you'll get lots of feedback . Cheers Kathy
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apneawho
- Posts: 609
- Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:09 am
- Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
Re: Average CPAP AHI of 3.1, should I be concerned?
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Postby apneawho » Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:07 am
CPAP does not always eliminate apnea. It cannot treat central apnea. Minimal obstructive and central apneas can occur in persons without a diagnosed sleep disorder, so it would not be realistic to have zero AHI as a goal, and especially not a short term goal. I am only a little more than 2 months into therapy and I am just now in the past week starting to see AHI level off to a consistent and narrow range. For 6 nights in, average AHI of 3.1 is good. No major leaks and you are managing your sleep time well. Great job.
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| Mask:Swift™ FX For Her Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask with Headgear |
| Humidifier:S9™ Series H5i™ Heated Humidifier with Climate Control |
| Additional Comments:ResMed Climate line tubing, Hose cozy, PurSleep Clear aroma therapy, Using latest version Sleepyhead sofware-thanks Jedimark! |
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- nanwilson
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- Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:35 am
- Location: Southern Alberta
Re: Average CPAP AHI of 3.1, should I be concerned?
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Postby nanwilson » Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:30 am
The opimum for therapy is below 5.......not 0.5. Your ahi of 3.1 is very good. you are below 5.
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| Machine:ResMed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet™ CPAP Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier |
| Mask:AirFit™ P10 Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask with Headgear |
Started cpap in 2010.. still at it with great results.
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Pugsy
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- Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 9:31 am
- Location: Missouri, USA
Re: Average CPAP AHI of 3.1, should I be concerned?
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Postby Pugsy » Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:07 am
The only time I have worried about AHI of 3.1 is if I happened to have those events all in little clusters or groupings of events. Back when I first started therapy I had such groupings and with some fine tuning I pretty much eliminated the clusters. Sometimes I see AHI in the 3 to 4 range even now and as long as no clusters, I pretty much don't give it any thought. If for some reason I was to start seeing the clusters on a regular basis I might then re-evaluate my pressure.
For just starting out you are doing superbly and I would just sit back and watch the reports to figure out what your normal night is. With time you should be able to increase your time asleep. It will likely be very slow. I think it took me about 6 months to work up from 5 hours or so to 7 hours or so. Even now I mainly get around 7 but sometimes I can sleep 8 hours.
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- DaveLP
- Posts: 133
- Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2011 6:02 pm
Re: Average CPAP AHI of 3.1, should I be concerned?
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Postby DaveLP » Thu Oct 06, 2011 12:05 pm
A good night for me is 4.5 AHI. I tend to range in levels of 4.5 to 11. Of course, that's because I have a short beard and full face masks leak like sieves on a beard, even cut closely to a millimeter or so. When my pressure rises, I tend to lip flutter and the AHI rises a little. Tape helps, but across a mustache and beard, it's not so easy to get a perfect seal or even keep it on.
The good part of APAP for me is that these days I feel much better and don't fall asleep watching TV. If your daytime sleepiness is under control, consider yourself successful.
I'd swap numbers with you in a minute! I'd have a party and invite friends if my AHI was an average of 3.1.
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- LonghornGary
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 3:10 pm
Re: Average CPAP AHI of 3.1, should I be concerned?
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Postby LonghornGary » Thu Oct 06, 2011 3:40 pm
Thank you for all the replies, I appreciate all the information and support. This is really a great forum. Sounds like I'm doing well, I keep rolling with my machine and I hope I see the slow steady improvement in total sleep time some have experienced. So far my cpap experience has not been nearly as bad as I anticipated. Thanks Gary
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- sickwithapnea17
- Posts: 472
- Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:41 pm
Re: Average CPAP AHI of 3.1, should I be concerned?
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Postby sickwithapnea17 » Thu Oct 06, 2011 4:18 pm
my AHI is around 3-4 but I still have memory/concentration and thinking problems and chronic fatigue. I only weigh 180 pounds.
so you may want to see how your memory and abstract thought are and your energy levels. I also had low cortisol
18/14 bipap st
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- ozze_dollar
- Posts: 611
- Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2011 5:20 pm
- Location: Sydney,Australia
Re: Average CPAP AHI of 3.1, should I be concerned?
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Postby ozze_dollar » Thu Oct 06, 2011 4:44 pm
I saw my sleep specialist yesterday and he says a person without OSA will have an event on average 4 times per hour.
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- drdrew
- Posts: 70
- Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2011 3:00 pm
- Location: missouri
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Re: Average CPAP AHI of 3.1, should I be concerned?
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Postby drdrew » Fri Oct 07, 2011 10:20 am
ozze_dollar wrote:I saw my sleep specialist yesterday and he says a person without OSA will have an event on average 4 times per hour.
lol...well thats because at 5 times per hour they decided its called OSA...lol
a better question is does a person who has 4 events an hour feel better or worse than someone who has 0 events an hour....and then factor in a million other variables....
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