AHI Questions

[Sleeprider]

It's still not where I'd like you to end up, but let this go another night or two so we have an idea if this improvement is going to stick, or it's one-off. I think we're going to continue to narrow the pressure from both sides and probably end up with a narrow range or close to a single fixed CPAP pressure. You seem to have a complex apnea issue, and CPAP may not be ideal, but we can try to optimize it as best we can. Also keep in mind, we commonly see these kinds of events diminish and resolve on their own as you adapt to the therapy, often without any changes in pressure.

[lempface]

Thanks again Sleeprider. Here are charts from the last four nights.

[Sleeprider]

Well, you started at AHI near 11, and have settled at about 4 with a mix of central and obstructive events. This is a pretty significant improvement. There isn't much pattern to the remaining events, and with mixed events, like this getting consistently under 5 AHI is not a bad thing. There might be some advantages to a single fixed pressure to reduce the CA events, and let some OA occur, and I'm thinking that might be about 11.0 cm. I don't know how much OA will be allowed if we limit pressure increases, but if you're curious, I'm tempted to suggest trying it. The most important question is, how are you feeling with the current changes?

[lempface]

Its not a miraculous recovery or anything but I'm not hitting that 1-2 PM wall at work where I can barely keep my eyes open. The first few nights I felt more rested than the last few nights (since adjusting to the tighter pressure range) when waking up.

Today I felt especially groggy and reluctant to get outta bed. I'm sure this is just a normal ebb and flow though. I still want to take a nap after work and I haven't mustered up enough energy to get some exercise in after work yet either, which I must do.

I think I'll try the static pressure as you suggested and see what happens. I am pleased with the reduction in AHI but if I review the AHI throughout the night I am still getting spikes where it goes up to 10 or more. I think if it was a more consistent number throughout the night I would not have sections in the night where I wake up and miss out on REM.