AHI vs how I feel?

[Mark Douglas]

I have had AHI's of 0 and felt tired in the AM and elevated AHI (compared to my average) and felt great.
What is up with that?

[zonk]

AHI is a means to end, not end by itself ... something like that
An apnea scored when lasted at least 10 seconds or more, anything less 10 seconds not classified as an apnea
Too many of those events (less than 10 seconds) can be be disruptive and affects how you feel

A little higher AHI is nothing to worry about, might also indicate getting into deeper/REM sleep stages which are restorative sleep stages where you feel most rested

AHI 5 or below is normal but if AHI consistently higher, might indicate something is going on and require further investigation

Rightly or wrongly ... that is how I see it

[Mark Douglas]

I have enabled the optional detections and there seems to be a boatload of micro-events not scored. Thoughts?

[AshSF]

That is why AHI is not the last word in feeling rested. And that is why sleep docs believe that an AHI below 5 is fine.

AHI is a proxy for 'was I starved of air last night and did I have any O2 desats'. The other part of the equation is sleep architecture. Sleep architecture comprises of:
1) Did you spend appropriate amount of sleep in all stages.
2) did you have any RERAs or Microarousals that knocked you out of a deeper sleep stage to a shallower one.
3) Did you have some other sleep disorders. Like PLMD.

An AHI < 5 is a necessary condition for a good sleep architecture but it's not a sufficient condition. Your machine also measures RERAs so you can also measure those.
Those will provide more info but they are still not the complete story. Without an EEG there is no way of knowing if there were multiple Microarousals involved in getting your 0.0 AHI.

So, don't sweat it by analyzing it too much.

[TyroneShoes]

Since I never felt bad before I was in treatment for severe OSA, and never really felt "better" than "not feeling bad" after, I think that definitively proves that there is no one-to-one relationship between how you feel and your AHI, especially since AHI is not really even an accurate indicator of how severe the events you have might be.

There is some correlation, however, at least for many people; I just don't think we can assume that it tracks directly. And I think attempting to correlate the two might take one's eyes off the ball; if one is trying to connect how they feel to xPAP therapy numbers, there is a chance they can be missing the real, non-OSA reasons why they feel bad, which can also be a form of active denial or displacement.

But I didn't get the therapy to feel "better"; I got the therapy to be better, and healthier, and not fall asleep in meetings. And I didn't know it at the time, but I guess I got the therapy to let me sleep through the night without a forced pee break.

[PaytonA]

Since I never felt bad before I was in treatment for severe OSA, and never really felt "better" than "not feeling bad" after, I think that definitively proves that there is no one-to-one relationship between how you feel and your AHI, especially since AHI is not really even an accurate indicator of how severe the events you have might be.

There is some correlation, however, at least for many people; I just don't think we can assume that it tracks directly. And I think attempting to correlate the two might take one's eyes off the ball; if one is trying to connect how they feel to xPAP therapy numbers, there is a chance they can be missing the real, non-OSA reasons why they feel bad, which can also be a form of active denial or displacement.

But I didn't get the therapy to feel "better"; I got the therapy to be better, and healthier, and not fall asleep in meetings. And I didn't know it at the time, but I guess I got the therapy to let me sleep through the night without a forced pee break.

Nice post. This was the best I could do since I can't find the Like button.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

[Mark Douglas]

.............
Without EEG ...........

So, don't sweat it by analyzing it too much.

Analyzing is what I do/am LOL !

I guess it is time for an Open EEG project

[PaytonA]

Mark,

Since you are of an analytical frame of mind, have you ever heard of over analyzing?

[justMongo]

I guess it is time for an Open EEG project

You're late to the party.
http://openeeg.sourceforge.net/doc/

[SleepyWabbit]

I guess it is time for an Open EEG project

You're late to the party.
(Link to sourceforge that I'm not allowed to post yet because I'm too new)

Ohh, more data to over-analyze!!