[CPAP] I don't feel any benefit from use of CPAP

[gordonharper]

Thanks for your reply. I see that i some cases people can't do without a machine; in others it is a matter of "protecting one's health. 
Thanks again, Gordon

[gordonharper]

I believe I have found why I do not feel any better when using breathing assistance! I do not have sleep Apnea. In the literature posted on the website I learned  that "AHI<5 per hour= No Sleep Apnea". I dug down in the data and found that for the past year my average AHI was 4.42 events per hour; the last 90 days was 0.64 events per hour. 
No wonder I did not feel better  and in fact felt a little worse because of the mechanical nuisance of tubing and noises occasioned by a few leaks.
The back ground of this experience is almost unbelievable: For a number of years I was bothered by daytime sleepiness, clogged sinus and very vague symptoms (malingering?). I went to a Concierge doctor and she recommended Sleep Therapy testing and we got positive results. A prescription was written for me to buy a device, however I received no instructions about pressure settings at all. I then found that a piece of tooth had been left in my skull from a Wisdom tooth removal 53 years earlier and it had slowly migrated up into the sinus. This was removed surgically, but no one ever thought of re-testing for the need for a CPAP machine.
Thanks for providing this Forum to hear other people's experience and to help think things through.
By the way, I have since moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to Keene NH, population 22,500, I do not have access to a doctor but I did ask my Nurse Practitioner for a referral to an Apnea specialist and she said that we have no one!!

Thanks again. I have made a donation to the Apnea Board.

/Gordon Harper

[SarcasticDave94]

The past 90 days, AHI was 0.64. Was this while using PAP therapy? This is a treated result of PAP if this result is while you're using a CPAP.

I'm making the assumption you can't read AHI if you're not using a CPAP. So yes this is a treated number. It'll go back to 4.x without, which is below mild Apnea but isn't stating there's actually zero Apnea. We've also not yet seen any OSCAR data to help you in the best possible way.

[quiescence at last]

i hope your excessive daytime sleepiness and sinus congestion also go away. You will not know if you have an increase of apnea if you don't retest, but I can see why you would not run in and do that.

QAL

[gordonharper]

Oh yes, the excessive sleepiness and other symptoms went away after the sinus surgery. No one ever thought to re-test for Apnea after that.

[gordonharper]

The AHI numbers come from ResMed my Air software reports. I had not discontinued use; In the past 30-days I used the machine 57% of the days; in the past year: 77% of the days.
There is no OSCAR data because I learned at 10 O'clock last night that my Dell computer that looks like it has an SD card reader does not in fact read SD cards! It just has a knock-out where one can install a reader, a reader is on order.

[SarcasticDave94]

Ok, but it's confirmed then your stated 0.6x AHI is from a CPAP producing the lower Apnea than the actual test results. This is what CPAP does. If you do not PAP then the numbers would likely go up which in essence you'd be untreated.

[gordonharper]

I understand, Thank You