[CPAP] Would high leak give erroneously-good results?

[paraxion]

I've been pretty bad at downloading my results of late, but I found my card reader in the back of the cupboard and connected it up to ResScan.

The first thing my results said was that my leak is pretty high (~30.0L/min) - but I knew that, my mask is on it's way out.

The thing that cheered me, though, was my AHI/Apnea scores: AHI 2.9, 0.0% Time in Apnea with an index of 0.2.  I think those are good numbers.  I've lost some weight, so I'm hoping that's having a positive impact.

My second thought was, though: is the large leak likely to be giving me false readings?  If I am getting such consistently low readings... should I consider weaning myself off the machine, especially since it's ancient and I'm hesitant to buy a new one?

Thanks in advance!

[DeepBreathing]

G'day paraxion. Welcome to Apnea Board (a belated welcome )

The machine can't properly diagnose or treat apneas when the leak is over the red line (24 L/min). So the real question here is how much time are you experiencing excessive leaks? If it's a big leak for only a short period of time then the results are pretty reliable. On the other hand if you're at 30 L/min for most of the night then the results can't be trusted.

If the results are correct that's pretty good. But it's an indication of your breathing while you're using the machine. It means the machine is doing its job, not necessarily that your weight loss has cured your apnea. You would need a proper sleep test to confirm that.

[paraxion]

That makes sense - and yeah, I'm pretty much constantly over the red line.

I think it's time I booked that sleep study I've been putting off...

-p