[Diagnosis] High Hypopneas - New to CPAP

[Conix]

Hi Everyone,

Firstly thank you to all the people who help out around here. I've only been diagnosed 2 weeks ago and the wealth of information here is awesome!

Okay, so my home study came back with an AHI of 34.7 and I was recommended a CPAP machine - I jumped at because I've been trying to solve my daytime sleepiness for what seems my entire life and this could finally be it. The first night using the machine gave me much more energy the next day, and also the next, I could instantly feel a difference. However after a week there seems to be something not quite right as my AHI seems a bit high still (around the 6).

I have attached the oscar charts and as you will see the reported AHI seem to be mostly hypoapneas? And in the second chart I zoomed in to show my breathing pattern, which looks somewhat irregular..

[staceyburke]

You can reduce some of the H events from stopping sleeping in a position that cuts off your airway. You have some positional apnea in my opinion. 

We call it chin tucking. When your chin drops to your Sternum you are cutting off your air. No settings can help this. Think of it like a garden hose, you have a small bind (link) in the hose you still have good flow of water, less than before the kink but still good (that’s a flow limit). You take a couple steps and the link gets worse, now the stream is 50% (H event), you move further and the water shuts off (obstruction event). 

You may be sleeping on your back or sleeping on a high pillow or pillows. Those would be fairly easy yo correct. If those don’t work the a collar may be what will work. PLEASE look at a link for collars in my signature.

The second thing to do is raise the min pressure to 7. It will allow the machine to react quicker for stop H events.

[factor]

I agree with SB.

Your minimum is too low it should be at least 7.

I see positional apnea too.  Read the Cervical collar link in SB signature

If you have only been DX 2 weeks ago why do you have a recalled machine?  The Dreamstation 1 is on recall.  You should not be using that machine and no DME should have given you one of those.  You need to ask for a Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset.