11-09-2024, 03:37 PM
Just started CPAP, and my AHI has skyrocketed, advice?
Greetings all! Thank you to anyone taking the time to read this.
I recently was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea via an at-home WatchPat test with an AHI of 7.4 and an o2 low of 92. I've been very symptomatic (extreme daily fatigue, exercise intolerance, emergent anxiety disorder after sleep ceased to be restful) but I understand these numbers to be quite mild compared to moderate or severe apnea sufferers.
My doctor ordered a further in-lab sleep study, but its a month or more away, and I was impatient for some kind of relief. So he gave me the OK to rent a machine from a third party (the CPAP box) while I wait for the study to see if insurance will cover a machine for me. Its a ResMed 10 AutoSet with Humidifier. I'm using a DreamWisp nasal mask and standard tubing (a heated tube just arrived today)
The first night was rough, but I was still adjusting to the mask and I woke up feeling OK but not great, with an AHI of 6.7. The second night was wonderful, I had the most detailed dream in recent memory and felt better rested, but my AHI crept up to an 8.28. Hmm strange but I felt alright so I just shrugged it off as getting used to the machine. Fast forward to last night, and It was the worst sleep I can remember having in weeks, I really felt like I was fighting the machine to breathe and when I woke up and got the data surely enough it was reflected in an AHI more than double my original diagnosis at 17.78.
I noticed that the vast majority of my events were labeled in OSCAR as Clear Airway, so I did a bit of research, and to my horror found out that it stands for central apnea events. It was at this point that I almost wished I had waited for the in lab study as I'm fairly certain the Watch PAT was unable to distinguish between central and obstructive and therefore it could be hard to know if the central apneas where there before or not. Being 26 and in generally good health without a history of neurological issues, however, I figured that central apnea was unlikely to have existed before the machine.
After some further research on sleep apnea on Reddit and elsewhere, it seems to me what makes the most sense is treatment-emergent central sleep apnea. My machine's pressure is rather low, but it still seems it is tricking my brain into sending too few signals to breathe at night. I've read that these can go away on their own, but a high AHI like 17.78 scares me. What should I do? Do I counterintuitively need more pressure? I titrated max pressure down to 4-7 as the first night did not go above 7 hardly at all. Perhaps I should discontinue use and wait for the sleep doc? Or should I just stick it out and hope they resolve themselves?
I had an Imgur link, but could not post, instead I've attached the three nights oscar data below.
Thanks again! This forum is a lifesaver.
I recently was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea via an at-home WatchPat test with an AHI of 7.4 and an o2 low of 92. I've been very symptomatic (extreme daily fatigue, exercise intolerance, emergent anxiety disorder after sleep ceased to be restful) but I understand these numbers to be quite mild compared to moderate or severe apnea sufferers.
My doctor ordered a further in-lab sleep study, but its a month or more away, and I was impatient for some kind of relief. So he gave me the OK to rent a machine from a third party (the CPAP box) while I wait for the study to see if insurance will cover a machine for me. Its a ResMed 10 AutoSet with Humidifier. I'm using a DreamWisp nasal mask and standard tubing (a heated tube just arrived today)
The first night was rough, but I was still adjusting to the mask and I woke up feeling OK but not great, with an AHI of 6.7. The second night was wonderful, I had the most detailed dream in recent memory and felt better rested, but my AHI crept up to an 8.28. Hmm strange but I felt alright so I just shrugged it off as getting used to the machine. Fast forward to last night, and It was the worst sleep I can remember having in weeks, I really felt like I was fighting the machine to breathe and when I woke up and got the data surely enough it was reflected in an AHI more than double my original diagnosis at 17.78.
I noticed that the vast majority of my events were labeled in OSCAR as Clear Airway, so I did a bit of research, and to my horror found out that it stands for central apnea events. It was at this point that I almost wished I had waited for the in lab study as I'm fairly certain the Watch PAT was unable to distinguish between central and obstructive and therefore it could be hard to know if the central apneas where there before or not. Being 26 and in generally good health without a history of neurological issues, however, I figured that central apnea was unlikely to have existed before the machine.
After some further research on sleep apnea on Reddit and elsewhere, it seems to me what makes the most sense is treatment-emergent central sleep apnea. My machine's pressure is rather low, but it still seems it is tricking my brain into sending too few signals to breathe at night. I've read that these can go away on their own, but a high AHI like 17.78 scares me. What should I do? Do I counterintuitively need more pressure? I titrated max pressure down to 4-7 as the first night did not go above 7 hardly at all. Perhaps I should discontinue use and wait for the sleep doc? Or should I just stick it out and hope they resolve themselves?
I had an Imgur link, but could not post, instead I've attached the three nights oscar data below.
Thanks again! This forum is a lifesaver.
