I feel better, but my data seems suspiciously lacking.

[SephixT]

I feel better, so something is working. I guess I'm just wondering if my sleep apnea is really this mild and it really was making me feel that terrible before. Or if something is screwy with my data. I didn't seem to be having many apneas. My diagnosis was only moderate sleep apnea so I'm not expecting anything crazy. I feel like with how tired I was before that I wouldn't only be having a couple 10 second obstructive events a night. Perhaps my understanding of my sleep apnea is lacking in that area though.

First few nights I had no large leaks, I think maybe there was one just barely over the threshold briefly, and my AHI was less than 1. Then I started having more problems with my mask, and there's 1 or 2 large leaks for the past couple nights, but never for very long. I think the longest was last night at around 5 minutes. AHI has been 0 and 0 events. I know a lot of large leaks makes the data more or less useless from inaccuracy, is this true even if it's just a brief and/or single occurrence large leak?

I'm attaching what I feel is more relevant, if there are other graphs that would be helpful just let me know what to share. The couple from before the weekend I took screen shots of at the time, so they're not focused on the same graphs. I also added flags for 20% and 50% flow restrictions I saw discussed in a different thread just because I was suspicious of the lack of events.

[Sleepster]

I feel better, so something is working. I guess I'm just wondering if my sleep apnea is really this mild and it really was making me feel that terrible before. Or if something is screwy with my data. I didn't seem to be having many apneas. My diagnosis was only moderate sleep apnea so I'm not expecting anything crazy. I feel like with how tired I was before that I wouldn't only be having a couple 10 second obstructive events a night. Perhaps my understanding of my sleep apnea is lacking in that area though.

I'm partially understanding you, I think. Moderate sleep apnea is 15-30 events per hour. That's like one every two to four minutes, on average. That would be enough to totally wreck a night's sleep since your brain keeps waking you up to breathe. How that makes you feel, and what it does to your cognitive abilities and sanity level, varies greatly from person to person. "Moderate" is just a category used by medical researchers so they can do research.

I know a lot of large leaks makes the data more or less useless from inaccuracy, is this true even if it's just a brief and/or single occurrence large leak?

During large leaks the machine can't accurately determine from flow rate meter readings if you're breathing or having an event. Accuracy is affected only during the period when you're leaking.

You have awesome numbers. In four years I've had like one night of zero AHI. Many people would kill to get a AHI that low. You're also fortunate that you can actually sleep with the mask on. For may of us there's a difficult adjustment period. After that normalcy returns.

[DariaVader]

I have nice numbers like that with cpap too... look at what your pressure has been doing to keep it that way

[OpalRose]

It seems that your pressure range is where it needs to be. You are fortunate to have great results right from the start.

If you were posting theses graphs and stating that you felt terrible, then that would be something to look into, but you say you feel better.

Just keep watch on you data for changes and watch leak rate. Looks like your doing just fine.

[Renae]

Hi SephixT, I am new at all this, too, but I do have the same machine and same mask as you. I was diagnosed with mild to moderate SA several weeks ago. Anyway, my first few nights went incredibly well, then I started having large leaks with the mask. After talking to the ResMed rep, I tightened up my mask while laying flat and that cured the issue. I wonder if the head straps loosen up a bit after several nights?

I am surprised by my really low AHI and other events, too. I have a follow-up with my sleep doctor tomorrow so I expect I'll have some answers. All, I know is that I've felt great since starting APAP therapy.

[CHanlon]

I think that part of Sephix's question has been glossed over, not really answered well. My read of the question was: "my machine reports only a couple of events a night, and an ahi below 1, is this accurate, and could 2 or 3 10 second events really have been what made me feel so bad?"

If that's the gist of the question, an explanation of what your machine is actually doing, and what those reports actually tell you is in order.

Your cpap machine is tuned in to your specific needs by your sleep Dr, through the titration study. The sleep study, the first one, told them how often you stop breathing, the second showed them what pressure to set the machine at to avoid your stopping breathing.

Your machine functions to prevent apnea events. It stops them before they start. Or at least, that's the intent. So, the reports you see, the ones you posted, only report events that happened *during* therapy... Events that the machine failed to prevent. It doesn't report, and had no way to know or detect events that it prevented from occurring.

Without the machine, you might have been having 15 to 30 apneas per hour. That's the definition of "moderate" OSA. At a minimum of 10 second each, you might spend 5 minutes an hour not breathing. With the machine, 20 or 30 seconds over the entire night!

The results you provided are awesome. The machine is doing exactly what it should be doing - preventing events. It only reports the events that slip through. And you know it's working correctly by looking at the Pressure line in the chart. Your machine is set in auto mode - it will raise and lower your pressure as needed. See how jagged the line is? In a couple of them, right around the 1am mark it shoots up. That's the Pressure increasing to counter an event. You can follow along the Pressure line and see it increase and decrease... That's why your AHI is so low. The machine is working perfectly for you.

[SephixT]

I think that part of Sephix's question has been glossed over, not really answered well. My read of the question was: "my machine reports only a couple of events a night, and an ahi below 1, is this accurate, and could 2 or 3 10 second events really have been what made me feel so bad?"

If that's the gist of the question, an explanation of what your machine is actually doing, and what those reports actually tell you is in order.

Your cpap machine is tuned in to your specific needs by your sleep Dr, through the titration study. The sleep study, the first one, told them how often you stop breathing, the second showed them what pressure to set the machine at to avoid your stopping breathing.

Your machine functions to prevent apnea events. It stops them before they start. Or at least, that's the intent. So, the reports you see, the ones you posted, only report events that happened *during* therapy... Events that the machine failed to prevent. It doesn't report, and had no way to know or detect events that it prevented from occurring.

Without the machine, you might have been having 15 to 30 apneas per hour. That's the definition of "moderate" OSA. At a minimum of 10 second each, you might spend 5 minutes an hour not breathing. With the machine, 20 or 30 seconds over the entire night!

The results you provided are awesome. The machine is doing exactly what it should be doing - preventing events. It only reports the events that slip through. And you know it's working correctly by looking at the Pressure line in the chart. Your machine is set in auto mode - it will raise and lower your pressure as needed. See how jagged the line is? In a couple of them, right around the 1am mark it shoots up. That's the Pressure increasing to counter an event. You can follow along the Pressure line and see it increase and decrease... That's why your AHI is so low. The machine is working perfectly for you.

Thanks! That was really helpful. I didn't have a titration study. I only had an at home sleep study with an alice PDX. From that I was diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea and was given my machine without even seeing my sleep specialist again. And I won't see them again until February. I guess I'm just lucky that I didn't need a pressure above 15, and didn't have to deal with trying to change my pressures to get good results. That and I don't have problems sleeping with the equipment. I guess I was somehow under the impression that the data showed events it was preventing, not events it was failing to prevent. Makes a lot more sense.