RERA's and CPAP Pressure Please Help

[fitmart]

I am one of those guys with a fairly low AHI of 8, but my RERA's are 15.
Unfortunately neither an oximeter or the cpap can calculate RERA's.

My question is this:
As you increase pressure of the CPAP.  Are the RERA's the first to go, followed by the Hypopneas?  I would assume less pressure needed since less blockage.
I can drop my AHI down to 4 with a pressure of only 5 and feel great the next day.  However, other than feeling good, I am just assuming it knocked down the RERA's also.

Please advise.

Thanks

[OpalRose]

Are you using an Airsense 10 AutoSet set with a range of 5-20, or CPAP mode of 5? Or are you using a Airsense 10 CPAP with a straight pressure? Please clarify.
The newer AutoSets show Rera's.

An AHI of 8 isn't really low. AHI of 8 added to Rera's of 15 = RDI 23

Assuming is not the way.  Download #SleepyHead software.

[fitmart]

The Airsense 10 does "claim" to show RERAs, but I highly doubt their ability since it cannot detect arousals.  When I wore an oximeter and compared events, the Airsense 10 RERA's were just hypopneas.

The APAP was set for 5-20.  However, this did nothing but continually spike pressures of 14-15 which woke me up, gave me gas, and prevented me from sleeping.  So I manually limited the machine to max 5 as an experiment.  Got the lowest AHI yet!  Got a great night sleep!  Felt great today!

It dropped my AHI down to 4 (as measured by my oximeter, the APAP thinks it is 2 with 2 RERAs).  So I am assuming that it must have helped my RERAS, but I have no way of knowing, so thus my question.  Does the low pressure knock out the RERA first.

Yes I have sleepyhead software.

Thanks

[OpalRose]

I've never seen lower pressures knock out Rera's, but no way of really knowing. The only way to tell for sure is by looking at the data in #SleepyHead, and watching for a trend.

I'm not an advocate for a wide open pressure like 5-20. The Apap will go only as high as needed, but it will also drive pressure upwards in response to
Flow Limitations and Snores.

[fitmart]

It also drives pressures up when you are awake.  The pressure spike wakes me up.  It then senses different breathing pattern because I am awake and stays ramped up.  I have to shut it off and turn it on again with ramp.

[Walla Walla]

fitmark,
Can you post your data via sleepyhead? It would make it easier to see what's going on. High pressure alone shouldn't cause RERA's but the change in pressures that are waking you up could. The CPAP can see the changes in flow rates when you wake up and may think these are RERA's. You made need a steady pressure or narrow pressure to avoid being woke up. Again Sleepyhead is the best way to find out what pressure you need to be at.

[fitmart]

I finally just set the pressure at a constant of 5.  AHI on sleepyhead varies from 2-6.  However, I also use an oximeter which I believe is more accurate which gives me a constant AHI of 4.  With the aid of a sleeping aid I am sleeping through the night and feeling refreshed in the morning.  So, I can only assume that the RERA's are mostly being taken care of.  (I don't trust RERA's that sleepy head reports.  they usually just show up as hypopneas on my oximeter report)

Thanks for your advice.