Still having high AHI.Neep HELP

[Lex2101]

Here are some screenshots of the graphs. Can someone please help me understand what is going wrong and what I can do to improve?

[Lex2101]

            Hello All. Been on CPAP for 2 months now, I've seen my numbers go down from the 30s to around 10 but very rarely does my AHI go below 10. I've been told to download OSCAR to get a better view of what is happening. So here are some screenshots of the graphs. Can someone please help me understand what is going wrong and what I can do to improve?

[OpalRose]

Hello Lex2101,
Welcome to Apnea Board!

What you're suffering with is called "Positional Apnea." Note the "clusters" of Obstructives on your graph. This is usually caused by sleeping in a way that restricts your air flow. This can happen on your back or side.

No amount of additional pressure will correct this. What you need to take note of is how and what position you are sleeping. If you're on your back, what type of pillow do your use? Are you using a too tall or fluffy pillow that will push your head forward into your chest? This will cut off your air and cause the clusters of apnea you see. Somewhat like kinking a hose. Try a single pillow that's not too firm but firm enough to support your head and neck and not allow the head to tilt forward.

If you sleep on your side, consider something like a down alternative pillow. They are not that expensive and will give you comfort and support. You can even grab a corner of the pillow and tuck under your chin to keep you from chin tucking.

Try the above suggestions. If they don't work for you, then you may need to use a soft cervical collar.

http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...onal_Apnea

[Lex2101]

           

Hello,

Thank you for the welcome and advice. I've changed my pillow and I've been trying to sleep on my side as much as possible. It's very hot where I live so I tend to move a lot while sleeping, but I guess it did reduce the amount of positional apnea. However,  I've also noticed that the number of Clear Airway Apnea went up a bit. 

Can you give me your opinion on the new graphs?

Thanks a lot again  

[OpalRose]

Did you have a sleep study done?  If so, do you have a copy that you can post here?
Curious if you experienced clear airways on that report.  Some people see more clear airway events when they start Cpap, but these normally lessen in time.

You're still showing some positional apnea which may help with a soft cervical collar.
Also, continue to work on the changes you made by sleeping on your side and using
one pillow.

The Flow Limitation is very high, and is usually tackled by using EPR, which you have been using.   Flow Limitation also causes the pressure to rise as you can see from your chart.  Since we can't go any further with EPR, the only thing to do is try raising the minimum pressure a little at a time.  But I also hesitate to recommend as long as the positional apnea exists. So continue to work on it.  Many have found using a collar helpful.  Read the link I posted earlier.

You can try as an experiment to raise the minimum pressure to 8.5cm and lower the maximum pressure to 15cm.  This keeps the pressure from going up and down so much which is disruptive to sleep. Hold with that a few days and repost.