why has AHI jumped so high?

[w7sot]

OK - I am not sure what is going on here, maybe someone on here can give me some idea - last week, my AHI was always below 1, and then this week, it has jumped up to almost 5, and over on a couple of night, and I have noticed I am having a lot more open airway events (23), nothing has changed, same mask less than a month old, no issues with leaks, and my m 95% pressure is at 12.85, so it could go a lot higher if needed. No change in my meds.

Should I just monitor things, and see how it goes, or should be concerned about the jump in my open airway apnea's enough to get ahold of my sleep doc? - I am having a lot more of them now than I did during my sleep study. I don't go see her until the end of next month - but I am still feeling a LOT better, actauly refreshed and ready to go for the day - I was up at 4 am this morning to go to the bathroom, and almost had to force myself to get back into bed until 7, my body just did not want anymore sleep.

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[PaulaO2]

If you are feeling fine, then the AHI is acceptable. There's a lot of variables that go into getting a good night's sleep and your CPAP is just part of it. A large part, yes, but there's a lot of little things. Temperature of the room, what you did that day, what you are thinking about, sounds, smells, what you ate, what you drank, etc etc etc.

I suggest you keep an eye on it between now and when you see the doc. A few nights is not a trend but a month's worth of data is more than enough to establish something is going on. If, after two weeks, that number continues to climb, then you can contact the doc and maybe see her sooner. An AHI less than 5 is good.

[zonk]

I don't go see her until the end of next month - but I am still feeling a LOT better, actauly refreshed and ready to go for the day -

Feeling better is good and feeling a LOT better is even better
When I got up this morning looked at the screen AHI was 0.3 but stayed in bed for another 30 mins and looked again AHI showed 1.1 so the S9 don,t know whether I was asleep or wake it just flag events as it see them also when congested pressure and AHI goes up. Your situation could be different see your doctor with your download and discuss with her those clearway events.

[big_dave]

The same thing happened to me this morning. My AHI was 5.4 the first time I checked, but I went back to sleep for half an hour, and it was all the way up to 8.0--but I feel fine. My range is 6-16, but I think it needs to be changed to 10-16 to solve the AHI problem I've been having. My pressure is typically 12, but there has been a lot of variation from night to night. I don't want to experiment with pressures right now because my follow-up appointment is in three weeks.

[w7sot]

Well, last night, I slept - not the greatest, but at least I got some sleep, and I have been tired all day long - buy my AHI was downn to 2 instead of the 9 that i was last night - so will try it again tonight, and see if I can get some better sleep.

[Sleepster]

Should I just monitor things, and see how it goes, or should be concerned about the jump in my open airway apnea's enough to get ahold of my sleep doc?

You don't have enough data yet to raise a concern for the doctor, in my opinion. If your AHI continues to rise above 5 a few nights per month, then the doctor may want to consider lowering your pressure.

I am having a lot more of them now than I did during my sleep study.

These are often induced by the CPAP therapy itself, so it's natural that you didn't have many during your sleep study. Lowering the pressure a bit is what they'll try to do to reduce the number of CA's, but if it causes the number of OA's to rise, then you're in a dilemma!

The other thing you can do is zoom in on your Flow Rate graph and see how long the CA's last. If they last only 10 seconds or so they may be harmless. On the other hand if they last 90 seconds they may be causing oxygen desaturations. Since you feel good, it may be that they are short enough to not be causing arousals.

[archangle]

Don't worry about a few nights with higher than usual AHI unless it's really high.

Look at your graphs and see how bad and how long the apneas are. 2 minute long apneas matter a lot longer than 15 second apneas.

Short term, don't worry that much if you're a little over 5.

[TorontoCPAPguy]

My personal advice to you is first and foremost, educate yourself on AHI and what it means.... and what the contributors are. My AHI is generally 0.00 every night these days but it does occasionally pop up to as high as 1.0... I have not seen it over 1.0 in a loooooong time. It used to be high, high, high.

If you are feeling well in the AM it is a pretty good indication that your higher AHI was an anomoly (say that quickly five times).

However, be aware that AHI is not the be-all and end-all of health; again, you need to look at the data collected at night and I would (personally) be recording my SpO2 during the night as well. I am so anal after my three week stint on life support that I actually have a hospital grade blood pressure machine, a Datascope Accutor 3 with recording printer built in. If I am truly worried I will strap the cuff on when I hit the sack as well. I am usually tired enough that I fall asleep and sleep well anyway, even all wired up. Data. data. DATA. That's what it is all about IMHO. I'd start with the data from your PAP machine and the data from a recording pulse oximeter.

Sleep apnea kills. Make no mistake about it. Please. It may not do it on its own either (high BP = stroke risk, etc.). It may lead to Atrial Fibrillation, Diabetes and a host of other afflictions.

Read up. It will muster your desire to get things squared away as best you can.

Short Answer: I wouldn't be too worried about an AHI under 1.0 but as our moderator says... if it is climbing I think I would want to find out why. And you can't do that if you don't study up. I consider my apnea fully under control these days, but I had it for many years before my age made it catch up to me..... and I firmly believe that it has left me with Atrial Fibrillation (also under control for the moment), diabetes (also under control at the moment) and put me in the hospital on full life support three years ago last week - to the extent that they wanted to pull the plug the buggers (I guess I wasn't profitable enough as a veggie). I woke up with my eyes taped shut to hear two doctors at the foot of my bed saying "Let's put this bastard on plain oxygen and see if he breathes on his own". I did.

[w7sot]

OK, just check my data for today, all looks just fine - except for the 15 obstructive apnea events in 8 minutes - other than that just a few scattered here and their - but they all bunch up about 30 mins before I got up this morning.

[Lkng67]

Mine is doing the same. I am getting many Centrals. I went to see my sleep neurologist and she seemed un phased. They tested a different size mask bbut I have minimal leakage now and I am up to a 12 and 8 AHI, which is where I started, but I had no controls.  I ran a 1 or 2 AHI until Christmas.

I told my doctor I started a new medication when this started and she said the medication has no impact. 

I will continue to wear my machine, but even Resmed noticed the increases today and sent me an email!

Hmm.

Lesley