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RE: Another new member-Glad to be here - sonicboom - 11-05-2016
SnoringMark- welcome to the forum. You are doing quite well and I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment that how you feel is the best barometer of the efficacy of your therapy. I do want to add though that the AHI numbers do matter. Here is link to an excellent article from the Department of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School explaining what happens during OSA.
http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/sleep-apnea/what-is-osa/what-happens
"Because waking up is necessary to end an episode of apnea or hypopnea, a person with OSA wakes up again and again throughout sleep. This reduces the duration and quality of sleep."
"There are other physical effects of apnea. In people with OSA, repeated episodes of falling oxygen levels lead to a variety of physiological changes that affect the heart and blood vessels. During these episodes, the heart is stressed, which increases blood pressure and heart rate."
Let's take an example of someone with an AHI of 1 regularly with an average nightly sleep of 7 hours. On average this person's heart is stressed 7 times per night, 49 times per week. Now, lets take someone with an average nightly AHI of 5. That's 35 times per night, 245 times per week. (AHI of 5 or less is considered treated) So, even at the "considered treated" level of AHI 5 I strive, within reason, to decrease the number of times my heart is stressed by an apnea arousal. For me, less is better. High blood pressure runs in my family and I want to keep my BP numbers low enough to avoid hypertension medication.
Happy pappin!
RE: Another new member-Glad to be here - SnoringMark - 11-06-2016
sonicboom, Thanks for the informative article. Your example certainly makes your point about the AHI. However, I recently saw my sleep doc and had a similar discussion. I guess they noticed how obsessed I am with the numbers, when I came to the appointment with copies of my SleepyHead results to discuss with them. They ultimately recommended not stressing out about the numbers too much. I was surprised when they said anything under 10 was considered treated! They went on to talk about taking in to consideration where I started out, which was a AHI of 49. Putting that AHI into your example, my number of events for the week would have been 2401! So by contrast, 49 versus 245 (AHI of 1 versus AHI of 5) doesn't seem quite as impactful. I think that was the point the sleep doc was trying to make. I'm still trying to find the "right" balance for me. I know I'm very much the novice with all of this. Thanks very much for your response.
RE: Another new member-Glad to be here - Capt.Redbeard - 11-21-2016
Hello Snoring Mark. New here myself and just getting familiar with my unit and all the other equipment. I am also a "seasoned" citizen with a wonderful wife who really can't say a lot about my snoring and such as she is waiting to get her own bi-pap machine next week. We will be a pair won't we.
RE: Another new member-Glad to be here - SnoringMark - 11-21-2016
Hi Capt.Redbeard, welcome! This is a great place to learn and share ideas about sleep apnea. I hope your sleep therapy goes well. I suggest you take your time and be patient with your new machine. Don't be afraid to try different masks etc. until you get a setup you are comfortable with. I just switched the size of my mask and it made a big difference. Good luck to you and your wife with your new nightlife!