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Obsessing - eaglett1111 - 08-23-2012
Okay I need to be talked down.
Does anyone know if the "normal" person has HA or AHI or CA or whatever episodes during the night? What is normal? I have what I think are low scores, but they are over 0% and I am not happy.
Is there a normal?
RE: Obsessing - kitley - 08-23-2012
I am sure others with more experience will reply too. I only know that an AHI under 5.0 is considered very good. It seems from the board that it is unusual to get 0....though I have on occassion.
RE: Obsessing - acdodd - 08-23-2012
Anything less than 5 is considered normal from what I have read.
I am consistently under so I don't obsess with the numbers.
RE: Obsessing - PaulaO2 - 08-23-2012
Of course there is a normal. Just like with blood sugar and high blood pressure.
A non-sleep apnea person has an AHI of less than 5. Our goal as hoseheads is to also get below 5.
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php?title=AHI
I would assume that anyone who snores is at least having hypopnea events. And an AHI of 5 means that in an 8 hr night, they are having at most 40 events.
So, come down off the ledge. I have cookies.
RE: Obsessing - eaglett1111 - 08-23-2012
Oh Paula thank you. Laughed and laughed and laughed. I need to go buy some dark chocolate. I do have an AHI of 2.2 lately. It is up from .9 at my start of this mid-July. So it made me obsess. I am nuts. But I am now cured, thanks to your cookies.
RE: Obsessing - archangle - 08-23-2012
You should also look at the data with something like SleepyHead.
Even if you have a somewhat high AHI, you may find your apneas are very short. Or a low AHI may have a few long, severe apneas.
Also realize, it's not an on/off good/bad thing. Look at it as apnea being something like smoking. Some apneacs are like one cigarette a week smokers. Some are like two pack a day smokers. The health effects vary greatly.
RE: Obsessing - dakota - 08-24-2012
It should be noted that an AHI of 0 is also next to impossible because even healthy people, with no clinical apnea, can have a respiratory event a couple times an hour and be completely fine. An AHI below 5 is normal, but there are even some studies out that show that very mild sleep apnea (<8) does not cause any significant issues to the body save for sleepiness. I can have a patient come into the lab with an AHI of 8 and be exhausted, but I can have someone with an AHI of 40 and think the whole thing is crap. The only time where the AHI <5 is unacceptable is in children where there is a zero tolerance for sleep apnea.
RE: Obsessing - mjbearit - 08-24-2012
Eaglett, don't obsess. First of all, quit worrying about your daily AHI. Concentrate on your long term goals. If I remember right you just got a machine recently. If that is correct, your body needs time to adjust! Seriously. On a daily basis my AHI is all over the place, but always below 5! Over the course of a week or a month or a year that continues to adjust and you begin to see improvement overall. BTW, there is always dark chocolate in my freezer, just in case! I have a wife and 2 daughters. It is required!
RE: Obsessing - eaglett1111 - 08-24-2012
Thanks all. I just love dark chocolate. I really appreciate the comments so very much. It helps me stay balanced as I adjust. As of today I have had my CPAP for a month. I know there will be more ups and downs. My AHI is always below 5, so as long as that is true I will not obsess. (right)
RE: Obsessing - JudgeMental - 08-24-2012
Very, very few people, if they are honest, will have a consistant. (0) AHI.
There are way too many factors to alter your AHI on a nightly basis to be consistantly -0-.. Some of these may be meds, emotions, etc,etc..
I have a monthly avg. AHI of 1.75 for the past year according to SleepyHead software. I feel great, sleep well at night, emotions are fine, BP, Lipids and all other normal tests are ok. I cannot get my AHI down any lower. The central apnea figure is the larger of the three (OA,HY & CA) that make up the AHI. My AHI must be NORMAL for me. I may lower my pressure a tad (1/2 to 1) to see if the CA's drop a bit, but I am not a number chaser.
Don't obsess..It'll raise your NORMAL AHI..
