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Newly Diagnosed. Vague results explanation - CAgee - 03-30-2018
I'm new here so firstly, Hello. :
was newly diagnosed a couple days ago and am currentlywaiting the 7-10 days they said before I should hear anything about the CPAP the doctor
ordered for me. I was told I have Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea. I wanted more detail so
I call the Doctor and here is what he told me:
Monitored for : 418 minutes
Was asleep for : 407 minutes
REM sleep : 93.3 minutes
Oxygen level of : 84
Respiratory events : 166
Can anyone assist me in interpreting this information in as far as actual severity? I would be
most grateful.
RE: Newly Diagnosed. Vague results explanation - markndurham - 03-30-2018
Welcome CAgee.
A normal oxygen level is 97-100%. When you have sleep apnea and fall asleep, the back of your throat relaxes and blocks your airway. Since air is not getting to your lungs during this time, oxygen levels in your blood drop and in your case it was measured at 84%. I suspect this was the lowest level they measured during the test. This is indeed low. Because your airway was blocked, you aroused from sleep 166 times during the night so you could breath. If you feel tired that is because you wake up on average about every 40 seconds all night long. CPAP therapy should fix this problem and then you can really sleep. Another number you might want to get from your doctor is your AHI. 0-5 is normal, 5-15 is mild sleep apnea, 15-30 is moderate and greater than 30 is severe.
RE: Newly Diagnosed. Vague results explanation - Ron AKA - 03-30-2018
(03-30-2018, 11:26 AM)CAgee Wrote: I'm new here so firstly, Hello. :
waiting the 7-10 days they said before I should hear anything about the CPAP the doctor
ordered for me. I was told I have Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea. I wanted more detail so
I call the Doctor and here is what he told me:
Monitored for : 418 minutes
Was asleep for : 407 minutes
REM sleep : 93.3 minutes
Oxygen level of : 84
Respiratory events : 166
Can anyone assist me in interpreting this information in as far as actual severity? I would be
most grateful.
Just to add a bit to the good information that Markndurham provided, I just got my in home sleep study results a week ago. I am now in the CPAP trial period. My monitored time was 433 minutes and they recorded a total of 268 events. If you convert minutes to hours and divide the events by those hours it works out to 37 events per hour. The reported my AHI index as the same 37, and classified it as severe. My minimum O2 level as lower than yours at 78%.
If I do the same with your results I get an AHI value of 23.8 which would fall in the moderate range, not severe. So you should ask for the AHI number they got just to confirm. You should also ask for the number of each type of apnea event. The critical number is the number of CA (central apnea) events compared to OA (obstructive apnea). It sounds like yours must be high in OA as they reported it as Obstuctive Sleep Apnea. However, be careful as CPAP therapy which is likely the next step is not all that effective in lowering CA events, and in fact they may even increase. So, I would ask the doctor specifically about that to see if it may be an issue.
The other little bit of a heads up if the machine is going to be paid for with insurance is that the final classification (severe vs moderate) may become important. The insurance company, to save costs, may push you toward a fixed pressure CPAP machine rather than an auto pressure CPAP, sometimes called APAP. I would suggest you try to get the Auto CPAP. If necessary it can be set to get a fixed pressure, and overall is more flexible in how you can treat the apnea effectively over time. Your doctor can probably help you there by specifying the machine to be an Auto CPAP.
RE: Newly Diagnosed. Vague results explanation - CAgee - 03-30-2018
Thank you guys! I so much appreciate you taking the time to respond and give me such great information. Any time we can learn is a great thing and I certainly did that. Thanks again!
RE: Newly Diagnosed. Vague results explanation - JesseLee - 03-30-2018
A quick touch of the calculator reveals that you have a respiratory disturbance index (RDI) of 23.85. That means you have apnea, hypopnea, or respiratory-effort related arousal an average of 23.85 times an hour which is moderate. The good news is that you are about to start feeling better. CPAP therapy is an excellent way to get better sleep and I imagine you aren't happy with the way you sleep and feel the next day. Please take some time to read through the forum here. There are lots of pages of good information and people to help with any questions you may have. It is in your best interest to be as knowledgeable about CPAP therapy as you possibly can. Be ready to know what you can expect and you will have a much smoother experience.
Welcome to Apnea Board!
EDIT: you have moderate RDI, sorry for confusion
RE: Newly Diagnosed. Vague results explanation - Gideon - 03-30-2018
Your AHI is approximately 23.7 =(166 events / 7 hrs)
Mine was originally 90, a year ago 70.
Ask your Dr for a full copy of the sleep study, including all the charts and not just the summary, That you want it for your records. You are entitled to this.,
Read the New to Apnea wiki article (My sig or in the top section on the forum page, and please ask questions.
You WANT a ResMed AutoSet CPAP machine period. (Exception being is you have some more complicated form of Apnea and we see no signs of that (one reason you want the full sleep study)
RE: Newly Diagnosed. Vague results explanation - Mosquitobait - 03-31-2018
Honestly, it helps to call the office before your doc appointment and ask them for a copy of the raw study and the report. You need that for your records, but you also want to examine it before you see the doctor so you have a chance to understand some of the info to ask intelligent questions. Otherwise, they tend to give you a BS story about that you have to wait for the doc to see your records (not true in any state!).