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+--- Thread: ahi reading (/Thread-ahi-reading)
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ahi reading - nativedancer - 04-26-2015
i don't understand why my ahi readings will be greater, say 15, during the first five hours of sleep, but after a brief wakeup break at 6 am register lower, perhaps 13, for the total 8 hrs or so. does this indicate that the earlier hours had more REM sleep? if this is the case, it seems that the longer i sleep, the lower my ahi will be.
RE: ahi reading - Crimson Nape - 04-26-2015
It could be you have the ramp turned on. A S9 won't record any events while it's in the ramp mode but it records the time towards total sleep hours. For example: If you had the ramp feature turned on and set to 45 minutes and started your xPAP twice during the sleep cycle, you would go a total of 1½ hours of recorded time without recording any events.
RE: ahi reading - nativedancer - 04-26-2015
no, the ramp is off. is a puzzlement, yes?
RE: ahi reading - PaulaO2 - 04-26-2015
No, because you forgot time.
I assume you are getting the AHI from the screen?
AHI is total events divided by time.
Let's say you slept 4 hrs and had a total of 48 events. That's an AHI of 12. But if you go back to sleep for another 4 hours and have just 20 events, your total AHI would be 8.5. Those 48 plus the 20 divided by 8hrs (the 2 4hr sessions).
RE: ahi reading - nativedancer - 04-26-2015
ah, paula2, thanks! i never was any good at math! but doesn't this mean simply that i can lower my ahi if i sleep longer?
RE: ahi reading - truetopath - 04-26-2015
Potentially yes, but I think a pressure increase would lower your ahi more effectively. An AHI of greater than 5 is technically not considered treated. I would talk to your doc before messing around with settings though, especially being on a vpap.
RE: ahi reading - retired_guy - 04-26-2015
The problem with AHI is it doesn't really, on it's own, mean a whole lot. It's simply an average over a number of hours, and is used by the medical community to establish how good or bad is your apnea condition. Much like when you go see your doc the first thing they ask is "How are you?" Answer: "Fine thank you." Response: "My job here is done."
What needs to be considered is how many events are you having. What sort of events are you having (OA, CA, Hypop...) What pressures are you seeing on your machine when you're having them. What is your leak percentages.
Looking at and understanding the relationship of all those things will allow you to treat the condition (the apneas), not just the appearance of the condition (AHI). That's when you will find your sweet spot. At that point you'll see AHI's that are quite low, and proudly will be able to tell your sleep doc "I'm feeling great! Thanks for asking."
RE: ahi reading - PaulaO2 - 04-26-2015
(04-26-2015, 06:17 PM)nativedancer Wrote: ah, paula2, thanks! i never was any good at math! but doesn't this mean simply that i can lower my ahi if i sleep longer?
No, because if you are still having events, the AHI is still going to be high.
And yeah, why are you having an AHI over 5? Work with your doc to get that lower. How are you feeling? Rested?
RE: ahi reading - Crimson Nape - 04-26-2015
What Retired_Guy said plus you need to look at the duration of each event. Resmed's will record an event on a condition that lasts 10 seconds or longer. A 10 second event is no biggie. However, an event that lasts 30 seconds or longer, or you're having events in clusters, is an area of concern.
RE: ahi reading - nativedancer - 04-26-2015
thanks, all. doc lowered the pressure from 26/20 to 18/10 because it was too high, couldn't stop the leaks. down to zero leaks now, sleeping well, just need to see some lower numbers. but i'm in no hurry, and i suspect the changes will be gradual.
I do have an upcoming oximeter overnight read coming up.