04-22-2019, 11:44 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-22-2019, 11:46 AM by Macros.)
Can one small Pillow change AHI from 3 to 10
Hi first part of last night was fine, at about 7 a I needed to visit the washroom, my device showed an AHI of 2.8. so all seemed to be fine. I decided to sleep a few more hours, put the mask back on an removed one small pillow 5-6 cm when my head lies on it. I did this because my neck was aching and I thought lying about flatter would help. The next 3 hours were a nightmare. I was awake several times gasping for air and after this nightmare the device showed an AHI of 10 for this 3 hours.
Could the reason really be the Pillow? Or just bad luck. I am on APAP for 4 weeks now and things started to get better and better so this was a really frustrating experience for me.
Help please
RE: Can one small Pillow change AHI from 3 to 10
Sorry, are you talking about a pillow on which your head rests, and not a nasal pillow? It seems a silly question, I know, but I want to be sure.
I don't see why the removal of a small head pillow should change anything unless that pillow had formerly prevented you from tucking your chin or from deforming and closing the mask otherwise. Did you experience any leaking? What does sleepyhead show in terms of flow limits and when the events happened (they are likely to coincide).
RE: Can one small Pillow change AHI from 3 to 10
Yes we are talking about a head pillow. Unfortunately I forgot my so card in the Cardreader so no detailed data for this night.
RE: Can one small Pillow change AHI from 3 to 10
try not to be discouraged. there might be a few folks that set it and forget it but many are here so they can learn to adapt to changes more often than the 'system' provides. pap-ing requires a lot of trial and error to start and occasional adjustments along the way to adapt to changes among a long list of variables.
head position could well be a factor. on the other hand...
it looks like you're talking increased ahi after 7am. about that I'll mention 2 things. first, many people refer to sleep wake junk (swj) or events flagged that occur when we're tossing and turning or otherwise kind of awake, maybe dozing. if you know you were awake, ignore those events. second, fwiw, my ahi is often pretty good until going up in the early morning hours. I almost always have more ragged breathing, more snoring and more events in the later hours of sleep because, I believe, that's usually when I have a longer uninterrupted session and presumably therefore, deeper sleep. I can be pretty sure I've slept relatively deeply when I wake up lip leaking on my back, and those things are often associated with events.
don't sweat one or two nights of anomalies. mostly we have to look at trends to see what's really going on. experiment with positions and pillows and masks etc., changing one thing at a time if possible. if it becomes a long term trend and it continues to bother you, check back again. post some sleepyhead charts for the experienced folks to interpret. click on sleepyhead in the black box top of this page to get started.
