AHI at 4-5, but not feeling refreshed
Hi All,
I have been able to bring my AHI down to the 4-5 range by using CPAP fixed pressure at 8. However, I still dont wake up feeling refreshed. My doctor says the AHI is in normal range but I still would like to make it go lower as I feel it will help with the morning freshness feeling. My daytime sleepiness has reduced significantly but waking up is very hard.
A bit of background, I used to use an APAP range but this led to a lot of pressure-induced Central Apneas (which I did not have at all in my sleep study). As such, I use a fixed CPAP of 8 which has brought it to a manageable numbers. I have attached the graphs herein and you will see that the Central Apnes are around half of the event. And flex is off.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Thank you,
Ppk
RE: AHI at 4-5, but not feeling refreshed
It took me 3 months before my sleep quality improved. Initially, my AHI varied from 2.x to 3.x. AHI went down to between 1 and 2 (closer to 1) before my sleep quality improved notably.
Dave
RE: AHI at 4-5, but not feeling refreshed
You have probably optimized the CPAP as best as possible without going into some more advanced therapy. I'm going to give you a few ideas, and please feed back what interests you. Your AHI is within acceptable limits but you don't feel rested. Spy Car is another member that felt this way and he worked hard to be approved for ASV therapy. You can read about his whole journey from trying to make an Airsense 10 work to his experience using and succeeding with ASV.
http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/search....65ab2b131e
Another option might be to use an "EERS" as discussed by Foxfire in this thread.
http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...some-sleep This is an exhale dead space that keeps some CO2 in your CPAP line and eliminates CA events allowing higher or variable CPAP pressures to reduce the obstructive events. Read the thread carefully to understand what is going on.
I think either of these options might work for you. They are not conventional and will require some work on your part, whether to pursuade your medical team that ASV is necessary for you to "get your life back", or building a logical alternative to ASV that may reduce the negative effects of CPAP by retaining CO2.
RE: AHI at 4-5, but not feeling refreshed
Have you evaluated the events breakdown with sleepyhead (obstructive, hypopnea, central)?
You may be able to play with your fixed pressure and epr settings to optimize it further.
PRS1 Auto & Dreamstation Auto w/ P10 and straight pressure of 8cm