AHI means nothing

[Jeremy H]

I'm sorry but after reading all these threads with folks here struggling with pressures and settings, and dealing with my own
difficulties, I think stats are more of a distraction than meaningful. What really matters is how I feel when I wake up. My AHI
was higher from last night after lowering pressures and c-flex, but I woke up more refreshed. People here have been dealing
with this for years with no results. I'd say stop using oscar and or whatever, and go by how you feel. It seems you have to try different settings
and go by if you got a better nights sleep or not, and not let stats tell you if you did better or not. 

I'm blown away by how high some folks pressures here are. I'd blow up like a balloon if I used them. Turn um down and start over low
and slowly adjust. IMHO.

[SarcasticDave94]

On one aspect of numbers don't matter where you're right. You need to allow how you feel to guide your therapy. However, I'm not certain discarding numbers and stats altogether will work so well. And it's definitely not going to work for everyone. You can get away with no stats if you're fully self funding your therapy. But if insurance is paying, you need to show compliance hours.

If you don't get AHI below 5, you're not yet treated according to the medical definition. Another area with numbers is they can be associated with feeling rested or not. These are used to measure progress. You can use the numbers to mark or signify what needs to happen to feel well rested.

What happens to those that can't gain feeling well rested no matter what they try? If they had stats, they can look at areas to see various aspects of the therapy. Maybe there's lots of CA, flow limits, too many leaks, something that clues the user in on what needs addressed. Take the CA number for example. This stat can be noted that it's elevated, was noted on the sleep diagnostic study, and it's not addressed with CPAP. This is evidence of needing ASV, a higher level machine.

I'll still suggest to others to balance numbers and stats with how you feel. You need both to properly gauge therapy success or failure. Even if it were to work great, others that answer to insurance must account for compliance, so we can't disregard numbers completely.

[Karlin]

I completely agree that how you feel is what matters most. If you have a high AHI but feel good, don't worry too much. At one point with a previous machine I had a very high AHI that concerned my doc. So he gave me a device to test my oxygen saturation throughout the night. Turned out my oxygen was fine. The machine was over-estimating the number of events. Later on the events remained high but I felt worse and worse and was able to use the machine less and less. They sent me in for a new study and determined that my problem was central sleep apnea and I needed an ASV, not a cpap. So, I don't think you should chase number for the sake of simply getting better ones. But if you have problems with your therapy and don't feel as good as you should, look at the numbers to get a clue as to what is wrong.

[staceyburke]

The point is - The numbers lead to the correct adjustments.  I go for a month without looking at the numbers.  If I start to feel bad, tried - rundown I do.  The numbers tell me that I need to raise pressure and which one or if I need to increase PS.  Without them I could try repeatedly different combinations and never get it right.  Sorry but the numbers are very important.

[Jeremy H]

Not sure what an ASV is and I think your right. I could probably do with another real sleep study since it's been over 20 years from my last one and the technology has improved greatly. The cpap I have now may not be the right machine for me. I tried the resmed auto one night, it was a disaster, thank Shakumuni Buddha the seller took it back.

Blowing up my lungs and gulping air is not my idea of a good nights sleep no matter what the 'stats' say. I can't get used to that. But who can afford to go into a sleep center ofton, for a test, to adjust settings? I don't know man, thanks for your reply's.

[SarcasticDave94]

ASV is a specific machine to treat Central Apnea. It's what I was on most recent.

Here's how most work Apnea treatment, doc gets you a sleep study to prove PAP need, some get titration to find pressures and responses, supposedly to find a good start point, then you're scripted a PAP. Especially going this route if insurance is paying. Now there should be some pressure adjusting to make therapy optimized for yourself, mostly though this step doesn't happen.

That's what we do here that the docs won't. Take time to view data and suggest editing settings, asking how you feel. Both numbers and how you feel seem to be full answer so optimized pressures are found.

[OpalRose]

Jeremy,
I agree that the AHI number isn't something to chase, but it does give us some indication on what is going on. We always try to stress that "how you feel" is priority. With that said, it sounds like your DreamStation isn't giving you the therapy you need.

A sleep study isn't always necessary, but after 20 years... well things change. We get older, fatter, skinnier, face shape changes, develop health issues, etc. All these things affect our sleep and numbers.

I personally would think twice (with the Covid situation) about going for an overnight study... that's just me being paranoid.

I know you seem to be against using OSCAR to monitor your statistics, but these stats can point out an issue or as you stated... maybe your not using the right machine.

[Big Guy]

My AHI #'s are very good. It will be three years of CPAP therapy on Sept. 11. 

I'm still patiently waiting for that feel good ship to pull into dock. 

[OpalRose]

My AHI #'s are very good. It will be three years of CPAP therapy on Sept. 11. 

I'm still patiently waiting for that feel good ship to pull into dock. 

I'm still waiting for that too...  

But in all fairness, it's not the Cpap therapy, it's other health issues!

[DaveL]

Oh boy. I appreciate all the work you do here. Your help is amazing. Reading your comments here I wish I could help.

After about 29 years of feeling-like-c_rap I'm finally feeling better because of your suggestions to me.

Health issues ain't fun.


Jeremy H I had to learn to listen to recommendations made to me. Changes don't happen over night.

I've done this for about 30 years. Results happened when I came here and listened to the people that have posted here. I'll always be grateful.
To those that posted above answering here, my deep gratitude for helping me so much

Jeremy H my story isn't important. I just had to speak up reading the posts from those that helped me so much. And to be successful I had to pay attention to them.

Be well. Here's to good sleep quality and feeling better.