Inconsistent AHI thoughout the night
Hi folks,
Thanks in advance for the advice.
I've been using an auto CPAP for about 3 months. My AHI in the lab was 38.
A few times recently I woke up at 5 in the morning and noted that my AHI was low (0.9 to 1.3) with usage of about 5 to 7 hours. I went back to sleep for and hour or two and when I awoke finally my AHI was in the 5 to 6 range or even higher.
I looked at my detailed graph and I note that very often I have low incidence of apnea events all night until and hour or two before I would normally get up and then they are quite high. There appears also to be a fair amount of central apnea going on.
Any ideas?
Mike in Toronto
RE: Inconsistent AHI thoughout the night
(03-29-2013, 12:56 PM)Mike in Toronto Wrote: Hi folks,
Thanks in advance for the advice.
I've been using an auto CPAP for about 3 months. My AHI in the lab was 38.
A few times recently I woke up at 5 in the morning and noted that my AHI was low (0.9 to 1.3) with usage of about 5 to 7 hours. I went back to sleep for and hour or two and when I awoke finally my AHI was in the 5 to 6 range or even higher.
I looked at my detailed graph and I note that very often I have low incidence of apnea events all night until and hour or two before I would normally get up and then they are quite high. There appears also to be a fair amount of central apnea going on.
Any ideas?
Mike in Toronto What type of apneas are shown in Sleepyhead? Are they OSA, Hypopneas, unspecified or clear airway? I"VE USED CPAP over a year and finally had to change to VPAP Adaptive Servo Ventilation because of central apneas made worse by the CPAP pressure. Most of mine appeared like you described yours. Clustered together; especially the centrals. Some showed up in transition to sleep but they also showed up quite at random, especially in clusters of dozens of events.
Some people say the data capable machines cannot distinguish a true central apnea, but that's debatable. All of mine that my Resmed S9 Autoset said were centrals actually were and that's why I now am on VPAP ASV. It completely eliminated the centrals and also the OSA as well. Yours may or may not be, but don't ignore them either. The smell of smoke only appears where there's a possibility of fire....
Ratt
RE: Inconsistent AHI thoughout the night
It could also be body position. Perhaps you are rolling over as you slowly wake up and there's a leak. Or you roll onto your back at that point.
Like Pete said, it's not just that there are a lot of events, but also the kind of events and how long they last.
PaulaO
Take a deep breath and count to zen.
RE: Inconsistent AHI thoughout the night
It happens. This morning at 6:30am I woke up and said to myself: "It's 6:30am. I think I will try sleeping on my back a bit."
What started out as a fairly clean night went downhill fast as I recorded 28 hypopneas and 14 OA's in less than one hour. Needless to say it blew my AHI skyhigh, well over 11!
So...today I am ordering a small back pack to fill with tennis balls and foam.
'nuff said.
"With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable." - Thomas Foxwell Buxton
RE: Inconsistent AHI thoughout the night
(03-29-2013, 12:56 PM)Mike in Toronto Wrote: A few times recently I woke up at 5 in the morning and noted that my AHI was low (0.9 to 1.3) with usage of about 5 to 7 hours. I went back to sleep for and hour or two and when I awoke finally my AHI was in the 5 to 6 range or even higher.
Um, you may be missing the concept here.
When it comes to AI/HI/AHI/CI, the LOWER the better, especially if the numbers are LESS than 5.
RE: Inconsistent AHI thoughout the night
(03-30-2013, 04:00 PM)Ugly Wrote: (03-29-2013, 12:56 PM)Mike in Toronto Wrote: A few times recently I woke up at 5 in the morning and noted that my AHI was low (0.9 to 1.3) with usage of about 5 to 7 hours. I went back to sleep for and hour or two and when I awoke finally my AHI was in the 5 to 6 range or even higher.
Um, you may be missing the concept here.
When it comes to AI/HI/AHI/CI, the LOWER the better, especially if the numbers are LESS than 5.
Thanks to everyone for your very helpful replies. I appreciate the thought that went into them.
And Ugly, thank you to for your reply. Rest assured that I understand that in this game, as in golf, low scores are best. The point of my question was to understand why my scores were initially low (good) and then sky rocketed (not so good).
I appreciate the concern.
Mike
RE: Inconsistent AHI thoughout the night
(03-30-2013, 06:14 PM)Mike in Toronto Wrote: (03-30-2013, 04:00 PM)Ugly Wrote: (03-29-2013, 12:56 PM)Mike in Toronto Wrote: A few times recently I woke up at 5 in the morning and noted that my AHI was low (0.9 to 1.3) with usage of about 5 to 7 hours. I went back to sleep for and hour or two and when I awoke finally my AHI was in the 5 to 6 range or even higher.
Um, you may be missing the concept here.
When it comes to AI/HI/AHI/CI, the LOWER the better, especially if the numbers are LESS than 5.
Thanks to everyone for your very helpful replies. I appreciate the thought that went into them.
And Ugly, thank you to for your reply. Rest assured that I understand that in this game, as in golf, low scores are best. The point of my question was to understand why my scores were initially low (good) and then sky rocketed (not so good).
I appreciate the concern.
I replied based on your wording. It sounded like you were concerned because your AHI was so LOW. I just wanted to make sure that you didn't misunderstand the idea that, as you said, lowest is best.
Quote:I went back to sleep for and hour or two and when I awoke finally my AHI was in the 5 to 6 range or even higher.
It sounded like you were glad that your AHI was increasing.
I wanted to be sure that you realized that's NOT something to strive for. I may have misunderstood your context of "finally"
(finally, my AHI was in the 5 to 6 range or even higher.)
No it's not something to be glad about and that's how I took your statement. Re-reading this I may have misunderstood the context but I wanted to be sure that a higher AHI was not an objective.
RE: Inconsistent AHI thoughout the night
I typically have a small cluster of central events between 5 and 6am. Not every night, but enough that when I see them, I look at the time and yep, between 5 and 6am.
So it could be positional, it could be a disturbance around you (the force maybe?).
PaulaO
Take a deep breath and count to zen.
RE: Inconsistent AHI thoughout the night
That's right. AHI's are like golf scores. Lower is better. Below 5 is good.
Cheers!
"With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable." - Thomas Foxwell Buxton
RE: Inconsistent AHI thoughout the night
(03-30-2013, 07:14 PM)Ugly Wrote: (03-30-2013, 06:14 PM)Mike in Toronto Wrote: (03-30-2013, 04:00 PM)Ugly Wrote: Um, you may be missing the concept here.
When it comes to AI/HI/AHI/CI, the LOWER the better, especially if the numbers are LESS than 5.
Thanks to everyone for your very helpful replies. I appreciate the thought that went into them.
And Ugly, thank you to for your reply. Rest assured that I understand that in this game, as in golf, low scores are best. The point of my question was to understand why my scores were initially low (good) and then sky rocketed (not so good).
I appreciate the concern.
I replied based on your wording. It sounded like you were concerned because your AHI was so LOW. I just wanted to make sure that you didn't misunderstand the idea that, as you said, lowest is best.
Quote:I went back to sleep for and hour or two and when I awoke finally my AHI was in the 5 to 6 range or even higher.
It sounded like you were glad that your AHI was increasing.
I wanted to be sure that you realized that's NOT something to strive for. I may have misunderstood your context of "finally"
(finally, my AHI was in the 5 to 6 range or even higher.)
No it's not something to be glad about and that's how I took your statement. Re-reading this I may have misunderstood the context but I wanted to be sure that a higher AHI was not an objective.
Understood and appreciated.
Thanks again
Mike
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