Curious about AHI

[Hanrahan]

According to this site an aponea or hypoaponea should last 10seconds to register but I lay awake for three hours last night trying a new pillow. My Resmed 10 Auto said I had 2.4 AHIs per hour. It must have read yawns, stretches and deep sighs.

A problem with this is that registering extraneous events causes the (auto)pressure to rise and I find pressures over abt 9 cms disturbing, causing the mask to break seal every time I twitch a cheek muscle or to force air out of my mouth whenever I relax my lips. [I am not a mouth breather]

Am I mis-reading this and/or would another brand be more discerning? [This one is still on trial]

I am as yet unconvinced about the benefit of CPAP for me but if I go with one I am considering a cheaper non-auto machine. Is that silly?

Hanrahan

AHI Rating
<5 Normal (no Sleep Apnea)
5-15 Mild Sleep Apnea
15-30 Moderate Sleep Apnea
>30 Severe Sleep Apnea
To count in the index apneas and hypopneas, collectively called events, must have a duration of at least 10 seconds.

[justMongo]

The machine cannot tell if you are awake or asleep. When awake, or near awake, the breathing pattern can emulate events.
All machines will have this issue. Machines do not score an event that lasts less than 10 seconds.

You have an auto machine running wide open between 4 and 20. In the final analysis, after determining an effective range of pressure for adequate therapy, the pressure window can be narrowed. Then, it will not run as high a pressure. You should not leak at 9 cm-H₂O. Mask adjustment or a different mask may be required.

After your trial period, if you prefer a fixed pressure machine, that's one way to go.
I know things down in OZ are different in terms of paying for xPAP.

We have quite a few Aussies on the forum who can guide you in navigating the process in OZ.

[Napmeister]

mongo is 100% correct, totally ignore any results from awake hours spent on therapy.

g'luck and hoping you give yourself the time or chance to really appreciate the changes you will experience once you get the mask type and machine settings right.

[zonk]

Real apnea while you're asleep, machine scored events while you're awake are meaningless and should pay no notice to them
Bed for sleeping or sex on some occasion, not laying hours on end trying to solve world problems
Awake breathing pattern can be erratic and different than sleeping breathing pattern
Your profile say "CPAP Pressure: 4 - 20", these are default settings from the factory
Have you had pressure titration sleep study? would be a good idea to use the recommended pressure as a starting point and see how things work out. You might find chinstrap helps keep mouth closed and minimize mouth leaks or full face mask as a last resort

[andyjh64]

Hi, I'm replying to this post for no other reason than my surname is Hanrahan. So Hello and welcome from another Hanrahan with OSA !

[justMongo]

Hi, I'm replying to this post for no other reason than my surname is Hanrahan. So Hello and welcome from another Hanrahan with OSA !

And you are both in Queensland... I know it's a big province in OZ.
Is Hanrahan a common name there?

[Hanrahan]

Hi, I'm replying to this post for no other reason than my surname is Hanrahan. So Hello and welcome from another Hanrahan with OSA !

I'm a Thomson, but "Hanrahan" as in Said Hanrahan is my hero.

[Hanrahan]

Hi, I'm replying to this post for no other reason than my surname is Hanrahan. So Hello and welcome from another Hanrahan with OSA !

And you are both in Queensland... I know it's a big province in OZ.
Is Hanrahan a common name there?

Not really, but it's Irish and we, like the US, have a lot of Irish heritage.