High AHI Reading on Phillips System One
Lately, have been awakening with dry mouth. Went to my EP (electrophysicist) cardiologist today and they recommended I go see my sleep specialist in their practice. Reason is I have lost almost 50 lbs since November, and I might need a pressure adjustment. I'm thinking dryness might be a good sign.
So I just thought to check the stats on my machine. Whoa. 25.6 AHI last night, 15.1 average last 30 days. No large leaks or periodic breathing in the last month.
I don't think I'm mouth breathing or have mask probs. Is this AHI accurate, a sign of machine probs, or due to need to lower or raise pressure?
Thanks-
RE: High AHI Reading on Phillips System One
(05-05-2015, 07:17 PM)jettplane Wrote: Lately, have been awakening with dry mouth. Went to my EP (electrophysicist) cardiologist today and they recommended I go see my sleep specialist in their practice. Reason is I have lost almost 50 lbs since November, and I might need a pressure adjustment. I'm thinking dryness might be a good sign.
So I just thought to check the stats on my machine. Whoa. 25.6 AHI last night, 15.1 average last 30 days. No large leaks or periodic breathing in the last month.
I don't think I'm mouth breathing or have mask probs. Is this AHI accurate, a sign of machine probs, or due to need to lower or raise pressure?
You can check your data in sleepyhead and see what's going on.
Dry mouth is usually from leaks, so check the leak graph. Also, are you really low/out of water in the morning? This is also a sign of leaks.
You can also check the event chart in sleepyhead and see what your AHI is made up of. If you have mostly centrals, for example, you might need your pressure adjusted, or possibly a different machine.
However if they have a sleep specialist and you have insurance, it's probably not a bad idea to get checked out after losing all that weight.
RE: High AHI Reading on Phillips System One
Hi jettplane and welcome to Apnea Board
You want to check the makeup of AHI, obsttuctive apnea, hpopnea, and clear airways apnea (central apnea on ResMed machines)
Also a good idea to download SleepHead software (link at he top of the page) so you can see the times when those apneas are occurring and if any in clusters
No large leak does not mean you had no leaks, only mean that the machine does not detect a leak large enough to qualify as a large leak but Respironcis does not put a number on it as ResMed does
Dry mouth is an indication of mouth breathing or and therapy air leaking through the mouth which in turn can result of ineffective therapy and that might explain the high AHI
Others who use nasal mask and myself included use a chinstrap to helps keeps mouth closed and minimize mouth leaks
RE: High AHI Reading on Phillips System One
Hi jettplane,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
It would be a good idea for you to see the sleep doc, just to make sure everything checks out well for you. .
CONGRATULATIONS! on your weight loss.
Hang in there for more responses to your post and much success to you as you continue your CPAP therapy.
trish6hundred
RE: High AHI Reading on Phillips System One
Thanks, Terry and zonk.
Sleepyhead data says mostly obstructive apnea. Looks like the bad readings began after I returned from a trip where I didn't take the machine.
Water has not been low in the morning. Waking up extremely dry after 2-3 hours. A little better by time I wake.
I've not had trouble with keeping mouth closed in the past. Indeed, my troubles are usually too much humidity, having to dump out water during the night. Doc today said dryness can be from pressure being too high, and that could be because of weight loss. I was concerned, however, with AHI being 25 last night. That's not a whole lot less that the 40 AHI I had without a machine.
RE: High AHI Reading on Phillips System One
(05-05-2015, 08:48 PM)jettplane Wrote: Thanks, Terry and zonk.
Sleepyhead data says mostly obstructive apnea. Looks like the bad readings began after I returned from a trip where I didn't take the machine.
The machine should be able to take care of the OAs if it's set correctly and you don't open your mouth or have a lot of leaking.
If you can post your graphs, I'm sure someone will have a good idea what's going on.
RE: High AHI Reading on Phillips System One
Thanks, trish6hundred. I'm not sure how long I've been on Cpap/bipap. This machine goes back to 2013, when I had sleep studies redone. I think I've been on since 2010 or so. No question I got immediate relief after both new machines Wasn't expecting such a bad reading from the current bipap given recent weight loss. I have really good energy from the weight loss, but I think some tiredness I've been chalking up to exercising more may due more to sleep issues.
RE: High AHI Reading on Phillips System One
Dry mouth is typically caused by mouth leaking or breathing. Try a chin strap or a full face mask or some sort of round pillow under your chin.
Not sure that I agree with your doc on dryness being caused by pressure being too high except that maybe with higher pressure you get more mouth leaks which then cause the dry mouth
Best Regards,
PaytonA.
