Hello Guest, Welcome to Apnea Board !
As a guest, you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use.
To post a message, you must create a free account using a valid email address.

or Create an Account


New Posts   Today's Posts

Strange Nap
#1
Strange Nap
Last night my AHI was 0.3. Today I took a thirty minute nap and my AHI was 13.2. The difference is probably because I took my nap lying on my back drifting in and out of sleep. I could feel the machine kick in urging me to breathe. Does that mean that my apneas are not really being treated when I lie on my back or that they were treated and I can relax and take more naps on my back.
I usually sleep on my side because I know my apneas are much worse on my back. But now that I have my machine I feel safer to just relax and go ahead and sleep on my back. But with an AHI of 13. 2 for half an hour on my back will my machine really treat me if I sleep on my back. My pressures are 6-16 and when I looked at the pressure as I got up from my nap it was at around 9.6

I'm a be confused as whether or not it is okay to take a nap or sleep on my back if my AHI goes up so much. Is the machine taking care of me on my back or should I always sleep on my side?
Post Reply Post Reply
#2
RE: Strange Nap
(01-10-2014, 02:33 PM)Lukie Wrote: Last night my AHI was 0.3. Today I took a thirty minute nap and my AHI was 13.2. The difference is probably because I took my nap lying on my back drifting in and out of sleep. I could feel the machine kick in urging me to breathe. Does that mean that my apneas are not really being treated when I lie on my back or that they were treated and I can relax and take more naps on my back.
I usually sleep on my side because I know my apneas are much worse on my back. But now that I have my machine I feel safer to just relax and go ahead and sleep on my back. But with an AHI of 13. 2 for half an hour on my back will my machine really treat me if I sleep on my back. My pressures are 6-16 and when I looked at the pressure as I got up from my nap it was at around 9.6

I'm a be confused as whether or not it is okay to take a nap or sleep on my back if my AHI goes up so much. Is the machine taking care of me on my back or should I always sleep on my side?

can you look at your data and see whether it shows anything that would have caused your AHI to be that high?
Post Reply Post Reply
#3
RE: Strange Nap
Sleeping on my back caused it to go so I because I have positional sleep apnea. But I thought the machine would treat that.
Post Reply Post Reply
#4
RE: Strange Nap
(01-10-2014, 03:13 PM)Lukie Wrote: Sleeping on my back caused it to go so I because I have positional sleep apnea. But I thought the machine would treat that.

your machine will adjust for OA and Hypopneas but it will still show how many events you had. if you had leaks that could have been part of why you had that many. back sleeping has the potential for those with OSA to have more events than if laying on the side. I try to sleep on my side but a lot of times, I sleep on my back but generally have really low AHI's (under 1 each night). There are a lot of factors that go into how one is affected by back sleeping.....I think it is as individual as masks are. Hopefully, this many AHI's won't happen for you much.
Post Reply Post Reply
#5
RE: Strange Nap
Your AHI is meaningless if you are drifting in and out of sleep--it is only meaningful once you fall asleep and stay asleep. I have seen exactly the same thing when taking short naps, with an AHI as high as 20. It's a perfectly normal breathing pattern and has nothing to do with sleep apnea. If you are reviewing your detailed data graphs, it is best to disregard any periods of time when you know you were either awake or drifting in and out of sleep. When a PSG technician is scoring a sleep study, they do not include any events like that in your AHI for the sleep study.
Post Reply Post Reply
#6
RE: Strange Nap
Data during a half hour nap where you never really went all the way to sleep is really not valid data.

Then there's other factors. Were you in your bed? Or propped up on the couch? If on the couch, what angle was your neck in? If in a sharp angle, like we usually are when on the couch like that, the throat is already compromised.

Your machine is going to take care of you. Stop worrying about it.

But if you want to test it, lay down in bed at night and sleep on your back. Surround yourself with pillows so that rolling off your back is difficult. Try to get several solid hours this way. The more the better. Yes, your AHI is going to be higher because gravity is at work.
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




Post Reply Post Reply
#7
RE: Strange Nap
Thanks. It is all interesting. I'm not worried, more curious. I have never liked to sleep on my back until I got the machine.
Because with the machine I feel safe enough to sleep on my back. I would like to sleep on my back some of the time because I have an old rotator cuff injury on the left side and I get some GERD on the right side so
I move around a bit to ease various ailments.
Post Reply Post Reply
#8
RE: Strange Nap
Lukie, did you notice any unusual leakage? When I have a bad AHI it is usually accompanied by a lot of leaks and is usually when I sleep in an unusual position. I thrash around a bit when not sleeping well and that causes everything to go crazy.
Post Reply Post Reply
#9
RE: Strange Nap
No. Actually that was during a nap. And when I went to bed and slept 8 hours the AHI straightened out from the 13.2 to around 1.9. Last night my AHI was 0.1 the lowest ever. I am on my way now. I use the ruby red chinstrap and the swift fx nano nasal mask and I am sleeping like a baby. I might wake up for a pit stop or two but nothing like before.
Post Reply Post Reply
#10
RE: Strange Nap
Lukie, if you really do have positional apnea then your machine should automatically raise the pressure when you're sleeping on back in response to your airway collapsing. You would have to check your data to see if the pressure really is maxing out at 16 cm H2O when you sleep on back. You could also verify that you are having lots of apneas or hypopneas during these periods.
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
Post Reply Post Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  New VAUTO, strange settings pulmonologist edgnoj 25 1,205 02-22-2024, 10:51 AM
Last Post: edgnoj
  Strange dry mouth patterns bbbl67 2 401 11-25-2023, 06:24 PM
Last Post: bbbl67
  Oscar Data (Anything Strange?) ShermansMarchingBand 2 452 11-15-2023, 10:45 AM
Last Post: gainerfull
Question [Treatment] Strange breathing waveforms on ASV Hrapovik 3 557 06-09-2023, 12:30 PM
Last Post: Apnea23
  Waking Up After ~90 Minutes with Strange Head Sensation MickTravis 3 774 01-20-2023, 10:49 PM
Last Post: ewriter
  Very Strange Breathing Pattern upsman 3 500 09-10-2022, 06:18 PM
Last Post: Gideon
  Really strange mask pressure reading cathyf 4 593 07-14-2022, 08:17 AM
Last Post: cathyf


New Posts   Today's Posts


About Apnea Board

Apnea Board is an educational web site designed to empower Sleep Apnea patients.