newbie and total time in apnea
Howdy, approximately 23 days into cpap therapy. Just made an epr adjustment. Started at a 3 and went down to a 2. I have my pressure range from an 8 to a 16.
If my AHI are below a 5 averaging about one per hour, then why does my sleepy head data show that I am averaging somewhere between 2 to 3 minutes total in apnea?
I was thinking the machine was suppose to prevent apnea as soon as it was detected? I need all the brain cell functioning as I can get!
jenn jennn
08-20-2016, 03:04 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-20-2016, 03:05 PM by natyprueba.)
RE: newbie and total time in apnea
Hello JenJen,
You are doing really nice. Relax!!!
These are total time in apnea. It is the sum of all the time that you were in apnea during the complete time that you were sleeping. It is the sum of each individual event. Your numbers look very good.This time is in minutes.
If you can upload the daily report from SH, I will be 100% sure about that.
Ralph.
RE: newbie and total time in apnea
(08-20-2016, 02:19 PM)JenJen Wrote: Howdy, approximately 23 days into cpap therapy. Just made an epr adjustment. Started at a 3 and went down to a 2. I have my pressure range from an 8 to a 16.
If my AHI are below a 5 averaging about one per hour, then why does my sleepy head data show that I am averaging somewhere between 2 to 3 minutes total in apnea?
Well, let's say your AHI is 4 and you sleep 7 hours. That's a total of 7x4=28 events. Let's say half of them are actual apneas, so 14 apneas. If you have 3 minutes TTIA then the average length of each apnea event was 60*3/14= about 13 seconds. Apneas only start to be counted at 10 seconds. That's not too bad, really. You were probably spending a whole lot more time in apnea before you started using your machine.
With SleepyHead you can find out exactly how long each apnea was.
Quote:was thinking the machine was suppose to prevent apnea as soon as it was detected? I need all the brain cell functioning as I can get!
The Resmed machines start increasing pressure when flow limitation goes up and you start snoring. The "for her" does so a bit more gently. The trouble is that raising pressure too fast can disturb your sleep and the idea of CPAP is to allow you to sleep better. Some machines are much more aggressive than the ResMed ones about this.
A CPAP or APAP machine is meant to prevent apneas, but they cannot stop an apnea once it begins. You would need an ASV machine for that, and they are a lot more expensive and for some a lot harder to sleep with.
Ed Seedhouse
VA7SDH
Part cow since February 2018.
Trust your mind less and your brain more.
RE: newbie and total time in apnea
Welcome to the forum JenJen!
Sounds like you are doing well so far. Keep at it!
APNEABOARD - A great place to be if you're a hosehead!! 
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EVERY ACCOMPLISHMENT BEGINS WITH THE DECISION TO TRY!
RE: newbie and total time in apnea
You are doing great. I have found the tighter the range of pressure the lower the AHI and better sleep for me. At first, my range was 4-15 and found therapy not working at all, but tweaking the pressure seemed to be the key for me. My biggest breakthrough came when I increased the lowest setting from 4 to 7.6 so that I wasn't suffocating so much of the night. There are so many variables but you look like you are on your way to investigating and to good therapy. Good luck.
RE: newbie and total time in apnea
Thanks all for your comments. I increased my pressure range from 5 to 9 through 16. Moved my EPR from 3 down to a 1. 44 days into therapy. I feel fabulous. On average my ahi is 0.49. This machine and treatment has truly been a lifesaver. I highly encourage anyone that is non compliant with their therapy to stick with it.
jenjen
RE: newbie and total time in apnea
CPAP and APAP machines will try and prevent an apnea from starting, but once started they cannot stop it.
The ASV machines also cannot actually stop an apnea, instead it will increase pressure significantly during an apnea in an attempt to trigger you into taking a breath. This is for central apneas, the ASV cannot push open an obstructive apnea.
None of these machines are true ventilators, which is what is required to actually breathe for you
