Apnea Board Forum - CPAP | Sleep Apnea
Tension vs AHI numbers - Printable Version

+- Apnea Board Forum - CPAP | Sleep Apnea (https://www.apneaboard.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Public Area (https://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Forum-Public-Area)
+--- Forum: Main Apnea Board Forum (https://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Forum-Main-Apnea-Board-Forum)
+--- Thread: Tension vs AHI numbers (/Thread-Tension-vs-AHI-numbers)



Tension vs AHI numbers - CasitaWayne - 01-02-2016

Just wondering. Has anyone experienced an increase in AHI numbers only because of anxiety or tension? That is the only thing that has changed in the last 2 months.

I was doing so well with my AHI readings (2.5 to 7). Then suddenly they started to climb. They are now at 20 to 35. My P10 mask does not lead. I am still sleeping the same number of hours and going to bed at the same time. I have tried changing from the good control numbers EPAP =19.6 ,IPAP= 6.0, and PS=0 one at a time to see if I could effect a positive change and yet the AHI numbers stay very high. BTW, I don't have SA software.


RE: Tension vs AHI numbers - PaulaO2 - 01-02-2016

Are your events primarily or all central?

There's lots of things that can increase AHI and tension is one of them. But I don't see it doing so night after night for 2 months. Something else is causing it.

Do you not have software because it won't read from your machine? Or you just don't have it? If Sleepyhead can read from your machine, please get it installed. By looking at the overall data, you can narrow it down.


RE: Tension vs AHI numbers - vsheline - 01-02-2016

(01-02-2016, 01:09 AM)CasitaWayne Wrote: Just wondering. Has anyone experienced an increase in AHI numbers only because of anxiety or tension? That is the only thing that has changed in the last 2 months.

I was doing so well with my AHI readings (2.5 to 7). Then suddenly they started to climb. They are now at 20 to 35. My P10 mask does not lead. I am still sleeping the same number of hours and going to bed at the same time. I have tried changing from the good control numbers EPAP =19.6 ,IPAP= 6.0, and PS=0 one at a time to see if I could effect a positive change and yet the AHI numbers stay very high. BTW, I don't have SA software.

Hi CasitaWayne,

If PS is zero then I suppose you meant Max IPAP is set to 19.6 and Min EPAP is 6. (If you really need 19.6 occasionally, then having the Min EPAP at 6 seems way too low. You might want to consider gradually moving Min EPAP closer to 10.)

I suppose you may have an older machine which uses the old proprietary "smart card" instead of a standard SD card, in which case you would need to buy the old ResMed proprietary smart card and proprietary card reader if you wanted to use ResScan to read your detailed data, which would be fairly limited, without Central Apnea detection or Flow waveforms.

If that is your situation and if you are not using Pressure Support, it might be better to save up and buy a used S9 AutoSet, which would allow use of a heated hose to avoid rain-out and would provide the standard SD card for data, allowing use of the SleepyHead software or ResScan, with full detailed data including central apnea detection and Flow waveforms. And distinguishing central apnea versus obstructive apnea is often extremely important.

Also, the S9 AutoSet and A10 AutoSet models both use the newer "Enhanced" AutoSet algorithm, for more accurate automatic pressure adjustments.

The Flow waveform is an extremely detailed plot of our breathing, of the estimated rate of airflow into and out of our lungs. The Flow waveform can be important for recognizing subtle problems, if present.