AHI Shooting Up Last Few Days

So, I am fairly new to the CPAP machine. I was told I have minor obstructive sleep apnea, and that as long as my number of AHI's is under 5, I'm OK.

I started treatment with the machine May 15. Since then, I have basically averaged about 2 AHIs a night. No more than 3. The last few days, however, my AHI's have begun to jump. It went from like 2.7 a few nights ago to like 3.6, and then 4.3 this morning. I have the ResMed MyAir 10 app and check the scores and information on there frequently. I can't really explain why this is happening. Sometimes it does register that my mask seal isn't at 100%, but this morning especially I woke up with a very dry mouth which I haven't for some time. I always check the machine data first and then the app once is syncs. I have been keeping an eye on the "Central AHI" also and that looks to be slightly increasing but I can't tell if it is because maybe there is a leak or if I am really having some Centrals as well. My machine is set to anywhere from 5-15 for pressure and I have noticed that the leaks MAY be getting higher but I don't understand how. I was averaging a lower number but I checked the leak from last nights sleep and it's at 23L/min. Is that way too high? Like I said, I am new to this and don't know.

The scores on the MyAir app seem sort of misleading which annoys me because even if something is off, you can generally get a decent "score" just for sleeping long periods of time and dumb stuff like that.

I am worried that I am approaching the "over 5 AHI"s and I do not want to get into that territory. I can already feel the affects of having more AHIs this morning as I am more tired and anxious.

I do want to note that I DO take Clonazepam, but I have even before I had the sleep study. The only thing that has changed for me recently was that I was given a different brand than the one I had the past 3 months, but it looked like the trend may have already been starting before I started taking the new ones.

Please help!

Some variation in AHI is normal, and the level of variation you describe is not unusual, so don't get too concerned. 23 L/min is a medium-ish sort of leak (sorry, but it's hard to be more specific). At the moment, the best hing you can do it to monitor your AHI and leak readings to get an idea of how they vary. You may find your AHI drifts up and down a bit. You may find your leak varies too. It's hard to say without spending a bit of time working out what is normal for you. You may just be seeing a bit of blip.

Remember, the damage sleep apnoea does occurs over the long term. A few nights make little difference. Also, you have survived so far without CPAP so it's OK to take a little time to iron out the kinks. Before there is a stream of angry posts, I am not in any way suggesting that you abandon treatment or that it's not important. Only that it is a long term proposition and if it's not all perfect from the first night, that's OK. Take the time you need to get it right.