When I visit my doctor (sleep specialist) for a review of my CPAP effectiveness, he reviews a summary report prepared by office staff. In it are average stats from the past month, with no details from the nightly graphs.
I've been using CPAP therapy for 3.5 years, and 8 cm was all I needed for most of that time. Then, for some reason, the AHI's increased from an average of 3 per night to 8, with nearly half of those being CA's (appearing for the first time.) Cheyne Stokes began to appear for the first time, also with no health explanation.
My doctor's response was to lower the pressure, which left no change in AHI. Several months later, AHI events nearly doubled again, with many nights resulting in 25 events, including CA's. My doctor increased the pressure to 12 cm. No change in AHI's, and no word from my doctor about trying something else.
Thankfully, I found this forum and read the advice about turning off the EPR control, which I did. For the weeks since doing so, the AHI's have been under 5 with virtually no CA's and no Cheyne Stokes
To those of you who articulate these kinds of issues on this forum - a huge THANK YOU!
It's obvious that I'm going to have to control my CPAP machine myself. To that end, can someone please explain exactly what Sleephead data is used to determine optimum pressure?
Again, thank you!
