New APaP User

Hi, my name is Linda and I am newly "medically" diagnosed with severe sleep apnea -- though my husband has been telling me for years. I was in denial for decades and it wasn't until I read a New York Times article that I became aware that there was more to it than being tired and grouchy during the day. It could impact my health and the future I want with my husband. So on June 9th, I had an in-hospital sleep study and I have been on my APAP for a bit over a week.

My question, should my AHI numbers settle down? They've been as high as 10.6 and as low 2.6 this week. I am doing the same routine and was hoping that I would see a set of routine numbers! Also, if your AHI at the sleep study was 96, is an AHI of 10.6 ok? This is in the mild sleep apnea range? I was going to wait for my 30 day follow up, but found your wonderful sight and thought - heck lets see what the community says?

Welcome to the site. What is possible with CPAP treatment is somewhat dependent on the type of apnea you have, more than the initial diagnosed severity. My wife was diagnosed with apnea in the 85+ range, and now she routinely gets less than 1 for an AHI while using a ResMed S9 APAP. I on the other hand was diagnosed at I think 37 for an AHI and have trouble getting my AHI consistently below 3. My wife's apnea is almost all obstructive apnea. CPAP pressure is quite effective in preventing obstructive apnea. In my case my AHI is now predominantly central apnea, and pressure if anything can make it worse. I actually have mixed or complex apnea so my strategy to date has been to keep my pressure as low as possible to prevent obstructive apnea, but not create central apnea. Central apnea is not an obstruction, and instead the airway is clear, but the body does not try to breathe for longer than 10 seconds.

What type of machine do you have? The APAP ResMed and DreamStation machines are supported by a freeware software called SleepyHead. Some download and use that software to monitor their apnea more closely. Development of the software has been shutdown but the current version is quite functional providing you have a compatible APAP, a Mac or PC, and a SD card reader. If you use SleepyHead and post your daily report her you will get comments on what your issues might be. The goal of CPAP treatment is to get AHI under 5, while minimizing side effects of the treatment. SleepyHead can help you determine what is going well when you get an AHI of 2.6, and what is not going so well when your AHI is 10.6. The main purpose is to find out what type of events you are having, and when they are occurring during the night.

Hope that helps some. Any questions, just ask away...