I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea as a result of an overnight sleep test followed by three 20 minute tests the following day. I don't snore, not overweight, don't fall asleep driving and can not recall ever waking up gasping for breath. Needless to say I was shocked to hear the results. I went 61 sec. at one point between breaths. I am on the ResMed 10 machine and after struggling to cope with it for a couple of weeks, I can now tolerate it. My scores seem good but I don't really understand them. I have 2.2 events per hour. AHl of 5.1 Total 4.3 and central 2.3 and a score of 24 leaks.
Would someone please explain what this all means?
Thank you Dave
It means that if you were diagnosed with severe sleep apnea you are now doing bunches better. An apnea is when you stop breathing for some period. The downside is that sleep rhythm is destroyed and you never achieve a sufficiently deep state of sleep but worse, when you quit breathing; no O2 to organs especially the brain but long term there is negative effect on all organs. OSA or obstructive sleep apnea is when the windpipe gets blocked and thus positive air pressure keeps it open. Central sleep apnea occurs when the brain's control center just doesn't tell a person to breath; same effect as OSA.
The standard is 5 AHI or less is "normal". I find this number kind of dumb because when a person quits breathing for extended periods 5 times an hour is more than I am comfortable with. The numbers indicate to me that you should probably invest in an inexpensive machine to monitor your O2 levels because that is one of the most IMPORTANT THINGS that the sleep study revealed. When I did mine, I too quit breathing for LONG periods (over a minute) and my blood O2 was down in the low 70s! I bought a gizmo called a PULSE OXYMETER (yes that is the way it is spelled) and mine looks like a wrist watch and a rubber probe fits over a finger. I can then download data onto my computer so check pulse and SPO2. The mask leak isn't all that important unless it is so large that your machine can't compensate and positive air pressure isn't achieved. The leaks are mainly a nuisance that isn't great for sleeping (air blowing in your eyes or disgusting noises). What type / size mask are you using and what are the pressure(s) on your machine? Do you have an Airsense or Aircurve? What mode (Bipap, Cpap, Apap, etc?) If your doctor didn't tell you this stuff, time for self education and also you really want your own copy of the sleep study results! Good luck...
First of all, thank you George for your reply. I thought my numbers were good. I did buy an oximeter! At the lab I was 86% and the Dr. said 90% was the threshold and he did not like my reading. I have scored 97% on the meter almost everytime. It makes me think the thing is broken. How are you doing with your O2 measurement? I have the Airsense 10 for her. Right, I'm a guy. Oh well, maybe that's the only machine they had there. I think I have it set up for CPAP. I am using the nasal mask, Airfit 20 which I liked better than the nostril thing I tried. My numbers have been coming down .1 every night it seems. Can you tell by my numbers how much central SA I have compared to OSA? I am curious how the machine helps Central by filling the air passages with air? How does that tell your brain to tell you to breathe?
AHI stands for Apnoea Hypopnoea Index. An apnoea is when you stop breathing completely and a hypopnoea is a partial reduction in breathing. To get AHI you count every time you have an apnoea or hypopnoea and divide it by the amount of sleep you've had in hours. If your CPAP machine reports and AHI of 5 or less this is generally considered OK, largely because your CPAP will overestimate AHI. If I am reading the numbers from your first post correctly you do not have any significant central sleep apnoea. A CPAP does not help central sleep apnoea (or to be more accurate, it rarely helps it) because it doesn't matter how much your airway is opened up if the muscles around your lungs aren't pushing the air in and out. CPAP is only for correcting obstructive sleep apnoea (collapse of your upper airway). If you have central apnoeas you would need a BiPAP (same as VPAP) of some sort. This works in a very similar way to CPAP but instead of just blowing air at one constant level to inflate you airway, the pressure goes up and down as you breathe in and out which augments you own breathing effort. If you have an Airsense 10 then you have a CPAP because ResMed called their BiPAP which looks like the AirSense 10 the Lumis. Does that cover everything you wanted to know?
When an Airsense machine is set to the proper mode, it is supposed to mitigate central apneas. Not sure how but I am sure a med pro could tell you. Since I don't now or ever have had a lot of centrals, never looked into it. I am on an Aircurve (BIPAP mode). I was diagnosed with obstructive and need the max pressure to keep my airway open. I was an athlete a number of years ago and trained very heavily and suspect my lung capacity and thicker than normal torso contribute. In any case, my pressure is 25/20 and this dictates the type mask that can accommodate this range of pressures. A machine like the Airsense can only do 20 tops. As far as the "for her" type machine, I really can't think of why a CPAP machine would be gender specific. As long it delivers the positive air pressure and mode necessary, then all would seem good to me unless they painted it pink and even then, once you shut your eyes, all would be good.
86 SPO2 isn't horrible but a bit lower than the threshold that is acceptable. 97 is about right for someone not fighting with sleep apnea or other issues. Mine ranges 96-97 while asleep. Over time and with small tweeks in your therapy methodology, I suspect you will see improvements. After a few years, I now see ZERO AHI about 3-5 times per two week period. I also get ZERO mask leaks most nights which is a HUGE change from my start of therapy. I seldom sleep the Resmed standard of 7 hours; mostly 5-6 hours tops so never get the nirvana of scores (100) for the myAir standard.
As far as centrals go, perhaps someone using a mechine in APAP or VPAP or whatever they call these modes could explain but I suspect it gets you breathing from the rhythm of the positive air segments... just not sure.
