Sleep Apnea (negative to positive ?)

Hi everyone, I recently had a second sleep study done. Both, the one in August and the one in September were done with a WatchPad (device you take home and wear it while sleeping) at home. The WatchPad gets returned the following day to the sleep study center. The results for the one in August were negative (3 AHI events per hour), whereas the one for September were positive (8 AHI events per hour).

What’s even more odd is that I lost 30 lbs in-between these two studies ( 1 month difference between the studies) and went from being negative to positive.

I have plans to do it a 3rd time, but after speaking with staff, I am not sure if that’s even worthwhile. I’ve also extensively researched this on the web and elsewhere, but have not come up with an explanation.

Does anyone know what is going on here ?

Thanks so much in advance for your comments/responses.

An AHI of 5-15 is considered mild sleep apnea. It is typically treated in North America, but in the UK, unless they have changes, the NHS does not prescribe treatment for apnea in the mild range. One of your test was just under the AHI of 5 threshold and one just over. Do you have any more detail on your test results such as the breakdown of the AHI to CA, OA, and hypopnea events? Do you have any other symptoms of sleep apnea? The STOP-Bang Questionaire is often used to determine risk.

August Results: ————————

RESPIRATORY PARAMETERS The patient had a pAHl of 3/h and a pRDI of 9/h. The patient had a NREM AHI of 0.8/h and a REM pAHI of 6.9/h. The oxygen desaturation index was 2.7 /hr. The nadir oxygen saturation was 87%. The mean oxygen saturation was 95%. Time below 88% was 0.4 minutes. CARDIAC DATA Mean heart rate during sleep was 58 bpm. IMPRESSIONS

• No Significant Obstructive Sleep Apnea(OSA)

——————- September: ——————

RESPIRATORY PARAMETERS The patient had a pAHl of 8.3/h and a pRDI of 14.7/h. The patient had a NREM pAHI of 5.6/h and a REM pAHI of 15.3/h. The oxygen desaturation index was 5.9 /hr. The nadir oxygen saturation was 86%. The mean oxygen saturation was 95%. Time below 88% was 0.3 minutes. CARDIAC DATA Mean heart rate during sleep was 51 bom. IMPRESSIONS

• Mild Obstructive Sleep Apnea(OSA)

There can be a lot of variation from night to night and many different things can contribute to that: the weather, including humidity, allergies or nasal congestion, what you ate or drank, and whether you are coming down with even a mild a respiratory infection, etc. sometimes you can find a physician who will prescribe a machine, but if your condition is milder than what your medical system/insurance is willing pay to treat, you may need to pay out of pocket.

Hey, you just helped sprung an idea.🙂 I’m going to try it out.

What idea?

I was expecting to see a little more detail than that, such as the portion of the AHI that was central, obstructive, and hypopnea. My home study was done with a Phillips Alice NightOne. See an example of a report from the NightOne at this link. You might want to ask about getting a test using the NightOne.