New CPAP user,How long until my AHI drops?

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
barrylittle1236
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New CPAP user,How long until my AHI drops?

Post by barrylittle1236 » Sun Apr 15, 2018 2:52 pm

Hi Everyone, newbie here, i was diagnosed with Apnea just last week with a AHI score of 15.

Im 35 male, non smoker or drinker.
I have been prescribed APAP pressure 4-20, i dont mind the mask, and have slept ok the last 3 nights, however my AHI was 11.9 on first night, 14.9 on second, and 9.7 last night, im wondering, does it take a while to come down below 5 or should it be immediete?
Im thinking to maybe up the minimum pressure?

Thanks for your help.

Cardsfan
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Re: New CPAP user,How long until my AHI drops?

Post by Cardsfan » Sun Apr 15, 2018 4:15 pm

Sounds like your pressure could be adjusted.

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TedVPAP
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Re: New CPAP user,How long until my AHI drops?

Post by TedVPAP » Sun Apr 15, 2018 4:17 pm

Welcome to the forum.
See the three links below.

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Pugsy
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Re: New CPAP user,How long until my AHI drops?

Post by Pugsy » Sun Apr 15, 2018 4:21 pm

Most likely going to need a pressure adjustment but make use of the available software just to make sure and eliminate guessing.
https://sleep.tnet.com/equipment

If you want member input...see this thread for what we like to see and how to do it.

viewtopic/t158560/How-to-post-images-for-review.html

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Barb (Seattle)
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Re: New CPAP user,How long until my AHI drops?

Post by Barb (Seattle) » Sun Apr 15, 2018 7:29 pm

didn't the sleep study tell them what pressure was best? (excuse the maybe stupid question..I just figured that that's how they figure it out)


:oops:
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Pugsy
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Re: New CPAP user,How long until my AHI drops?

Post by Pugsy » Sun Apr 15, 2018 7:42 pm

Barb (Seattle) wrote:
Sun Apr 15, 2018 7:29 pm
didn't the sleep study tell them what pressure was best? (excuse the maybe stupid question..I just figured that that's how they figure it out)
:oops:
We don't know that a sleep study with the titration part was even done or not.
A lot of insurance companies and doctors are now forgoing the titration sleep study and opting to send the person home with the apap machine and let it find the right pressure.

So they get sent home with it set wide open with 4 minimum and 20 maximum and sometimes that works out okay but sometimes that minimum just isn't enough to give the machine a good enough head start to get to where it needs to be fast enough to do a good job.
Starting at 4 works okay if you only need 8 cm pressure to hold the airway open but doesn't work so great if you need like 12 or more.
It just takes too long to respond effectively.

Plus....even the in lab titration sleep studies don't always get it right for some reason or other.
It happened to me...I came out of an 8 hour overnight titration sleep study with a pressure suggestion that was okay in non REM but not nearly effective in REM sleep where I have substantially higher pressure needs.
Why didn't they spot it at the titration study you might ask....I didn't sleep well even with a sleeping pill. I only got 6 minutes of REM the entire night and barely 3 hours of sleep that was highly fragmented.

So ideally yeah...but people don't always get the titration study or they don't get good sleep or maybe their doctor doesn't know how these machines work and think it can go from 4 to 15 in 3 minutes and it can't do it. We have to give it a better head start sometimes.

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palerider
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Re: New CPAP user,How long until my AHI drops?

Post by palerider » Sun Apr 15, 2018 7:58 pm

Barb (Seattle) wrote:
Sun Apr 15, 2018 7:29 pm
didn't the sleep study tell them what pressure was best? (excuse the maybe stupid question..I just figured that that's how they figure it out)
As Pugsy says, titrations are, at best, a starting point, not a final answer.

Think about it, you're wired up to a bunch of crap in a strange environment, and if they're lucky, they get an hour or two that you're good at some pressure... only...

strange environment, short period, as anybody that's looked at more than a few charts knows, sleep varies from night to night, and indeed, hour to hour... differing sleep stages throughout the night...

A titraiton is a snapshot of your sleep... whereas you're running a marathon (figuratively speaking).

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D.H.
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Re: New CPAP user,How long until my AHI drops?

Post by D.H. » Sun Apr 15, 2018 8:10 pm

You didn't say what kind of machine you have (except that it's automatic), what variety of mask you have, what your median pressure was, what your 90% pressure was, whether you're using a ramp, or whether you're using humidification.

Please fill out your profile so that it will appear on every posting you make.

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