AHI = .5 Should I try for lower ?

Hello All,

My AHI is consistently in the .5 - .6 range (Remstar M series Pro). Should I even try to adjust my pressure and get an even lower AHI, or does the law of diminishing returns apply once I'm down to < 1 AHI ?

Thanks !

Any AHI under 5.0 is considered good. 0.5 or 0.6 is as good as zero. Don't be concerned about trying to get the AHI lower.

Amos

You are kidding right? That's only one freakin event every couple of hours. Your read out on your software must be really boring.

ApMan2112 wrote:Hello All,

My AHI is consistently in the .5 - .6 range (Remstar M series Pro). Should I even try to adjust my pressure and get an even lower AHI, or does the law of diminishing returns apply once I'm down to < 1 AHI ?

Thanks !

I'm curious. Is this a commom belief amongst OSA patients? Do some/many OSA patients get stressed if their AHI isn't as close to zero as possible?

split_city wrote:I'm curious. Is this a commom belief amongst OSA patients? Do some/many OSA patients get stressed if their AHI isn't as close to zero as possible?

I don't.

Actually, I doubt if many get stressed by that. I think most are quite content (and rightly so) to get any AHI under 5.0.

It can be interesting to see if tweaks will drop it down, and down, and down...but just more as a matter of playing with it, so to speak. I think it's a mistake to think of "zero" AHI as some kind of goal to reach, with the idea that somehow that will make you feel better or make you be getting "better treatment." I feel the same (very good) whether my AHI is a rare zero or an equally rare (for me) 4.whatever.

I think most people who read the message board understand that ANY AHI below 5.0 is getting very effective treatment, and don't get stressed at all about not seeing zeros pop up in the morning. After the new wears off and a person has kept seeing a nice low AHI again and again, I think there's less and less interest in trying to hit zero. Other than perhaps as a game to play, in a way, just to see if it can happen.

ApMan2112 sounded more curious than worried to me. I agree with amos that AHI's below 1.0 ARE as good as zero. For that matter, as far as I'm concerned, I think of an AHI of 3.0 (arbitrary number...it's just the way I think of it) as being "as good as zero" for all practical purposes.

rested gal wrote:

split_city wrote:I'm curious. Is this a commom belief amongst OSA patients? Do some/many OSA patients get stressed if their AHI isn't as close to zero as possible?

I don't.

Actually, I doubt if many get stressed by that. I think most are quite content (and rightly so) to get any AHI under 5.0.

It can be interesting to see if tweaks will drop it down, and down, and down...but just more as a matter of playing with it, so to speak. I think it's a mistake to think of "zero" AHI as a goal (zero) to reach, with the idea that somehow that will make you feel better or make you be getting "better treatment."

I think most people who read the message board understand that ANY AHI below 5.0 is getting very effective treatment, and don't get stressed at all about not seeing zeros pop up in the morning. After the new wears off and a person has kept seeing a nice low AHI again and again, I think there's less and less interest in trying to hit zero. Other than perhaps as a game to play, in a way, just to see if it can happen.

ApMan2112 sounded more curious than worried to me. I agree with amos that AHI's below 1.0 ARE as good as zero. For that matter, as far as I'm concerned, I think of an AHI of 3.0 (arbitrary number...it's just the way I think of it) as being "as good as zero" for all practical purposes.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Do some/many OSA patients get stressed if their AHI isn't as close to zero as possible?

It's more of a game or competition to me. I fiddle and make changes trying to get a better score but I don't worry about it at all. I am very happy to be below 5 but I sure don't make it there every night.

Mine was around the 5 range on my cpap which I wasnt too bugged about until I looked at my report and sae I was having 8-12events a night for 10-22seconds each (one at 54? not sure about that one) that bugged me since Im getting treatment Id like to hear I dont stop breathing all the time so I was going to tweak it. Instead I got my APAP I started last night Im already down to an AHI of 2.5 so Im ecstatic with that. Zero or under 1 would be neat but Im definitely happy with my 2.5 and hope to continue such good numbers. I wasnt freaked out by the 5 range but just a little bummed and Im very happy to be half that now.

Less than 1 is even normal for people without sleep apnea.

This question just cracks me up because I always strive to get my AHI lower and lower. I realize anything under 5 is great but on the days it is 3 versus 1.2 a day earlier then I get concerned. Why to you think this is???? I can tell you for sure it is because I am a PERFECTIONIST and probably will not be at my happiest with this treatment until I am at 0 AHI EVERYDAY. I realize I need to relax about this

I think if you are a perfectionist or are very competitive then you probably are striving for AHI 0. Just my humble opinion!!!!!

[quote="CarrieS"]Mine was around the 5 range on my cpap which I wasnt too bugged about until I looked at my report and sae I was having 8-12events a night for 10-22seconds each (one at 54? not sure about that one) that bugged me since Im getting treatment Id like to hear I dont stop breathing all the time so I was going to tweak it. Instead I got my APAP I started last night Im already down to an AHI of 2.5 so Im ecstatic with that. Zero or under 1 would be neat but Im definitely happy with my 2.5 and hope to continue such good numbers. I wasnt freaked out by the 5 range but just a little bummed and Im very happy to be half that now.

ApMan2112 wrote:Hello All,

My AHI is consistently in the .5 - .6 range (Remstar M series Pro). Should I even try to adjust my pressure and get an even lower AHI, or does the law of diminishing returns apply once I'm down to < 1 AHI ?

Well my AHI is usally below 1.5. However I am still feeling tired during the day and am wondering if a relatively high leak rate is causing the machineto fail to detect events.

So could it be that my reported AHI is actually much lower than my real AHI. ?

I am using a Comfort Full 2 at 9 cm H2O so the intentional leak rate should be about 28 lpm. Encore Pro is reporting leak rates of say 40lpm so this means the residual leak rate is about 12 lpm.

Is this worth fussing about?

Right now my current strategy is to see a heart lung specialist tomorrow.

But I am lookinf for a strategy to work with this low energy. As I see it my options are...
1/ Reduce leak rate.
2/ Badger the medical profession
3/ Read books on depression to see if I got it
4/ Buy rocking chair and nap As I am almost 70, I am entitled to this approach. But I would prefer to live ,love and dance for a while longer.

John M

John_M wrote:Well my AHI is usally below 1.5. However I am still feeling tired during the day and am wondering if a relatively high leak rate is causing the machineto fail to detect events.

So could it be that my reported AHI is actually much lower than my real AHI. ?

That could happen if you're spending much time in "Large Leak" scenarios, which would appear as solid black blocks in the leak graph in Encore Pro. The machine stops trying to identify events, and...in the case of an autopap or the bipap auto with auto-titrating turned on...won't even react to them. Events aren't "seen" or noted during Large Leak situations.

John_M wrote:I am using a Comfort Full 2 at 9 cm H2O so the intentional leak rate should be about 28 lpm. Encore Pro is reporting leak rates of say 40lpm so this means the residual leak rate is about 12 lpm.

Well, you know me and math. There are a LOT of residual leaks in my brain when it comes to that. From what I've read, several people have said their Respironics reps have said that the average leak rate should not get above 40 L/m. If you're averaging that in general (and at only 9 cm H2O pressure) then you are probably getting a lot of massive leaks you shouldn't have. Whether your leaks are hitting "Large Leak" category and causing the machine to not report events then, I dunno.

John_M wrote:Is this worth fussing about?

Getting control of leaks is always worth fussing about, imho.

John_M wrote:Right now my current strategy is to see a heart lung specialist tomorrow.

Excellent idea, John. There can be sooo many other reasons for still feeling tired and having low energy levels even if "cpap" is doing its part of the job (keeping the airway open for good breathing while sleeping) just fine.

John_M wrote:But I am lookinf for a strategy to work with this low energy. As I see it my options are...
1/ Reduce leak rate.
2/ Badger the medical profession
3/ Read books on depression to see if I got it
4/ Buy rocking chair and nap As I am almost 70, I am entitled to this approach. But I would prefer to live ,love and dance for a while longer.

John M

I'd pursue #2 mostly. Find out if there are other health problems causing your fatigue. Yeah, and reduce the leak rate while you're at it, since that's something you can work on at home.

Nope...don't need you in a rocking chair. You were born to live, love, and dance a lot longer! And you will.

I'm shooting for AHI minus .5, I've already seen 0.0 Jim

split_city wrote:

ApMan2112 wrote:Hello All,

My AHI is consistently in the .5 - .6 range (Remstar M series Pro). Should I even try to adjust my pressure and get an even lower AHI, or does the law of diminishing returns apply once I'm down to < 1 AHI ?

Thanks !

I'm curious. Is this a commom belief amongst OSA patients? Do some/many OSA patients get stressed if their AHI isn't as close to zero as possible?