Hope2SleepGuide

Sleep Apnoea Forum Bringing Help + Support to the Patient

I am getting discouraged! I am out here in the boondocks. I am off work because my company will not let me drive until my AHI is below 5 for 2 weeks. My sleep people around here don’t impress me much, seems to be more interested in the money than helping me. I have had the machine for 3 nights. Auto set from 4 to 20 (they set it) First 2 nights 6.0 6.1. 90% at 15 first night and 90% at 14 next night. I went in and they moved bottom up to 7. Last night AHI 6.0 90% at 13. I thought I was researching this stuff and was understanding things but I must be missing something and don’t understand. Why can’t you get the machine and get to 5 or below and go back to work. Everyone said that should be easy but What am I not understanding?

Views: 1497

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Welcome to our forum Travis.  I just caught your new post as I'm on my way to a meeting, but don't despair as it's very early days for you.  Often a setting of 4 to 20 won't always result in the best AHI so your research is getting you there.  Depending on which machine you have, you may be able to download the free software to get more information.  Here's a link to the other discussion about this DOWNLOAD FREE SOFTWARE.  Hope this helps for now, and I'll be back later.  Meanwhile, others may see this post to jump onboard for help.

I have been down loading Info and studing it. I am thinking if you raise the bottom leval up you can take care of the bottom number of problems. That should be enought to get to the magic number of 5 AHI. I see VS is a big number in my numbers. 10.0, 11.0 ,11.3. one of the numbers that havent changed with the up pressure.

Yes, the pressure should be enough to stop the majority of the snoring.

Are you also keeping away from alcohol, nicotine, caffeine + meals before at least 3 hours of bedtime, preferably 4?

Travis, I think you have been given the wrong impression about CPAP, there is no instant fix unfortunately there is a lot of trial and error in this and you have to be patient. Some people take months to get used it and bring their numbers down for some it could be overnight. There are so many different factors in play here. Another one is how long you have had undiagnosed SA for your body and brain has to heal. You are on a very high number 20 so you must have been very bad and possibly for a long time. What was your AHI at your sleep study. You don't look at it like it has to be under 5 overnight, you look at like I stopped breathing say 60 times and hour now it's 6 times an hour and in the future it maybe 3 times an hour etc. The other thing is AHI's on our machines are not as accurate as a sleep study so many thing effect our numbers, here are some, temperature, weather, meds, when we eat, what we eat, what we drink, body movement during the night,etc,etc,etc. I say this is a marathon not a sprint, unfortunately this doesn't help your work situation but it will help and possibly save your life. What CPAP do you have and what mask? There are lots of things we can suggest to help with those as well. This is frustrating but well worth it in the long run.

Travis, I have just seen your post and am wondering how you are getting on now.  Getting AHI below 5 seems quite an ambitious goal to me. I have no experience of your particular machine, so can't speak for it, but some machines seem to be a bit free recording hypopneas. My own machine tends to over record them, so quite often my AHI will be above 5, but the AI, the apnoea index is usually 1 or 2 at most. An AHI of 6 wouldn't seem that bad to me if the AI part of it is low.

Hope all is going well for you.

Hey, Thank you for asking about how I'm doing. Here's how it's going. This 5 or under on the AHI is the line the government is trying to pass for truck drivers. They have not been able to pass it yet but are still trying. My company said they will implement it before the government makes it mandatory. SO Now I have had it 2 weeks and my AHI is at 5.0 average and my 90% keeps dropping and now is at 10.5 to 11. After learning all I could and taking the help I got from the people on these websites, I am learning to tweak my machine to get the best and the fastest out come. I got to go back to work yesterday after 5 weeks off (nice Vacation). Some days my AHI will be 2.0 and some days it will be 8.0, I haven't figured that out yet, but I have found out that if I set my humidifier too high my AHI goes up, and I have a habit of laying in bed for about an hour before I can get to sleep and YOU DON'T WANT TO DO THAT cause my machine takes every breath you take that isn't perfect and records it as an apnea. One more thing it look to me that my VS is what keeps me from being a 2.0 or lower all the time. I need a cure for that. My biggest problem now is that I was never tired, I slept through the night, and I had no problem with tiredness, so this getting a sleep apnea machine isn't the life changing experience everyone selling them told me it would be. But I an tolerating it so far with no choice.

Travis, you seem to be learning some of the tricks of CPAP, just one thing, CPAP doesn't help you sleep, it helps you breathe and the by product should be better sleep because you are not waking as much not breathing, you also have the added benefits of increased blood flow and oxygen to your body and brain. The other benefit is just quality of sleep should be better because you should be getting through sleep cycles now where before you probably weren't and you should be less stressed because REM sleep is when our stresses are released. 

Reply to Discussion

RSS

About

Sleep Apnoea Forum

New to the Sleep Apnoea Forum? 

1. Stop by our Sleep Apnoea Welcome Center to introduce yourself to the SleepGuide community.
2. Start a New Topic of Conversation.
3. Post your photos - of yourself, your old CPAP machine, your new CPAP machine, your pet, something about you!

Interested in advertising, have a problem or need to contact us? Click the Report an Issue page.

 

Latest Activity

Jonathan replied to Richard Smith's discussion air bubbles after weight loss
"Hi My sleep clinic discharged me, saying they were happy I was self-managing.  Roll on a decade and the cardiologists taking care of me were very unimpressed and I was re-enrolled.  I expect remote monitoring with current generation Resmed…"
Sep 1
Richard Smith replied to Richard Smith's discussion air bubbles after weight loss
"Hi Jonathan, Thanks again for the info.  My cpap *should* be monitored by the NHS though I haven’t had any contact from them since pre-covid.  I checked out the link you gave to access extra data and I think that’s going to be…"
Aug 31
Jonathan replied to Richard Smith's discussion air bubbles after weight loss
"Hi I have the ResMed Airsense 10 Autoset (APAP).  It's monitored remotely by my NHS sleep clinic and I believe they can make changes to the settings.  I don't know whether they are notified if I make changes, nor whether they…"
Aug 31
Richard Smith replied to Richard Smith's discussion air bubbles after weight loss
"Hi Jonathan, Thanks for the reply.  I'd say that I'm fairly technical.  I have the ResMed Airsense 10 Elite machine.  I've discovered that I can upload data wirelessly from my machine and having lowered the pressure by…"
Aug 30
Jonathan replied to Richard Smith's discussion air bubbles after weight loss
"Hi You don't say how technical you are, or what sort of machine you use.  However https://www.sleephq.com/ has software which allows you to upload data from compatible machines, and analyse your sleep "score", including a…"
Aug 29
Richard Smith posted a discussion

air bubbles after weight loss

Hi,I've been on Mounjaro for about 3 months now, not primarily for weight loss, but I have lost weight around my face and neck.  I've noticed that I am increasingly getting air bubbles in my mouth which of course is disturbing my sleep (and my…See More
Aug 28
Sally Gray posted a discussion

Micro plastics risks

I was reading an article in the I newspaper today written by a journalist who had her blood tested for micro plastics and was shocked by the results.…See More
Aug 3
Alison Mitchell is now a member of Hope2SleepGuide
Jul 2
John posted a discussion

job with the charity

Was wondering if there might be a job for me with Hope2Sleep?(I also just asked this of a group by mistake)See More
Jun 27
Tracey Tilley updated their profile
May 22
Sharon Sullivan posted a discussion

For Sale - Ventura Full Total Face CPAP Mask

I’m selling an Ventura Full Total Face CPAP Mask Large and two spare liners.  I bought it new from the Hope2Sleep shop, but it is not suitable for me.  Only used for about two weeks so I have washed it thoroughly.   Because of this, it is very much…See More
May 17
Tracey Tilley replied to Jim Scullion's discussion UK Attendance Allowance
"I put in a claim for PIP which was denied and now I am over 66 and on pension I tried for AA. Denied again.I have other health conditions ( Diverticular disease and Bile Acid Malabsorbtion ) which I consider hard to live with and they refused all of…"
May 14
Jonathan replied to Sally Gray's discussion ResMed AirMini for travel
"No personal experience, but CPAP.com review of AirMini The AirMini runs at about 30 decibels, which is about the same sound level as a whispered conversation. For comparison, full-sized CPAPs tend to run around 26-28 decibels. Due to their…"
May 5
Sally Gray posted a discussion

ResMed AirMini for travel

I am considering either buying or renting an AirMini for a forthcoming holiday this month where I will be sharing a twin room. I have read that they’re quite noisy and I don’t want to waste my money on either rental or purchase if the noise level…See More
May 3
Sally Gray replied to Nick Daniel's discussion CPAP Total Face Mask
"Hi, I use a ResMed F20 and had the same issue with the silicone full face mask causing red marks and soreness on my nose bridge. I switched over to the Airtouch memory foam full face masks which are expensive and not supplied by the NHS, but the…"
May 3
Kath Hope replied to Glassdaisy's discussion Soft Cap
"It's very much still relevant and we're getting closer to have them manufactured and has been no easy challenge. In fact we were speaking with the company working with us on this only yesterday. If you're not on our newsletter list…"
Mar 27
Glassdaisy posted a discussion

Soft Cap

some time ago I was told that Hope2Sleep was researching a replacement for the discontinued Soft Cap.. as I have seen nothing to indicate moving forward on this, would I be right in assuming you decided it is no longer relevant?See More
Mar 27
Glassdaisy replied to Nick Daniel's discussion CPAP Total Face Mask
"I expect others may have responded by now, but I use the Fitlife full face mask. I kept getting a hard lump on my nose when first starting out & it got so bad that I ended up buying my own masks as my clinic would only give the Fitlife to new…"
Mar 27
Wendy Anthony is now a member of Hope2SleepGuide
Mar 25
David McDade is now a member of Hope2SleepGuide
Jan 3

© 2025   Created by The SleepGuide Crew.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service