Seay, it's a guide rather than the bible. If you under 5's consistently it doesn't really matter. For example, on Sunday night mine showed 11 but I know I had a bad night, I was coughing and tossing and turning where last night I was back to 3.1, but I felt OK both days. A few people I know never even look at their AHI and some don't even know what it is or means. For me, it is the first thing I look at each morning. At first I was concrened that it wasn't '0' but now I just go with the flow.

Mine doesn't have that capability. It has a compliance card that was checked by a sleep tech for the first month or two I used the machine. I figure now, as long as I'm sleeping through the night, am not snoring, not waking up tired or with a headache that I'm doing OK. I have different insurance now so know I probably need to schedule an appointment and probably another sleep study, but I don't worry too much about my AHI's for now.

Liz, what machine do you have? I thought most had the screen where you would see the basics. I may be able to point you in the direction for the software if you want it. If your happy with what your doing that's fine.

My average ahi is 6. Although I am not terribly concerned (as it is much lower than before pap therapy), I still am trying to broaden my understanding and learn ways to potentially lower it.

Seay, mine was higher for the first few months but it comes down as you get used to it more. If it's still over 5 when you have your next specialists appointment he may adjust your pressure a little. Sometimes they need to go up or down 1 or 2. You know you are feeling much better than before and that's all that matters and that you will live a much longer life with your kids.

Tez, my machine is the most basic Phillips Respironics System One. I can set the pressure, humidity, ramp time and altitude. The only AHI info available is from 2010 when I first got the machine. And all it gives is confirmation that I used it for at least 4 days in a row and that my sleep average was 8 hrs. a night. It comes with a little card that collects I think 1 weeks worth of info on it which is then removed by the sleep tech, and inserted into a machine that reads it. It's used strictly to make sure the user is in compliance so the insurance company will agree to pay for the machine. Until compliance was proved I was only renting the machine.

I'm not even sure my model is manufactured anymore.

Thanks Liz, I think it will hold more than a week, it should hold your whole history. If you've changed insurance you may be due for a new machine. Our insurance is different in Australia, we have to pay for 75% of the machine ourselves but we can choose any machine and mask. It's good in some ways and bad in others. If you don't have insurance here, you get it for free but have to wait years. I was just happy to get mine.

Yeah, I actually asked about how much info could be recorded and was told it was strictly for making sure the user was compliant. And I would require a special digital card reader to download results to and don't think those are sold to patients. I could be wrong.
When I was first diagnosed I knew absolutely nothing about sleep apnea or about CPAP machines. The sleep centr stuck me with the basic model, did not educate me on what was available nor offer me a choice.
The next time I go for a sleep study I will be know to request a data capable machine with the capability to download the info to my computer.
My insurance paid for about 80% of the cost of my machine and I paid $150.00 for the sleep study. The total cost of the sleep study was like $1500.00 or something and the $150.00 was my co-pay amount. Here if you have no insurance you put up all the money or you are SOL.

I feel stupid for saying this as it's something i'm sure i should know, but i have been on CPAP for almost two years now and have never heard of AHI or what it stands for lol If it means how many times you stop breathing in the night, i know i was at 60 times in an hour. As far as the onscreen displays are concerned, i have never really paid much attention to it. I just plug it in and set the humidity level when i go to bed. I do have a little chip in to machine that is supposed to record the activities but the VA has only asked me to bring it in once since i began treatment. So i figure as long as it's working, that's all i need lol I'm also at 16 pressure.

Longhaul, your not stupid, it should be something that Dr's explian to patients first thing. It stands for Apnea Hypo apnea Index and is telling you how many times on average you stop breathing per hour for 10 secs or more which is an apnea or event. They determine your severity and your pressure from the figure you get at your sleep study. 0-5 is normal, 5-15 mild, 15-30 moderate, 30+ servere. Mine at the slepp study was 30 and my pressure is set at 4-12 but everyone is different. The thing is a sleep study is the only true indication you have of an AHI, on our machines other things can affect the results like movement etc.
Depending on which machine and how old it is you can read your own data, I have a Resmed S9 Autoset which is a year old and I see the basic data on the screen but then take my chip out once a week, put it in a card reader then import to my computer. You need software on your PC called Sleepyhead which you can down load for free. It is a bit technical and you may need someone to help you read it the first time. I read you story and congratulations on your success.