About 5 years ago, I had my first sleep study which indicated that I had severe sleep apnea, with 88 events per hr. on my back, 17 per hour on my side.  My first pressure was about 10.  I struggled and struggled with cpap then bipap then cpap again, air in the stomach, leaky masks, increasing the pressure, lowering the pressure, just couldn't get it right - for years.

Then, about 2 years later, we did another sleep study.  I had gained between 10-15 pounds by then, and it was determined that I should go to an autotitrating cpap with a pressure fluctuating between 7 and 13.   Is it common for sleep studies to show different results?   Are they reliable?  Mine were done at 2 different labs.

You didn't mention whether you got any sleep in that second study and whether they came up with a titrated pressure for you?  To prescribe an auto with a range greater than 4 or maybe 5 pressures is sometimes done when the person didn't sleep enough for the lab to get a good reading, and the doctor wants to monitor the therapy in-home for awhile and adjust the pressures.

This is exactly what happened to me, I just couldn't sleep enough to get a solid titration.  I got an auto and had three pressure range adjustments in three months to fine-tune my therapy, my next check is at the end of January and probably will get another tightening of the range.  The autos generally work better when the range is small (3-4 pressure spread max).  Getting the auto range pared down to a single min/max pressure (like a plain CPAP) can often provide the best therapy, it just depends on the person.  

As far as the difference in sleep studies, our physiology changes over time and that can make OSA better or worse (usually worse as we age).  A two year span between sleep studies can certainly show different results.  The nice thing about having an auto-titrating machine, if at any time the therapy stops working well and the thought is that the pressure needs have changed, voila! -- in home titration to ascertain new pressures is easily possible.

I also feel this area of medicine is as much of an art as it is a science, and techs/doctors are learning more and more all the time about how to interpret and treat what they see in a study.

Hope this helps, Blessings,
--pseudonym

Well said, Pseudonym. In addition to which no two nights our of sleep are exactly the same. Weight gain or loss, indigestion, more tired than usual, more stressed than usual, anticipation of the next day, a few aches from a fun day .....


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Some people are like Slinkies... Not really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.
Resmed VPAP Auto. Humidaire 3i, Simplicity & Micro masks, ResScan 3.4, S8 ResLink, Embla oximeter.

Somehow your body and mind condition will affect the sleep result.  The stress of pressure inside yourself will have effect on result.  You might not noticed your stress inside yourself at all.  As a result, the result can be different at 2 separate sleep study.


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Informations on Sleep Apnea & Snoring & Insomnia