I have recently been diagosed with sleep apnea and started wearing the mask 2 nights ago. So, you are going to be hearing alot from me. My question is..... my sleep dr. said that i stop breathing 9 times a minute. How many time does a "normal person" breath a minute?

Thanks

Normal is about 15-20 at rest, slows down somewhat in most people when asleep. But normal is best determined on what is normal for the individual person (my awake breathrate, for example, is 8-10 breaths per minute, and trying to breathe faster than that - like when my ASV was programmed to 12bpm - causes me to hyperventilate.

Are you certain he said you have 9 apnea events per MINUTE, or per hour? AHI is usually calculated on an hourly basis.

Yeah, I'd have to question that number. To count as an "episode", you need to have stopped breathing for at least 10 seconds. If it was nine times a minute, you would have stopped breathing for a total of 90 seconds...more than the total number of seconds in the minute. Plus, nine times a minute would equal 540 an hour. That would make an AHI of 540!

ok, I guess I must have understood.. 9 times an hrs sounds alot better. Thanks Like I said Im new to this whole thing.