Rapid breaths while sleeping.. Worried!

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
Kraehi
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Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2014 2:03 am

Rapid breaths while sleeping.. Worried!

Post by Kraehi » Mon Dec 22, 2014 2:12 am

My husband has had his cpap for almost 3 years now. He doesn't have it monitored because at the time our insurance was terrible and we chose to buy a machine vs rent with monitoring. He will be getting re-evaluated once we are settled in our new home.

What has me concerned is that during sleep more recently he seems (or the machine) to be taking shorter breaths in his sleep. He doesn't notice it. It's almost like he is panting. And not continuous through the night. Just normal breathing i interspersed with several minutes of these panting episodes. He travels for work so is usually only home for a week in each month. And I have only noticed this in the last few months.

Should I be concerned? It is difficult to get him into a sleep doctor at this time with all the irregular travel he does. But if it is serious I will discuss it with him.

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kaiasgram
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Re: Rapid breaths while sleeping.. Worried!

Post by kaiasgram » Mon Dec 22, 2014 2:36 am

Kraehi -- I think you should be concerned but not freaked out. What is the exact make and model of his machine? If he has a full data machine there is free software available that would allow you to take a closer look at his breathing patterns and to provide a picture of this pattern to the doctor. You can also post some screenshots of the reports generated by the software (SleepyHead is a good one) here and get feedback.

It sounds like you might be describing "periodic breathing" -- it has a number of possible causes. Whether it's worrisome (from a medical perspective) depends on a lot of factors including how prevalent a pattern it is.

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Kraehi
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Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2014 2:03 am

Re: Rapid breaths while sleeping.. Worried!

Post by Kraehi » Mon Dec 22, 2014 8:24 pm

I will ask him to get a recording of his pattern for the next few nights. I don't know the type of machine he has, but it does give him info that he can export to the computer. I will do some more research as well. thanks for the info.

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archangle
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Re: Rapid breaths while sleeping.. Worried!

Post by archangle » Mon Dec 22, 2014 10:50 pm

Tell us what's printed on the top of his machine where the display and buttons are. There should be some manufacturer and model info there. All the info, please, not just a few words.

Don't move the machine around. If it has a water tank, you could spill water back into the machine, unless you remove the water tank.

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kteague
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Re: Rapid breaths while sleeping.. Worried!

Post by kteague » Tue Dec 23, 2014 2:38 am

Once you give the machine info, maybe someone can say if what I am thinking applies to your situation. I read on here long ago (I think it was about bipaps) where the user felt their breaths were cut short with the next inhale starting before they had fully exhaled. The answer was changing a setting for the spacing or timing of the inhale and exhale.

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