CPAP induced Central Apnea?

Hello everyone,

I’m currently trying to adjust to using my new Airsense 10 Autoset. I’m also using a mirage Quattro face mask. I haven’t done a sleep study yet. I have a venous malformation which compresses my airway and purchased this equipment to combat my high blood pressure brought on by OSA. Yesterday was my 2nd night with it and it was miserable. Please note that before using the machine I had no problems falling or staying asleep. Sometimes I’d wake up groggy or tired but I could get though my day without naps and workout 3 times a week. Now as for last night, it seems that while I use the machine my brain gets stupid and forgets to breathe/inhale. Just as I’m starting to fall asleep I’ll start to wake back up seemingly holding my breath and heart beating rapidly. I was only able to use the machine for 2 hours and it said I had an AHÍ of 5. The really scary part is this persisted even after I took off the mask. I’d start to fall asleep and immediately find myself holding my breath in some sort of arrested exhale mode. All of this was accompanied by random off the wall micro dreams. If this all sounds like a nightmare that’s because it pretty much was. I’ve read that CPAP can cause Central Apnea which I’m terrified of happening. I’d rather deal with all sorts or grogginess over torturously waking up because my own body won’t breathe. Has anyone ever heard of this? Any help at all would be extremely appreciated.

Dvdmatsunaga wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 02, 2018 10:13 am

I’ve read that CPAP can cause Central Apnea which I’m terrified of happening.

Why? some centrals here and there are nothing.

PAP therapy can induce centrals (your body forgetting to breathe for 10 seconds or more at a time) in between around 3 to 10 percent of people while they are using the machine. And since you haven't done a sleep study yet, you don't know if you have centrals when you sleep without PAP. A good home sleep study or lab study will give you data on whether you have sleep apnea and whether you have central apneas, obstructive apneas or both.

A regular CPAP or APAP machine does not breathe for you. It provides positive air pressure to prop open your airways. That's it. You have to do the breathing, and if your body forgets to breathe, it won't do anything. Typically, lack of breathing from obstruction or your body forgetting to breathe will result in you waking up enough to start breathing on your own. If you need a machine to breathe for you, you'll need a different machine. Regular PAP machines are typically not for people who's sleep study shows they have central apneas since regular PAP machines do not treat central apneas.

My second night on PAP was the worst. Horrible sleep. Lots of centrals. Very hard to sleep with the machine. But that has gotten better over the last weeks. So a few bad nights on PAP doesn't mean it can't work for you. But neither does that mean your set up is right for you. But I'm not qualified to tell one from another.

Follow the forum stickies on how to use the free, open source Sleepyhead software and your A10's SD card to chart the machine data an post it to this thread so people can give you more information about what your data shows.

You say you have an Airsense 10 Autoset, but the equipment in your sig line is an Airstart 10 Auto. There is a big difference between the two in terms of data that is collected.

If you do have an Airsense 10, then download the SH software, so we can see if you are really having any centrals at all, and if there are enough to even be concerned with. As PR says, most of the time it's a "so what" situation with centrals.

Do you know what your pressure settings are? They may be too low (or even high) for optimum therapy.

Hopefully you can work through the machine and data questions and get some hard facts in front of you. Dealing with maybes and what-ifs can be more mentally draining than facing facts. No matter what you determine there are ways to deal with it. Often all it takes is getting our settings optimized and giving ourselves time to adjust. Occasional clear airway events in data doesn't necessarily mean one has central sleep apnea. Those with restless sleep and frequent wakings are more likely to see them in their data, and in those cases are not of concern. Some people (like me) are habitual breath holders even when awake. After being on CPAP for a while that improved for me. Even if for your CPAP caused true central sleep apnea, it can be addressed. Start at Step 1 and see where it takes you.