Freaking Out

What on earth is Cheyne Strokes Respiration? I looked up the definition, but can't make heads nor tails of it.

The other night I had one that was 162 seconds long

Before panic...zoom in on the green area to make sure it really looks like CSR. I have had some that are flagged but no way do they even come close to being anything like true CSR pattern. I have had some that might be CSR pattern also. Sometimes the machine doesn't get the pattern right and flags PB when it doesn't even remotely resemble CSR.
The duration is for the entire section of breathing pattern (not a single respiration event) and even if it was the real CSR pattern you were at less than 3 minutes which is very minimal anyway.

Occasional PB events that don't add up to much percentage of the whole night...not a big deal.
It is when we see a large percentage every night of PB flagged breathing that we would want to investigate.

CSR looks like this...

This is one of mine.. it does sort of look like CST and it lasted about 3 minutes...short duration and not quite classic CSR


And this one obviously doesn't come close

Oh, crud! That was the one night I don't have flow rate data, as I'd left out my card.

If it IS a real Cheyne Stroke, does that mean like a stroke?

Resister wrote:Oh, crud! That was the one night I don't have flow rate data, as I'd left out my card.

If it IS a real Cheyne Stroke, does that mean like a stroke?

If it happened just once (per the data), don't panic about it. If it happens all the time, then you want to go see a cardiologist. It is often a symptom of heart related problems. But like I Hitch Hiker's Guide to xPAP Therapy says: DON'T PANIC! 8^)

Okay, I'm being a bit silly and flippant about it. The current set of machines can see and identify that type of breathing. But just about everyone has CSR type breathing every now and then. What is not normal is to see it all the time. The more you see it, the more it might indicate you have heart issues. And even then, the good news is that ASV therapy helps improve the situation for the patient.

So, in a nutshell, my suggestion is that if you've seen it just once ... just keep an eye on it.

But, if you've seen that pattern more than a few times ... you might want to schedule a visit with a cardiologist.

Of course, if you've seen the pattern a lot most nights ... then definitely make that appointment.

Also, be aware that some patients have no heart problems but have Cheyne Stokes (not stRokes) Respiration (CSR). In that case, it's called Ideopathic Cheyne Stokes Respiration. That is, "we have no clue why, but you've got" CSR. 8^)

Are they occuring more than once? Are they occurring on a regular basis? If they are, you need to talk to your sleep doc. If this is a one time only or infrequent event, you are probably fine.

Resister wrote:What on earth is Cheyne Strokes Respiration? I looked up the definition, but can't make heads nor tails of it.

The other night I had one that was 162 seconds long

Thanks, everyone! That makes me feel better. After several months of checking data, this is the first one I have seen.

I definitely want to chime in for myself on this. However, I will when I return from an appointment.

Starlette

This is one of those bad questions.

There are serious medical conditions that will cause CSR.

However, just because you have some degree of PB/CSR, especially during CPAP, it doesn't mean you have a serious medical condition. Especially if you only see it occasionally.

Also, just because the CPAP machine flags PB/CSR doesn't mean you really have it. Or that it's serious.

That's yet another reason it's so important to have a machine that records waveforms.

So, you're about to keel over dead, you're just fine, or somewhere in between.

archangle wrote:... So, you're about to keel over dead, you're just fine, or somewhere in between. ...

Ah, I see you've been around a few too many doctors and medical professionals!

archangle wrote:This is one of those bad questions.

There are serious medical conditions that will cause CSR.

However, just because you have some degree of PB/CSR, especially during CPAP, it doesn't mean you have a serious medical condition. Especially if you only see it occasionally.

Also, just because the CPAP machine flags PB/CSR doesn't mean you really have it. Or that it's serious.

That's yet another reason it's so important to have a machine that records waveforms.

So, you're about to keel over dead, you're just fine, or somewhere in between.

So, assuming it was real (who knows since I didn't have the card in), and it was the only time, could it still be serious?

My reported periodic breathing is 1-2% of the night and my doctor isn't even mildly worried. I have no underlying disease (heart or neurological) so it's not a problem. One episode that lasts less than 3 minutes out of maybe 300 min (if you got 5 hrs. of sleep) is less than 1%. Nothing to freak out about in my opinion! Watch for it in the future and report it to your doctor if it bothers you.

--or even if it just scares you a little;
It is, after all, his job. . .

report it to your doctor if it bothers you.

Thanks chunkyfrog, I meant bothers in the sense of "worries", not in the sense of showing symptoms. I can see how that could be misunderstood. I agree, the sooner a doctor reassures OP about this, the better.

chunkyfrog wrote:--or even if it just scares you a little;
It is, after all, his job. . .

Unfortunately, I have a huge deductible.

It is highly unlikely that a single short episode of PB warrants anything more than passing curiosity even if it was the real deal and the machine doesn't always get it right anyway.