Lots of Central Apneas

[Jaime4]

Hi everyone! I just started CPAP (APAP?) treatment a couple of weeks ago. My original AHI was 28, and my oxygen levels were in the mid 80s, so I got put on a ResMed Airsense 10 Auto and AirFit P10 nasal pillow.

I've attached my OSCAR report for last night (in jpg format). I've gotten as low as 8 AHI, but am more typically still around 10 or higher (last night was up at 20 again). Almost all of my Event graphs look about the same though, with lots of "Clear Airway" events. Not sure what that means. I'm just trying to get a handle on this stuff. I am generally sleeping through the night better. I used to wake up every 2 hours, and now I at least sleep from about 10pm to 4am, and then fall back asleep until about 5 or 6am. I'm still struggling with afternoon exhaustion though.

So, what does all of this mean? I guess I'm not sure CPAP (APAP?) treatment is working for me yet. I've tried fiddling with the Ramp feature a little to see if that makes a difference (my sleep doctor told me to try it). I went from Auto to 5 minutes. Didn't seem to do anything. I also tried upping the humidity level from 4 to 6 (it was hard to breathe through my nose during the day after using the machine at night), and that helped a little.

Anyone have any advice on what to try next to get my AHI down below 5?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

report.jpg (412.88 KiB) Viewed 2018 times

[zonker]

Hi everyone! I just started CPAP (APAP?) treatment a couple of weeks ago. My original AHI was 28, and my oxygen levels were in the mid 80s, so I got put on a ResMed Airsense 10 Auto and AirFit P10 nasal pillow.

welcome to the zoo! you are currently rocking an apap, which is what most people here use. you are also using a machine/mask combo that several here use, myself included.

it's going to take awhile to get that waking up refreshed feeling. there ARE folks who come here from time to time and they say they get it right away. but they are in the minority. so stick with it and we'll get you there.

i'm no expert. they will be along shortly. but i can see that you are going to want to raise your minimum pressure. this will allow your machine to react more quickly to your events.

i'm a cautious person. i say raise it to at least 7.

others will probably come in and advise an even higher min setting.

in any event, you are on your way. you can do this.

good luck!

[LSAT]

If this amount of Centrals continue, you should see your doctor. CPAP/APAP cannot control Centrals. Did you have an overnight sleep study? You could increase your minimum pressure slightly to 7 to get rid of some O/H events, but, ASV machines are required to control Central Apnea.

[Jas_williams]

If this amount of Centrals continue, you should see your doctor. CPAP/APAP cannot control Centrals. Did you have an overnight sleep study? You could increase your minimum pressure slightly to 7 to get rid of some O/H events, but, ASV machines are required to control Central Apnea.

i agree with LSAT your machine is not working for you. Try turning down EPR it may reduce centrals but I would like to see your sleep study to see if there were Centrals recorded during that.

[palerider]

First thing I would do is turn EPR *OFF*.

[Pugsy]

First thing I would do is turn EPR *OFF*.

I agree.

Turn EPR off and see if that makes any change in the number of centrals. It's a long shot but not impossible for it to make a marked reduction.

I wouldn't change anything else right now. Turning off EPR will effectively increase the overall average pressure a little which should help out with the hyponeas.