central apneas

Is it true you can get central apneas sometimes with pressure of 11 even though the sleep study shows only osa.

I think centrals need to be found or looked for at a sleep lab overnight study

Anyone can get the odd central show up at any time, but if you're worried because you think you're having a lot all the time, then you should see a doctor. The specific pressure can't be blamed all by itself (and 11 is very average) without knowing more.

marlins wrote:Is it true you can get central apneas sometimes with pressure of 11 even though the sleep study shows only osa.

Marlins,

It is my understanding that if you are prone to having centrals, they can be triggered by having a pressure that is too high over what you need to keep your airway stented open. A BiLevel machine is commonly used for people in that category. I have no idea why, and I'd be interested in learning more about it.

-john-

There are some pretty interesting discussions here:

Links to Central Apnea discussions
viewtopic.php?p=22702

Julie wrote:Anyone can get the odd central show up at any time

I'm with Julie on that. A few centrals, even if you were having a few, are nothing to worry about, imho, but I'm not a doctor.

As harry33 pointed out, it takes being hooked up to PSG sleep study equipment (or perhaps an ASV machine) to even know if there are centrals present.

Apparently your sleep study, marlins, showed only OSA (obstructive sleep apnea)?

marlins wrote:even though the sleep study shows only osa.

If so, I wouldn't worry one bit about centrals, or hesitate to increase the pressure by another 2 or 3 cms. But that's me. I have a rather casual "so what" attitude about what if a few centrals did crop up here and there. We have centrals in the daytime while wide awake.

I had a central just now while I was sitting here at the computer concentrating on whether I wanted to say "so what" or not.... LOL!! Was holding my breath without realizing it -- thinking, thinking, and thinking about whether I wanted to use that phrase at all. I finally took a long deep breath and went ahead and typed "so what." Holding my breath for awhile without realizing it, instead of breathing "normally"...that was a central. I guess it could be classified as a "so what" central.

As Julie mentioned, a pressure of 11 is not especially high, anyway. That's a very moderate pressure. I wouldn't worry.