Central SA showed up in my CPAP data.. very concerned!!!

avi123 wrote:

arburtus wrote:my pressure range is between 6-9, below 10 in the first 3 nights. I used the newest and greatest Remstar. Last night the gave me the previous model, since the can not let me use the newest as a loaner for too long. the pressure seemed much higher, even so it was set at the same strength. I did not check the pressure after my arousals.

I just checked the settings at my Remstar Auto M Series. They only detected 36 Minutes ( ?!?) Theraphy time, the matter of fact is that I used the machine for about 4-5 hours)
the cmh2o was 10. and system leaks are l/min 27.2 and AHI average over the last 7 days was 18.2!
puzzling...
th

Arburtus, what do you mean by "they"?

In my opinion you need to tell us the exact type of CPAP that you're using and also tell your recent history. Who told you to do the PAT study and why?

Do you have a physician who could first check you and decide if you should do a complete sleep study in a sleep clinic?

By the way, a leak of 27.2 L/min is too hi for the machine to distinguish events.

No, not with a Respironics machine. They report the total leak rate. You're used to the ResMed methodology of subtracting the expected leakage. That leak rate he reported is fine.


Den

Arburtus, what do you mean by "they"?

When you wrote: They only detected 36 Minutes ( ?!?) Theraphy time, the matter of fact is that I used the machine for about 4-5 hours)
the cmh2o was 10. and system leaks are l/min 27.2 and AHI average over the last 7 days was 18.2!

It's hard to understand it.

In my opinion you need to tell us your recent history. Who told you to do the PAT study and why?

Do you have a physician who could first check you and decide if you should do a complete sleep study in a sleep clinic?

By the way, a leak of 27.2 L/min is too hi for the machine to distinguish events.[/quote]

Sorry for the unclarity, english is not my first language...
What I menat to say was that the Remstar Auto M series displayed that only 36 minutes of therapy time were indicated last night despite the fact that I slept a total of 4-5 hours with CPAP. Said that there were a lot of arousals.
The display showed the cmh2o to average 10. The system leaks were l/min 27.2 and the AHI average over (must be within the 36 minutes therapy time) settled at 18.2, a number that seems large.

I started my CPAP iteration this Monday with a different machine, a PR System One REMstar Auto CPAP Machine with A-Flex.
The sleep lab tech and pulmonary physician realized that I have 3-7.6 episode of CSA per hour. Since I was diagnosed with sleep apnea with a ' sophisticated take home device' a distinguishing between CSA and OSA was not possible at my study.

Due to my history of head-injuries I requested a 'formal ' sleep study that will not take take place for many weeks. In the interim the p physician wants to see the CSA lowered (by rechecking a week worth of sleep with the One REMstar Auto CPAP Machine with A-Flex. devise). In the that case he wants to cancel the formal study.

I requested a sleep study in first place due to arousals (one a night) in were I thought I am choking. My wive reported funny noises while I was asleep for some 3 years now. Not sure how long I suffer from CA, but it became worst in the recent year or two.

Thanks arburtus for the explanation. Some one who uses that Respironics machine could explain the problem with the 36 minutes. To me also, English is a second language. From your story I could assume that you're a sportsman like a boxer who got his head pounded for more than 3 years, which makes you wake up at nights mumbling something and gasping for air.

My question: has a doctor like a neurologist checked with x-ray or MRI the damage to your head?

Since I got a machine with data I have been aware that I get central apneas. I imagine I have had them for years as well as a pressure that was too low for me. My typical numbers are CA 3.5, OA .5 - 1, HI .5 - 1. Although over the past few weeks my numbers are pretty wacko; i.e. AHI of 2 to 10.

I have run the gamut from no big deal to very concerned when it comes to centrals. There is a lot of information on the internet, much is inconclusive and sometimes contradictory. But I did find some info that indicated that central/complex apnea shows the CA index over 5.

I tried EPR, which I think is C-Flex or A-flex for you, as a poor man's BiPAP with a setting of 1 and it seemed to help my centrrals, dropped the CAs into the 2's, but my OA went up. Usually after I raise my pressure my cenrals will go up, but not every time.

I have read and re-read an article by Steven Grenard that presents a debate over complex/central apneas. One of the opinions was to "wait until it goes away." Right now I an waiting to see what happens. If I had a CA index of 8, 10 or more over a period of time, I'd be pushing for more answers and possibly an ASV, but my centrals are pretty short and I'm not feeling any adverse effects, so my priority are my OAs .

If you do a search, yo will find a number of posts and you will have to assess if your centrals are inpacting you sleep and how you are feeling, or are they just a number. I've come to the realization that as long as I get centrals, I'll probably never get a super low AHI.

Good luck on your journey with your centrals.

John