[CPAP] Air Curve ASV - Newbie

[randeh]

I received my Air Curve ASV on Monday for central apnea. This is the first time having any type of device. I have been swallowing a lot of air to the point of waking up in pain. Also my lungs expand quite excessively and have some discomfort. I think my EPAP max is to high so I thought I would lower my Max EPAP from 15 to 14, and PS max from 15 to 14 to start with.
I have tried using a full mask and nasal mask and pretty much have the same results.

My prescription is:
Max IPAP 25
Min EPAP 10
Max EPAP 15
PS Min 4
PS Max 15
Bur Auto

I am waiting for a referral for a new sleep doctor because of all the delays I experienced because of my doctor's staff. It took over three months to have the testing and get the equipment. I do not have a copy of my sleep study yet because the doctor issued the prescription without even meeting with me. In your opinion would lowering the values from 15 to 14 make that big of a difference or should I start off lower.

Thank you,

Randy

[justMongo]

You may experience that with an ASV. If you fail to inhale at a time the machine expects, it will "pump" air into your lungs to noninvasively ventilate you.
That will stretch the intracostal muscles and make one sore.

ASVs are complex, and I would advise you to not mess with it. You should demand a copy of the sleep study report; and the prescription.
If they balk -- write them up on Yelp and healthgrades.

[retired_guy]

Actually they must provide you with a copy of your prescription and test results if you request it. So do that.

I see you have installed Sleepyhead. What is it reporting as to how you're doing? AHI? OA's? CA's pressure readings?

It is important to know where you have been (as per the sleep study reports) but probably more important to know where you are.

[randeh]

You may experience that with an ASV. If you fail to inhale at a time the machine expects, it will "pump" air into your lungs to noninvasively ventilate you.
That will stretch the intracostal muscles and make one sore.

ASVs are complex, and I would advise you to not mess with it. You should demand a copy of the sleep study report; and the prescription.
If they balk -- write them up on Yelp and healthgrades.

Yes that does happen when I stop breathing as I am falling asleep so that is not a problem. What I think is the maximum pressure for the regular cpap side of things is to high and it is expanding my lungs to much.

I have my prescription as mentioned in my original post I will be getting a copy of my study. The doctor does not know yet I am firing him and I just do not want to deal with the slow to no responsiveness of his staff. Thanks for your thoughts on the matter.

Kind Regards,

Randy

[randeh]

  ResScan1.pdf (Size: 11.48 KB / Downloads: 117)

Actually they must provide you with a copy of your prescription and test results if you request it. So do that.

I see you have installed Sleepyhead. What is it reporting as to how you're doing? AHI? OA's? CA's pressure readings?

It is important to know where you have been (as per the sleep study reports) but probably more important to know where you are.

Attached is a report from the ResScan software I download here. I am having problems with the Sleepyhead software but I can try again if this report does not show the correct information. Thanks in advance.

[JVinNE]

I received my Air Curve ASV on Monday for central apnea. This is the first time having any type of device. I have been swallowing a lot of air to the point of waking up in pain. Also my lungs expand quite excessively and have some discomfort. I think my EPAP max is to high so I thought I would lower my Max EPAP from 15 to 14, and PS max from 15 to 14 to start with.
I have tried using a full mask and nasal mask and pretty much have the same results.

I also have the stretched out lung feeling sometimes. I've only been on therapy for a little over a week.

My prescription is:
Max IPAP 25
Min EPAP 10
Max EPAP 15
PS Min 4
PS Max 15
Bur Auto

I am waiting for a referral for a new sleep doctor because of all the delays I experienced because of my doctor's staff. It took over three months to have the testing and get the equipment. I do not have a copy of my sleep study yet because the doctor issued the prescription without even meeting with me. In your opinion would lowering the values from 15 to 14 make that big of a difference or should I start off lower.

Thank you,

Randy

I am also an Aircurve 10, ASV Bilevel user, and my doctor has me on lower pressure than you. I also sometimes wake up with a belly full of air, and some pretty serious airbiscuits (farting) My bf says sometimes I fart in the night, but it doesn't stink; glad I'm not stinking him out.

I also have sleep-onset central Hypopnea, and I've had it off and on for years; since I got a head injury from my exbf. Last night, on the machine, reported in sleepyhead, my AHI was 0.0. My only complaint about the machine is the tummy air. I even like my new full face mask. It's a lot less leaky than the F10 I was using before this one.

This is my report from last night.

Therapy Efficiacy
AHI 0.00
Obstructive Index 0.00
Hypopnea Index 0.00
Clear Airway Index 0.00
Leak Statistics
Average Leak Rate 0.00
90% Leak Rate 0.00
% of time above Leak Rate threshold 0.00%
Pressure Statistics
Average Pressure 8.11
Min Pressure 5.02
Max Pressure 14.94
90% Pressure 11.74

[randeh]

  DatafromSleepyTime.pdf (Size: 7.09 KB / Downloads: 133)

Actually they must provide you with a copy of your prescription and test results if you request it. So do that.

I see you have installed Sleepyhead. What is it reporting as to how you're doing? AHI? OA's? CA's pressure readings?

It is important to know where you have been (as per the sleep study reports) but probably more important to know where you are.

Attached is a report from the ResScan software I download here. I am having problems with the Sleepyhead software but I can try again if this report does not show the correct information. Thanks in advance.

Attached is the data from the SleepyTime software. I was able to export it and I provided the columns that had data. As you can see from the report Tuesday was my best night after changing to the nasal mask, setting the humidity to manual with a setting of 6, and setting the heat for the hose to the maximum. The mask and settings were the same for Wednesday and Thursday night. Along with the air swallowing I am experiencing stuffy sinuses which are not relieved with my sinus medication. I am going to try the full mask again tonight to give my sinuses a break. Again thank you in advance.

[randeh]

I received my Air Curve ASV on Monday for central apnea. This is the first time having any type of device. I have been swallowing a lot of air to the point of waking up in pain. Also my lungs expand quite excessively and have some discomfort. I think my EPAP max is to high so I thought I would lower my Max EPAP from 15 to 14, and PS max from 15 to 14 to start with.
I have tried using a full mask and nasal mask and pretty much have the same results.

I also have the stretched out lung feeling sometimes. I've only been on therapy for a little over a week.

My prescription is:
Max IPAP 25
Min EPAP 10
Max EPAP 15
PS Min 4
PS Max 15
Bur Auto

I am waiting for a referral for a new sleep doctor because of all the delays I experienced because of my doctor's staff. It took over three months to have the testing and get the equipment. I do not have a copy of my sleep study yet because the doctor issued the prescription without even meeting with me. In your opinion would lowering the values from 15 to 14 make that big of a difference or should I start off lower.

Thank you,

Randy

I am also an Aircurve 10, ASV Bilevel user, and my doctor has me on lower pressure than you. I also sometimes wake up with a belly full of air, and some pretty serious airbiscuits (farting) My bf says sometimes I fart in the night, but it doesn't stink; glad I'm not stinking him out.

I also have sleep-onset central Hypopnea, and I've had it off and on for years; since I got a head injury from my exbf. Last night, on the machine, reported in sleepyhead, my AHI was 0.0. My only complaint about the machine is the tummy air. I even like my new full face mask. It's a lot less leaky than the F10 I was using before this one.

This is my report from last night.

Therapy Efficiacy
AHI 0.00
Obstructive Index 0.00
Hypopnea Index 0.00
Clear Airway Index 0.00
Leak Statistics
Average Leak Rate 0.00
90% Leak Rate 0.00
% of time above Leak Rate threshold 0.00%
Pressure Statistics
Average Pressure 8.11
Min Pressure 5.02
Max Pressure 14.94
90% Pressure 11.74

I had a 0.00 AHI on Tuesday night and except for the air swallowing it was the best night sleep I have had in a very long time. As for the farting I am waking my wife and I think the neighbors too. All the best!

[trish6hundred]

Hi randeh,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for help with your reports and much success to you as you continue and fine tune your CPAP therapy

[retired_guy]

Your actual results (AHI) look excellent. One thing I am not seeing at all is any sign of CA's, which should be the primary reason they prescribed the ASV unit. That leads me to my original curiosity, which is why did they do that? That's something that perhaps the actual sleep study results will tell us.

The reason I'm doing this little dance is because I think, based on the results I'm seeing, that a lower pressure could certainly be justified, which could alleviate your soreness issues. Your median pressure was 16.1, and your "at or below 95%" was 20.9. Those are pretty high numbers, but they resulted in an AHI of zero. That's almost unheard of in the early days of treatment. So I would not hesitate asking your DME or Doc to drop your pressures 2 points to help with comfort issues. Then monitor the results of course.