[CPAP] Something to Worry About?

[Snuffy1717]

Hey All,

New to the boards... Not sure if I should be worried.
Been on CPAP for just over 6 months... My flow rate line used to be fairly flat all night, but lately I've been getting a bit of waxing and waining in the last two-three months or so.

The machine usually doesn't flag it as a PB... Just wondering if it's something I should investigate further or just a natural thing my body has decided to start doing.

I'm trying to post screen shots but apparently my account is too new... Link split below (if that's allowed?)
http:// imgu r.com/a/UtBm2

Thanks!

[richb]

Hi Snuffy1717. Welcome to the Apnea Board. I couldn't connect to your link. Try again and test the link. I would like to help.

Rich

[Snuffy1717]

Thanks!
Imgur seemed to be down for a few minutes... Just checked and it's back up now...
With the link, because I don't have enough posts to be allowed to post it, you have to remove the space between / and i, as well as the one between u and r...

Sorry for it being a pain :S

[Rcgop]

Hey All,

New to the boards... Not sure if I should be worried.
Been on CPAP for just over 6 months... My flow rate line used to be fairly flat all night, but lately I've been getting a bit of waxing and waining in the last two-three months or so.

The machine usually doesn't flag it as a PB... Just wondering if it's something I should investigate further or just a natural thing my body has decided to start doing.

I'm trying to post screen shots but apparently my account is too new... Link split below (if that's allowed?)
http:// imgu r.com/a/UtBm2

Thanks!

Take the space out after // and between "u" and "r" and it works.

[cate1898]

Hi Snuffy1717 and welcome to the forum!

Looks like your AHI is really good. Anything below 5 is considered treated. I'm sure you will get more detailed responses from some of the other more experienced users soon!

[Snuffy1717]

Thanks Cate!
I've been incredibly happy with it so far... Went from 30+ AHI in my study to between .5 and 2 most nights.

I've had minor heart palps (the cardiologist I saw last year didn't seem overly concerned). I have a follow-up with him in mid-November, just wanted to see if anyone else had experience with (what looks to me like a bit of) waxing & waning

[richb]

Got it. I didn't notice the spaces. Yes, that pattern does look like periodic breathing. Your AHI is very low which means that your apnea us under control. What you might be seeing is a bit of CO2 washout due to the pressure differential in your settings. This should not be a problem if it is relatively rare during the night. It should also not be a problem if your O2 saturation is good. One thing you can do to test this idea is to raise your lower pressure by 0.5 CM H2O at a time. This will reduce the washout of CO2 and should reduce the periodic breathing.

Rich

[Rcgop]

I have a similar problem of waxing and waning. Mine come with a CAs in between each. Had the best night last night ever up to the last hour (AHI=.3). If you include the last hour my AHI was 3.3.
Going to have a heart stress test Monday. That, and, maybe stop trying to get 8 hours of sleep.

[justMongo]

Got it. I didn't notice the spaces. Yes, that pattern does look like periodic breathing. Your AHI is very low which means that your apnea us under control. What you might be seeing is a bit of CO2 washout due to the pressure differential in your settings. This should not be a problem if it is relatively rare during the night. It should also not be a problem if your O2 saturation is good. One thing you can do to test this idea is to raise your lower pressure by 0.5 CM H2O at a time. This will reduce the washout of CO2 and should reduce the periodic breathing.

Rich

OP's machine is a straight CPAP. Although one of the flex settings must be set to 2 (like EPR on a ResMed machine.) If that flex setting could be reduced it might help.

[Snuffy1717]

Pressure is set at 8, but it's got a FLEX on the breath out... SH tells me it sits between 6 and 6.5 most nights and adjusts automatically