Central sleep apnea

[theMezz]

Anyone here with central sleep apnea? What was the fix and how are you doing with it?

[PaulaO2]

I don't have it but the only treatment for it is an ASV machine. There's a bunch here who use one!

[jaswilliams]

I have moderate complex sleep apnea AHI of 38 (a mixture of obstructive and Central Apnea) I started on CPAP then APap then ASV I now have a treated AHI of 0.0-0.1 before the ASV on APAP my treated AHI was still 34 on some nights.

If you have heart problems with a LEVF of ≤ 45% you will not be able to get an ASV machine.

[DeepBreathing]

I'm another centralist. My pre-treatment AHI was 62, being roughly 50/50 central and obstructive apnea. Tried APAP with no success. Changed to a Philips ASV, which was an unhappy relationship and finally achieved a very good result with the Resmed S9 VPAP Adapt, which was the forerunner to the Aircurve 10 ASV.

Although some people do get relief using CPAP or APAP at low pressures, that is not the usual situation and the results are hard to maintain over time. With an ASV it's an almost guaranteed fix. But as mentioned above, you do need to rule out severe congestive heart failure as ASV is contraindicated for people with that condition.

[gwc2795]

ASV is the way to go for centrals. I also use the S9 VPAP ADAPT. On a bipap my AHI was not steady on ASV my AHI is consistently good

[SarcasticDave94]

Anyone here with central sleep apnea? What was the fix and how are you doing with it?

Yep. My fix was to dance my way thru the insurance requirements to advance from CPAP and BPAP failures, both with PSG's (sleep studies), to be qualified for an ASV with it's own PSG and titration. I also had to take a heart echo test to get a pass on the heart not having a LVEF grade of 45 or under.

I have, and by brand choice, a ResMed AirCurve 10 ASV. Prior to ASV, my untreated AHI was +70. With my current settings, I am typically at or below 1.8, which has trended further down the more time I'm on it (on a monthly scale, not time per 24 hr).

[foxfire]

I have severe complex sleep apnea. I've been using an ASV machine for more than 5 years and even though my AHI has always averaged about 0.0 I never felt any subjective improvement in how I feel (still feel like I've been hit by a bus most mornings). I recently switched sleep specialists and my new doctor doesn't think AHI by itself is a very good indicator of effective therapy for CSA. He recently published a paper in which he discusses his thoughts on this https://academic.oup.com/sleep/advance-a...m=fulltext

Anyway I am now using an ASV machine with the addition of EERS (enhanced expiratory rebreathing space), AHI is still zero and I am having some days where I'm feeling a little better. To soon to draw any firm conclusions though.

[Sleep2Snore]

Like all these studies they never say how many patients were studied and how and where it was done.
The very nature of the way the machine works will arouse patients, but then will not breathing, hopefully it would anyway.
Otherwise there would be a lot of people would not be waking up again!
Most people will benefit from a machine and feel a lot better in the morning, but like everything else, there is always the exception.

The lowest number might not be the best, could be you are sensitive to the machine and a slightly higher number might work slightly better for you.
Experimentation is the answer.

[Hojo]

Another ASV member here, CA with no apparent medical reason.

[theMezz]

Does the ASV feel like a regular CPAP when you use it?