Central vs Obstructive Apnea - EERS Device and Trial

[UsuallyTired]

Yes, I have seen the wiki.  I actually saw the doctor who invented it talking about it on a youtube video a while back.  I've read the research paper as well. 

@ChadBSr, do you happen to know the name of this doctor and any info on the video? I couldn’t find it in my searches. 
Thanks 

Is the paper the 2010 Beth Israelson paper, lead author Gilmartin?

[ChadBSr]

@ChadBSr, do you happen to know the name of this doctor and any info on the video? I couldn’t find it in my searches. 
Thanks 

Is the paper the 2010 Beth Israelson paper, lead author Gilmartin?

Dr. Thomas was on the cpapfriend channel

https://youtu.be/-GWK0avOeTU?si=-oRFndVejTiLjSze

Yes, that is the paper.  Dr. Thomas is also listed on the paper.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3014237/

If only we all had a Dr. Thomas.

[SeePak]

chad.

To answer your original thread question, OA or CA , what's the diff.

Check your tidal volume and minute volume for each of these events.

I am seeing lower min. flow during OA event.

For me, i am thinking positional has been my main issue all along!

Theory is.....I pinch off airway in neck via pillow, or chin tuck, or sleep on back for a bit and get uvula block, or tongue block or Palatal Prolapse
And the pinching is sometimes full or sometimes partial, so flow rate changes and so does the Diagnosis of OA or CA.

And for your EERS testing, here is another theory i have just uncovered these results....

Since going to my Dreamware FFM i have almost NO CA events! And i can have 125 of these in one night!

I am thinking, and was theorizing a few weeks back that maybe FFM provides some buffer for CO2 instead of just Mouth Breathing all the Co2 out of my mouth!?
FFM also provides some back pressure as opposed to mouth breathing.
I was having the cyclical CA response.

Just wondering now, have you ever used FFM and can you check your charts to see how things were then?

I definitely have had a LOT of things going on at the same time like Breathing exercises to increase CO2 tolerance,  VCOM and mask changes as well as recent new Air Sense 11, and i am using the auto mode too which i never thought i would.
And i have Higher Pressure than ever used in my life!
Without causing CA events!?

Looking back on my charts using FFM, i had some 'crazy town' CA events, so maybe now it is the perfect setup of pressure, VCOM and full face mask etc.

VCOM.....i have objective data for using VCOM, which is that my Respiration Rate is very stable, no outliers for 95 and 99 % readings.
I suspect this is making a difference in CA events as well.

Sorry, did not want to hijack your thread, i just see a lot of similarities to my own experience to share with you all.

[ChadBSr]

@seepak

You are right that a ffm has a small amount more dead space than a nasal pillow. I did use a ffm to start but I had multiple issues. It hurt my face and it leaked a lot (may be less of an issue now that I use a collar). I want to stop mouth breathing so that brought other issues with the ffm, I still need to seal my mouth and I had to wear a nasal stent inside the mask.

I had less CA and more OA back then but with all the leaks and issues the data probably isn't that meaningful.  I'm using three lengths of tubing plus the flex tube on the mask for EERS. I'm guesstimating the masks built in tubing brings it close to the dead space of a ffm, so I would need the three additional lengths with any mask.

After I get my settings fine tuned I may do some short trials with my different masks but I really like the nasal pillow inflating my nose.

[ChadBSr]

4 lengths of EERS + EPR 3 + 2 VCOMs

Everything is really smoothing out and stabilizing.

[ChadBSr]

Small pressure increase, reducing ramp time.  Resp rate has much less variation.  Not seeing those short times of low tidal volume/high resp rate I thought were REM.

   

[SeePak]

Interesting

You have very high Tidal volume which for me in your case signifies the extra air that is Flushing out the CO2 that was intolerant by your system which caused you to get those CA event cycles.
Phenotype LOW CO2 Tolerance.

I am going through a very similar case unless I've missed identified your case!?

And I am seeing a correlation and I believe causation between having the higher TV volumes and less time in apnea less CA events almost none actually and overall a better chart.

However if I continue to feel fatigued and tired during the day like many others do here I will then suspect that I flushed too much CO2 out of my system and I need more which is very important in oxygen to the blood and the cells.

I have no previous scientific degrees or professions and I am certainly no doctor.

But I do feel like I slept at a Holiday Inn last night!

Happy New Year to all!

[ChadBSr]

The high tidal volume is only because of the 4 lengths of tubing for the EERS, that was exactly why I added it - because my tidal volume was too low.  It has increased slightly more after bringing pressure up.  I will likely have to remove one length if that pattern continues.  I am 6'4 though, so I'm not really that far off from my target tidal volume.

[Sleeprider]

My median tidal volume is in the same range. No problem, and my height was 6'-2" before I got old and lost a couple inches. EERS may stimulate higher Vt, but you're in a normal range regardless.