[Equipment] O2 Concentrator: Purity of output airstream? Rental? Refurbishment? Ozone?

[LindanHotAir]

If you are not breathing on your own due to central apnea, the oxygen concentrator alone will not do much good during apnea events. Your doctor seems to be trying things in reverse order of effectiveness. The ASV machine should reduce or eliminate oxygen desaturations. It should be tried with a continuous oxygen monitor to determine if supplemental oxygen is needed. It can be added to the CPAP therapy if needed. First, the air has to get into your lungs.

Good luck in getting the proper therapy.

[joeb]

Thanks, LindenHotAir, for the Reply.

I have much to learn and maybe a bit to contribute to the adjunct topic of Treatment of Central Sleep Apnea; Supplemental O2 vs ASV.

I've searched ApneaBoard for an appropriate existing thread on the topic.  I've found a few, but they are several years old.  
For example, Extra Oxygen Eliminated My [Central] Apnea
http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-Extra-Oxygen-Eliminated-My-Central-Apnea?highlight=oxygen+asv

Should we move this discussion to that thread, or should I start a new one?

-joeb-

[Crimson Nape]

joeb - This is your thread and your questions deal with supplemental O2. You can keep the discussion here. We can always rename the thread to better reflect your quest.

[Howardoo]

Hi Joeb, you should continue with the oxygen. It's not to prevent desaturations, but rather to saturate the chemo receptors making them more sensitive to CO2, this lowers the CO2 threshold and prevents overshoot which results in delayed response that repeats itself for an hour or more. I am on Oxygen only at 2l flow rate. That's about as low as you want. It's working well so far.

[Ratchick]

Yeah, I'm on 1l/min which is even less. It's not doing a lot to stop the apneas, but it is doing a little. That said, I'm on supplemental oxygen WITH CPAP and even on both of those, I'm still averaging around an AHI of 15 and as much as 35. It's better than a CAI of 80+ untreated but it's still far from ideal, and most of that is down to the CPAP.

[Howardoo]

I've noticed it has turned my apneas into hypopneas in a lot of cases. I use a mic to detect breathing. It's pretty easy for me to tell when a Central is happening because they come in clusters that last an hour. Those are no more, but it ain't ideal Still pretty tired. Cannula falls out, etc..Might try upping the flow.

[Ratchick]

Yes, that's seeming to be what mine is doing too... it's pushed them towards what OSCAR tags as Flow Reductions but are really 8 or 9 second long apneas instead of 10-second ones. And I STILL get a sats drop during them so... I mean I guess it's good that they're a little shorter, but overall, it's not doing enough to really help for me. I'm hoping my dr will call me today about ASV trial.