High RERA Numbers

[vsheline]

I appreciate the information--anyone else with opinions, suggestions, etc?

Bilevel is the standard treatment to reduce RERAs. But in some patients bilevel therapy tends to cause a larger number of Central Apneas. So it may be a trade off, less RERA for higher centrals. But I think centrals, if short, might not cause arousals and therefore for some patients don't cause the stress and excessive daytime sleepiness which RERAs and hypopneas and obstructive apneas cause.

[SideSleeper]

I appreciate the information--anyone else with opinions, suggestions, etc?

Bilevel is the standard treatment to reduce RERAs. But in some patients bilevel therapy tends to cause a larger number of Central Apneas. So it may be a trade off, less RERA for higher centrals. But I think centrals, if short, might not cause arousals and therefore for some patients don't cause the stress and excessive daytime sleepiness which RERAs and hypopneas and obstructive apneas cause.

I did quite a bit of searching last night and found out RERAs can reduce oxygen significantly. Now I have some information from what I've read and what has been shared to ask intelligent questions of my care providers!

[vsheline]

I did quite a bit of searching last night and found out RERAs can reduce oxygen significantly. Now I have some information from what I've read and what has been shared to ask intelligent questions of my care providers!

Be sure to read up on RDI. It is better than AHI as a measure of treatment success.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respirat...ance_index

Take care,
--- Vaughn

[SideSleeper]

I read that very same Wiki article--plus as lot more. Lots of info out there.

[DariaVader]

That is the major flaw in my S9.... It doesnt report RERA and my sleep study showed them to be significant!

[vsheline]

That is the major flaw in my S9.... It doesnt report RERA and my sleep study showed them to be significant!

Right, the S9 AutoSet does not report an estimate for the number of RERA events, but at least it does raise the pressure in response to Flow Limitation, which tends to eliminate the cause of RERA events.

Also, it has EPR which is a limited form of bilevel therapy and which tends to reduce Flow Limitation and the number of RERA events.

[DariaVader]

Right, the S9 AutoSet does not report an estimate for the number of RERA events, but at least it does raise the pressure in response to Flow Limitation, which tends to eliminate the cause of RERA events.

Also, it has EPR which is a limited form of bilevel therapy and which tends to reduce Flow Limitation and the number of RERA events.

Good point - and I do run a fairly wide pressure range with EPR3 fulltime. Moving to bilevel is something I have talked to my doc about and he said he thinks its not a bad idea and will do that for me, but I opted to wait until my S9 was paid for first which it now is. The main reason for starting at 8 instead of 9 or 10 is that it worsens the water retention problem markedly --- EPR mitigates that, and according to research bilevel would help even more.

[SideSleeper]

Good point - and I do run a fairly wide pressure range with EPR3 fulltime. Moving to bilevel is something I have talked to my doc about and he said he thinks its not a bad idea and will do that for me, but I opted to wait until my S9 was paid for first which it now is. The main reason for starting at 8 instead of 9 or 10 is that it worsens the water retention problem markedly --- EPR mitigates that, and according to research bilevel would help even more.
[/quote]

I hadn't heard of water retention when talking about XPAP before, or is that just a problem you have?

Saw my DME tech today and he surprised me. He wasn't anti-software as I thought and was really interested in Sleephead and what I was learning. He agreedI should talk to my cardiologist and get overnight pulse oximeter tests to check on O2 levels because of the RERAS numbers. Last night was one of my best--AHI .7. no CSRs, 5 hypopneas, no OAs and only 8 RERAs--the lowest ever. I have a cold and didn't sleep a lot--managed to keep my mask on all night but was awake more than usual. He told me to talk to my sleep doc about changing to APAP and I got a smaller frame for my DreamWear mask. I'm very happy with A Turning Leaf Medical Supply! Thanks to all who replied to this message--great people here!

[DariaVader]

Long thread - but yes, it is an issue for some.
http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...=retention

[SideSleeper]

Long thread - but yes, it is an issue for some.
http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...=retention

Thank you for this link. I need to watch that it doesn't become an issue for me asI already have some edema in my legs and am on lasix (heart and blood pressure).