Little Olive - Therapy Adventure

[Little Olive]

Hi All.  Anyone else here with Cheyne-Stokes breathing, even during the day when awake sometimes?  I'm a bit alarmed by the results of my sleep monitoring which says "Severe sleep disordered breathing.  There is minimal snoring noted, significant airflow limitation with frequent cardiac variations suggesting sleep fragmentation due to upper airways resistance.  Cheyne-Stokes respiration noted." 89% of my respiration (7.29 hrs) was Cheyne-Stokes!  

Apnea/Hypopnea Index was 49.0/Hour;  Desaturation Index 45.3/Hour; %Flow Limitation without snoring 44%;  Average Oxygen Saturation 94%,Lowest Oxygen Saturation 87%; .  Pulse BPM Min 41, Average 46.   

I'm 60kg in weight, BMI 23.1kg/m2, average 7000 steps daily, no heart failure, no neuroloical disease that i know of, no diabetes or other diseases, apart from Hashimotos Thyroid and fibromyalgia.  Recent full checkups with full bloods etc all good, 2 headneck MRIs 2 years ago for persistent neuralgic pain were clear.  I have had classic apnea symptoms for years, worsening with time, till it has become impossible to function normally..  When I read about CSA and Cheyne-Stokes, it's pretty grim!

Anyhow, they gave me a CPAP to try for a couple of weeks and if my symptoms have not improved they are referring me for specialist assessment.  Anyone else have this breathing pattern?  Thank you !

[stevew168]

If you have that much Cheyne-Stokes respiration, you will probably benefit using an ASV. I got mine based on my CSR, through Apria. CPR is serious, and stopping it is very protective for your heart, brain, and entire body. This link is interesting, although he only covers ASV mode, and not ASVAuto mode, which varies the EPAP as well as the Pressure Support. Hope it's OK to post.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j6m6ZRf8Kw

[Little Olive]

A lot of hypopneas and cheyne-stokes

[Little Olive]

Thanks  Steve.  Does the ASV help you?  I'm not finding the cpap any use yet but it's only been a cple night, during which l didn't sleep anyhow.

[stevew168]

ASV has been a game changer for me. It has made a great difference. You can see from the OSCAR overview the changes including, AHI and Tidal Volume beginning August 7 and after my titrating, October 7.

[Little Olive]

That's very encouraging thank you

[jcp519]

I'd definitely second the suggestion for an ASV, especially with having CSR. My numbers were very similar to steve's before and after getting an ASV and it made a world of difference in how I feel during the day. I got mine because I had persistent treatment emergent centrals from CPAP.

Also, I believe thyroid issues and sleep apnea are related in some way. So getting your sleep apnea under control may end up helping you keep your thyroid in check.

If you posted some screenshots of OSCAR data we could probably have a better idea if CPAP is doing anything for you or not.

[Little Olive]

Thank you jcp. It's good to hear that ASV helps. If it eventuates that l need one, l will be given one. I have no data yet because lve only had 2 nights with the cpap so far.
I was given the sleep study and trial of cpap therapy from my local health authority after a referral from my gp doctor, because l qualify for this treatment. The clinic say they are monitoring the trial via wifi and are seeing the data and tweaking the pressure settings when appropriate. . I have an appointment for a followup in 2 weeks. I can ask then for a copy of the 14 nights of data.
I had a better night last night after ditching the full mask and using the nasal one instead. And yes l agree about the thyroid, it seems to be linked to absolutely everything !

[Little Olive]

Hi all,  can someone please help me understand how resmed calculates events per hour?  Last night l had my mask off while l had a drink. At that point the report said Usage 6.14 and Events 16.8 .  Then l put mask back on and rested in bed reading for a cple hours, dozing briefly.  When l get up this morning the report says Usage 8.22 and Events 13.2 .   Where did the lost 3.6 Events go?   Just because the mask is on my face and the machine is running doesn't  necessarily mean lm sleeping. To calculate the per hour number by spreading the Events out over Usage time, when the Usage time isn't  all sleep time   doesn't make sense surely?  ?

[gainerfull]

AHI or apnea hypopnea index is the number of obstructive apneas or hypopneas you have divided by total time. The cpap / bilevel can't tell when you're asleep if you're using it while reading.