New Member - Central Apneas of Just Slow Breathing?
Hello all,
I'm a long-time lurker, with mild OSA. I have a very low pressure need and it has effectively removed my snoring and OSA issues. I'm mid-fifties and generally in good shape. I work out regularly and have been an endurance athlete my entire life, although not competitive anymore and 10+ lbs heavier in my 50's than my 40's.
I don't look at SleepyHead regularly. I have been waking up tired recently so I took a look. Wow! I've got a bunch for odd breathing patterns that show up late in my sleep (1-2 hours before waking).
I don't know if I should be worried or if this is 'normal'.
Please advise.
[attachment=10832]
03-16-2019, 01:05 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-16-2019, 01:07 PM by Sleeprider.)
RE: New Member - Central Apneas of Just Slow Breathing?
Please provide a detailed daily image of your therapy as described under the Organizing Sleepyhead Data in my signature links. This information provides information on the apnea, but we still don't know the details of your machine setup, respiratory data etc. You are apparently using a pressure range of 4 to 9 cm with EPR 2. I would suggest that if your events are all centrals, that you reduce EPR to 1 or turn it off.
RE: New Member - Central Apneas of Just Slow Breathing?
Welcome to the forum.
Could you please, in addition to the chart you provided, provide an overall nightly chart including
Events, Flow Limits, Pressure, Snore, and Leak Rate and leave the left sidebar in without the Pie Chart and Calander, that will reveal important information. See the organization link in my signature for the how to.
Some questions.
is this a one-night event or does it happen on a regular basis?
Do you have any underlying heart or lung issues? such as CHF or COPD
I am going to suggest that you lower your EPR from 2 to 1 to see if this makes a difference. Sometimes EPR can cause Central Apnea/Clear Airway events. That should help us understand a bit more.
Fred
RE: New Member - Central Apneas of Just Slow Breathing?
As requested:
[attachment=10833]
RE: New Member - Central Apneas of Just Slow Breathing?
You left off the Flow Limitation chart, This is important as it is one of the things that triggers a pressure increase algorithmically. Without it we are not seeing an obvious reason for your pressure increases. They are also important for RERA (RE) events which you have a history of though none are flagged here. You can squeeze together some of the graphs by grabbing the horizontal line between graphs and moving them. Flow Limitations, Snores, and Leak Rates can all be squeezed without losing meaning.
RE: New Member - Central Apneas of Just Slow Breathing?
No heart or respiratory issues.
Here's the report with graphs 'crunched' per Bonjour's request.
What do you think?
[attachment=10842]
03-16-2019, 08:35 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-16-2019, 08:42 PM by Gideon.)
RE: New Member - Central Apneas of Just Slow Breathing?
is this a one-night event or does it happen on a regular basis?
and how do you feel?
if it is occurring regularly for how long?
As a general rule one time events may be ignored.
Otherwise we need to try and treat it.
Unfortunately, treatment with your machine is to avoid it as your machine is not intended nor can it treat it.
RE: New Member - Central Apneas of Just Slow Breathing?
I'm collecting data now... left my SD card in the reader for a period of time, so I don't have a lot of recent data.
I wake up tired and have more morning headaches now than historically.
I think this has been building for a while, but I was hoping I could simply adjust my machine.
Your comments lead me to believe its something more.
RE: New Member - Central Apneas of Just Slow Breathing?
That is a periodic breathing episode with Central Apneas/Clear Airway events. It is significant enough to mention to both your sleep doctor and regular doctor.
If you were using P10 pillow mask I would guess you may be getting the mesh exhaust vent wet from condensation rendering the vent less efficient at purging your CO2. I suppose it is possible if someone taped the vents on their mask.
The pattern is similar to CSR but shorter than typical and perhaps because of its shortness doesn't have the smoothness typical of CSR.
CA events may be caused by higher pressures, and or pressure variance. Pressure variance may come from either EPR with every breath or algorithmically from APAP pressure changes.
As I said before your machine is not designed to treat Central Apneas so we try to avoid them.
The first step I've suggested is to lower your EPR to reduce pressure variance.
