What exactly IS my risk of death?

[friday88]

Provided you are getting effective treatment, your risk of health effects should be no higher than anyone else.  Keep in mind that central apnea is far different from obstructive sleep apnea and does not put the same pressure on the heart and internal organs.  In OSA, the effort to breath through an obstructed airway causes a great deal of stress, while in central apnea, you may become somewhat hypoxic, but don't experience the effects of an obstructed airway, nor do you have normally associated side-effects of obesity, diabetes and other health affects that frequently accompany severe OSA.   In any event, I'm not aware of long-term epidemiology studies of a cohort of central apnea affected individuals, so there may not be a good answer to quantify your concerns.  Assuming you are in otherwise good health, without current heart problems, I think your life expectancy is the same as any other male of your age.  Apply for life insurance, and someone might put a number on it.

We have another member C0mbe who is using ASV and has altitude dependent central apnea.  I'm sure he will comment on these concerns.

Asphyxiation is by definition potentially fatal; however you still have a hypercapnic respiratory drive that responds to CO2 buildup.  In your case, it may be a delayed reaction, but when your CO2 levels rise, you breath, you just don't get good sleep.

I have better AHI when drinking or using marijuana, but individual responses vary widely, and most people are probably adversely affected.  I would think you will find out as you experiment and live a normal social life.  Keep in mind that your respiratory drive may not have anything to do with your central nervous system, and the sedative effect of alcohol will not greatly increase obstructive apnea risk for you.

Altitude affects some people like C0mbe adversely.  I have near zero AHI above 7000 feet.  Your results may vary, so take a trip and find out.

You're going to outlive most of us, and your CA problem is not nearly as rare as you might think. With an incidence of 3-7% of the population, there are millions of you guys out there. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2645248/

Friday, in the interest of troubleshooting issues with the ASV, how about loading up [url=http://OSCAR Official Download Page ----> CLICK HERE ./]SleepyHead[/url] on a computer, and grabbing the data off the SD card in your ASV machine? It would not take long to take a look at the charts and stats and see if we can make that work out for you.  They are amazing machines when you get them dialed in.

To be clear, I do NOT have an ASV machine right now. I'm between insurance companies  and had to give the ASV machine back to the provider that was "leasing" it to me. 

The agreement was I pay my insurance deductible, ($1,000) then pay $50 per month for the next 12 months, after which I would own the machine. In the meantime the provider owned the machine, so when my insurance company changed mid year, I had to return it to avoid buying it outright. 

This process will restart once my job is no longer a temp position (about 1 month to go), meaning I pay the $1,000 again etc, and get the ASV back. SO currently I am waiting.

My questions about the risks are because I'm not sleeping with any breathing machine at all. When I get it back though, I would LOVE to analyze the data on that card.

No problem.  The last person I hooked up with an ASV got it for $1250 shipped, and sometimes I come across better deals.  If I find one, I'll let you know.  No promises, but it's often better just to self-finance and own it free and clear.  The only question to you is, if we find a good deal or donation, will you use it?

Your willing to find me one? I'd use it for sure, I just don't quite understand the differences between ASV machines, and I'm not sure if the one I had was a special type.

[Sleeprider]

ASV is unique in that it provides positive pressure to keep your airway open and free of obstructive apnea like a CPAP, but it also can increase pressure on a breath by breath basis when you don't spontaneously breathe. The best units use your own respiratory pace to know when to apply more inhalation pressure, and how much pressure to apply. With ASV, you no longer have central apnea when you sleep. If you forget to breathe during the day, you're on your own. Have you had a prescription for BiPAP ASV in the past? If so, be sure to obtain and keep a physical copy of that prescription, and any supporting sleep study in your personal files. This information is very important to you to avoid the cost and hassle of a future study or prescription. You are entitled to copies of these records; see section 3 here: https://www.privacyrights.org/consumer-g...nts-rights

I'll keep an eye out for some worthy deals. I don't sell anything myself, but have no problem letting you know of a good offer if I see one. Here are some links with information about how ASV works.
http://www.resmed.com/us/en/consumer/pro...0-asv.html
http://www.resmed.com/us/dam/documents/p...er_eng.pdf
http://a360-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/...forSDB.pdf

[C0mbe]

Provided you are getting effective treatment, your risk of health effects should be no higher than anyone else.  Keep in mind that central apnea is far different from obstructive sleep apnea and does not put the same pressure on the heart and internal organs.  In OSA, the effort to breath through an obstructed airway causes a great deal of stress, while in central apnea, you may become somewhat hypoxic, but don't experience the effects of an obstructed airway, nor do you have normally associated side-effects of obesity, diabetes and other health affects that frequently accompany severe OSA.   In any event, I'm not aware of long-term epidemiology studies of a cohort of central apnea affected individuals, so there may not be a good answer to quantify your concerns.  Assuming you are in otherwise good health, without current heart problems, I think your life expectancy is the same as any other male of your age.  Apply for life insurance, and someone might put a number on it.

We have another member C0mbe who is using ASV and has altitude dependent central apnea.  I'm sure he will comment on these concerns.

Asphyxiation is by definition potentially fatal; however you still have a hypercapnic respiratory drive that responds to CO2 buildup.  In your case, it may be a delayed reaction, but when your CO2 levels rise, you breath, you just don't get good sleep.

I have better AHI when drinking or using marijuana, but individual responses vary widely, and most people are probably adversely affected.  I would think you will find out as you experiment and live a normal social life.  Keep in mind that your respiratory drive may not have anything to do with your central nervous system, and the sedative effect of alcohol will not greatly increase obstructive apnea risk for you.

Altitude affects some people like C0mbe adversely.  I have near zero AHI above 7000 feet.  Your results may vary, so take a trip and find out.

You're going to outlive most of us, and your CA problem is not nearly as rare as you might think. With an incidence of 3-7% of the population, there are millions of you guys out there. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2645248/

To be clear, I do NOT have an ASV machine right now. I'm between insurance companies  and had to give the ASV machine back to the provider that was "leasing" it to me. 

The agreement was I pay my insurance deductible, ($1,000) then pay $50 per month for the next 12 months, after which I would own the machine. In the meantime the provider owned the machine, so when my insurance company changed mid year, I had to return it to avoid buying it outright. 

This process will restart once my job is no longer a temp position (about 1 month to go), meaning I pay the $1,000 again etc, and get the ASV back. SO currently I am waiting.

My questions about the risks are because I'm not sleeping with any breathing machine at all. When I get it back though, I would LOVE to analyze the data on that card.

No problem.  The last person I hooked up with an ASV got it for $1250 shipped, and sometimes I come across better deals.  If I find one, I'll let you know.  No promises, but it's often better just to self-finance and own it free and clear.  The only question to you is, if we find a good deal or donation, will you use it?

Your willing to find me one? I'd use it for sure, I just don't quite understand the differences between ASV machines, and I'm not sure if the one I had was a special type.

Friday - check out my PM.

[Sleeprider]

There is a Craigslist listing for an older Resmed S8 VPAP Adapt (ASV) machine in Yuma, AZ for $150.  While I hope to find something newer, this might be a good bridge to get you towards your next insurance, and would treat your central apnea.  If Yuma is in range for you, the listing is under "CPAP/VPAP Machine For Sleep Apnea".