Severe CSA: my astounding results with mouth taping

[volty]

Hello,

I am a new user and this is my first post. My intention is to share the quantitative results of mouth taping on my central sleep apnea.

I am a male in my early fifties, have no medical conditions, a BMI of 19, and am fit (VO2 max in top 5% of my age group). I was diagnosed with severe CSA last summer (AHI >30) and started to use a CPAP in September. Two months later I swapped my full face mask for a nasal mask and began mouth taping.  My monthly average AHI dropped by a factor of 10 roughly and has stayed low ever since, just rising slightly last month as a result of changing CPAP setting from ASVAuto to CPAP at lowest pressure for the sake of experimentation.   

Daily view and monthly stats from OSCAR over the entire period are attached. Two important dates to zoom in on : Start of mouth taping Nov 2 - major CPAP reconfiguration : April 1 

I would like to thanks the creators of OSCAR.

Tran
Toulouse, France

[ewriter]

Wow -- incredible! Why aren't doctors, DMEs and Sleep Specialists talking about this!? I get absolutely no advice from my family doctor and my sleep lab doctor doesn't say much.

[volty]

My sleep specialist whom I have not seen since starting my treatment is very sceptical of mouth taping and seems to think there is no other treatment than a CPAP machine. I will show him the data and ask for a polysomnography at my next visit. I am not surprised that sleep specialists shy away from such non-conventional approaches. Data-backed experimental results are all I need to have confidence that I am uncovering a solution to my problem.

[G. Szabo]

My AHI dropped significantly, too when I started taping.

[CPAPfriend]

hi volty,

so what's you're takeaway here? I'm interested / trying to understand what's going on. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you were diagnosed with central sleep apnea (so no OSA?), then you wore a full-face mask with ASV, but your events persisted albeit lower numbers. You then just switched to nasal mask, taped your mouth, and continued on ASV (until you trialed fixed pressure later), resulting in <1 AHI?

[volty]

@CPAfriend,
Yes, no OSA, just a severe case of central sleep apnea (frequent breathing interruptions of over 60 seconds, oxygen saturation falling to low 80s'). Mouth taping and moving to nasal mask made all the difference. Changing from ASV to CPAP did not negate the benefits of tape+nasal mask. The takeaway is to try mouth taping.

[G. Szabo]

Yes, no OSA, just a severe case of central sleep apnea (frequent breathing interruptions of over 60 seconds, oxygen saturation falling to low 80s'). Mouth taping and moving to nasal mask made all the difference.

I believe your case is so interesting that it would be worth uploading some of your flow curves (in 3-4 minute windows) during CAs so we can see that those were real CAs.

[volty]

Here's a sample of what my daily graphs looked like before mouth taping. This was taken on Sept 21, four days after I started using my CPAP. I have zoomed in on a 1hr window when AHI peaked at 36. Notice the inspiration times. This is what my polysomnography looked like too.
   

[kshvine]

I'm a 70 year old with complex SA.  I've been using an Airsense 10 for about a decade until yesterday when my Aircurve 10 ASV arrived.  My last APAP session I had an AHI of 30 (lots of CA events)!  My first ASV session I had an AHI of 0 (ZERO)! I know its only a single data point but praise the ASV gods!  Something to consider.

[Deborah K.]

It would be helpful to see the full night above posted, not zooming in, and the same for a night since you changed your mask and taped your mouth.