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Maybe having centrals? - Printable Version

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Maybe having centrals? - kitkatmeows - 10-02-2022

The last few weeks I've been having a hard time with my cpap in the middle of the night waking up with panic and chest discomfort like I was holding my breath.
Last night was the worst so far and I got barely any sleep- I did get my oscar data to post and any insight would be appreciated. 
Res med airsense 11, epr on 3 (is this the culprit?), humidity on 5, full face mask f20.
Sorry for the picture quality


RE: Maybe having centrals? - mesenteria - 10-03-2022

You do have what appear to be central apneas, but none of them that you show are consequential at their lengths.  They typically appear to run about 10-13 seconds, which are pretty much innocuous. They probably mean light sleep, turning in your sleep, or some other arousal state when many of us hold our breaths for some reason.

Some of your breaths on those three charts show inclined planar rises between the onset and near the end of the intake, at the apex of the curve.  This means slower 'dragging' in of breath, meaning resistance, and what we call 'flow limitations'.  I don't know why those are happening, but it could be head position, nasal closure in the nostrils, relaxing into a deeper sleep where your airway is more restrictive due to position, at which you partially arouse...not sure.

It couldn't hurt to reduce your upper limit a bit, whatever you can tolerate and still rest, but also to reduce your EPR to just 2 vs. 3. As well, I would raise your lower limit, if you can stand it, to about 7, and if you begin to see an improvement, try 6 or 5 again just for giggles. You can always undo any setting.

Last tip: begin to keep a record/log of your progress through changes in settings in case you begin to see a patter or notice a distinct improvement at one particular set of settings.


RE: Maybe having centrals? - kitkatmeows - 10-03-2022

Yeah I wasn't sure if my CAs were true ones or not, my sleep dr didn't say anything about me having any when I had my sleep study WITH my cpap the other week.

I was originally prescribed 5-12 and was having issues and posted my oscar data and was told to do 7-12 so that's what I've been at (including these pics) 
My sleep dr actually called me today and said my optimal is 6 so he wants me to have it from 5-9 (which is weird to me because everyone here and reddit said 7!)
Last night I put epr off and couldn't breathe out well so I set it to 1 and was okay, slept a little better I guess but not by much!
Apparently I kick a lot in my sleep which is disrupting my sleep on top of my apneas * sigh*
Thank you for your tips!


RE: Maybe having centrals? - Brazen - 10-03-2022

If you're struggling with restless legs, that is incredibly disruptive to sleep. (and miserable!)
Did your doc have any suggestions for that?

If often requires medication but some patients find improvement with a Magnesium Oxide supplement (make sure a doc is monitoring your Mag level) or even a shot of pickle juice before bed (no doc needed for that unless you have a medical condition requiring you to limit your sodium intake).


RE: Maybe having centrals? - kitkatmeows - 10-03-2022

The dr suggested maybe iron could be an issue so I'm getting it tested to see if I am low.
The other thing is my ssri he thinks could be causing it but I just recently tried to switch to another one and had so many issues I had to go back on my current but I'm at 20mg now instead of 40! Which is nice but if it's causing my restless legs I don't know what else to do.
I actually was taking magnesium because I have heard it is good for lots of things but when my stomach started acting up worse (gerd sigh) i stopped taking any vitamins and supplements so I could try it 
I do like pickles though ahah


RE: Maybe having centrals? - Brazen - 10-03-2022

Were you talking a Magnesium Citrate supplement or Magnesium Oxide?

I'm always amazed how many supplements use Mag Citrate when it is known to cause GI distress.
We actually use it in the hospital when we need a patient to poo and nothing else is working.

The SSRIs are tricky. It's hard to find a med that really works and so often they come with side effects. 

I hope you have a good doc paying attention and really working with you to find good solutions!


RE: Maybe having centrals? - kitkatmeows - 10-04-2022

I'm pretty sure the bottle I have is mag glycinate because it's supposed to help with mood and sleep aha
I really hope so! I've been having a lot of stupid health things the last two or so years and getting it sorted has been annoyingly long and hard because of covid stuff ?


RE: Maybe having centrals? - mesenteria - 10-04-2022

Orally administered magnesium, no matter what name is used to describe it, or who supplies/imports it and labels it, is a magnesium salt.  So, your kidneys will excrete everything you can't use, including most of the excesses of magnesium. 

I use nothing but the citrate salt because it's cheap, like borscht, and widely available.  I don't take two or three of the large capsules because I know better, but I have atrial fibrillation, and magnesium is implicated (usually not enough in the system).  So, every other day, maybe three days, I'll pop one.  If you eat nuts, leafy greens, seeds, and lentils/beans, you 'should be' getting all the magnesium you can use.


RE: Maybe having centrals? - Brazen - 10-04-2022

Yes, there are tons of different formulas for magnesium x but some are definitely easier on the GI system than others. Some are also better absorbed than others.
Kinda like milk has vitamin d added to help your body absorb the calcium. 

@ kitkatmeows Glycinate is supposed to be easier on the GI system as well but if it wasn't agreeing with you then talking to your doc or pharmacist might give some alternatives.


RE: Maybe having centrals? - kitkatmeows - 10-04-2022

Yeah I've heard a lot of people have tummy troubles on some and not others but then some people don't have tummy troubles on any of them.
I think I also have citrate too, or one that has like 3 different kinds in it.