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Question about CA (Clear Airway) Events - Printable Version

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Question about CA (Clear Airway) Events - celobrix - 07-09-2023

I've been on CPAP since May. Pre-CPAP my AHI was around 12.

Starting CPAP it stabilized around 4-5. After making some adjustments to my diet (cut out Gluten + Dairy + Seed Oils), and my mask (switched from the AirFit F20 to the Dreamwear Full Face mask), and it now hovers between 1-2 per night. I've been averaging under 1 this past week, which has been amazing. 

Whilst I do feel a lot better, I've had a night or two where I hit 0, or 0.3, and the difference in energy levels is almost night and day.

The biggest correlation I've seen in my daily fluctuations are due to diet. If I ingest gluten, or dairy, I will have an uptick in AHI events that night. For example, yesterday I ate some BBQ wings that almost certainly had gluten in the sauce. I felt it within 10 minutes of eating. My AHI went from 0.56 the previous night, to 1.78. I've attached pictures of my OSCAR data from last night. 

90% of the apnea events I have are Clear Airway (ca) events. I have the very occasional Obstructive Apnea. I have some questions!

  1.  Could someone take a look at the flow data (pictured) and see if there any insights to be gained?
  2.  Does this mean that I have complex or central apnea (as described in the optimizing therapy guide)?
  3.  I know it's primarily for positional apnea (obstructive), but would a soft cervical collar potentially help?
  4.  My setup is:
        ResMed
        AirSense 11 AutoSet
        PAP Mode: APAP
        Min 7.0 Max 10.0 (cmH2O)

         Are there any settings changes (however slight) that would be recommended for someone with results like mine? (Or even a change in equipment)

     5. Would someone be able to direct me to some resources to investigate potential causes of my type of Apnea? I'm currently on a wait list for a polysomnography,               but given the success I've had experimenting so far I'm encourage to be proactive with my own investigation


I realize that getting it down under 1 fairly consistently is a massive win, and that technically anything below 5 means I clinically don't have sleep apnea. But given the positive results I've had from making changes to my diet/equipment and going from 4-5 down to 1-2, I'm optimistic that further investigation and small tweaks might result in even further benefits (potentially if I can get to the bottom of this, I could even get rid of the CPAP machine altogether!).

Any advice would be really appreciated!