RE: AHI is getting worse. Having more centrals
I'm coming in to this discussion late, but I have to say SleepRider is absolutely correct. I've been using an ASV for about three years and to the best of my knowledge I'm not brain damaged. In fact I completed an MSc in astronomy with an emphasis on astrophysics during that period, so my brain must be in reasonable condition.
Quote:The dr is setting the pressure for the ST at 25/21 with a backup rate of 12
Yes, because in your titration test this setting gave a zero AHI. But you only tolerated it for 8 minutes, so that is meaningless. At every other setting you had an AHI far beyond what is acceptable. Is your doctor incapable of reading and interpreting a simple table?
Do what you have to to get the ASV - most people who have them consistently report AHI < 2.0 and in many cases consistently < 1.0. The best result in either of your tests was a 10.7 with most of the results far far worse. Apart of course from that "magic" eight minutes when you go a zero. Are you prepared to base your treatment on an eight minute exception?
Your doctor is either incompetent or conflicted. Sack him now.
04-03-2017, 09:56 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-03-2017, 09:57 AM by Sleeprider.)
RE: AHI is getting worse. Having more centrals
Thank you DB. One last thing and I'll shut up. I have never called any person's doctor a "quack" until my prior post. This guy will hurt you. Using brute force at 25/21 to forcefully ventilate you instead of an adaptive automated non-invasive ventilation method that can achieve amazing results at pressures as low as 6 cm pressure EPAP with 6-12 cm pressure support is malpractice. It won't work and it sets you up for failure. You must find a different doctor to provide a second opinion. You cannot implement this recommendation...it will physically hurt you. Run.
RE: AHI is getting worse. Having more centrals
Lol. I agree with everything you guys are saying. I am willing to give the ST a try but it won't be at the pressure that the dr is prescribing. When I see him for the one month follow up I will try one more time to get a script for an ASV. If he won't write it then I will talk to my awesome chiropractor and see if he will write a script for the ASV. I am back on the airsence 10 and life is better even with the CA's I'm having. AHI of 4.8. I think we need to recruit a dr to this board who would look at our sleep study and write scripts for people who have trouble with there local sleep dr. Lol. Thank for all the help. I will update if anything exciting happens.
RE: AHI is getting worse. Having more centrals
Quote:I'm willing to give the ST a try
Why, for heaven's sake? Look at your titration results: at
every setting except the "magic" eight minutes, the ST failed to treat you, and some settings made your condition much worse. The only setting which got "acceptable" numbers was 25/21 which only lasted eight minutes because you couldn't tolerate the pressure (and quite understandably).
I can't imagine why you would want to try this particular machine which has been proven not to work for you. Even more, I can't imagine why any competent doctor would prescribe it, based on that titration test.
I don't know your insurance rules, but CPAP, APAP, BiPAP have all failed to treat your apnea. That should be sufficient to demonstrate that ASV is now the only option available. I say get rid of your incompetent doctor and find somebody else (even a chiropractor) to write the script for an ASV.
RE: AHI is getting worse. Having more centrals
Don't do it. Once you take that machine the quack wins.
RE: AHI is getting worse. Having more centrals
I've been out of the loop for a couple of weeks. (I just got a replacement hip.) My experience in Vermont was very similar to yours. I solved my problem (getting a proper diagnosis and an ASV machine) after I went to the University of Vermont Sleep Center in Burlington and saw the top Doctor on the list. Call now for an appointment. No excuses.
Rich
RE: AHI is getting worse. Having more centrals
(02-10-2017, 08:34 AM)Amdx64 Wrote: Hello. I don't really know where to begin. I've been on cpap for about a month now. Started with the Quattro Air face mask then switched to the P10. About a week ago I talked to my sleep dr. about my CA's and waking up feeling out of breath. The dr. turned on the EPR and set it to 3. The next morning my AHI was 1.03. I had 6 RERA's and only 5 CA's but felt like crap. MY AHI (4.56, 5.66, 5.31, 11.11, 18.8) has gone up since then with more CA events every night. Last night my AHI was 18.8 and I had 158 CA's. I feel like crap. The attached screenshot is from last night. Is there something I can do to lower the CA's or is it just going to take more time to get use to the machine?
CA can apparently be caused by the bipap
get an ASV
either that works or nothing will
all my fails were CA so far
RE: AHI is getting worse. Having more centrals
Well it's been awhile. Though I would just give an update on how things were going. Had my appointment with my new sleep doctor and it went great. She listen to everything I had to say, looked at the data I had brought from sleepyhead and agreed with me that an asv was the proper machine for my ca's. So now I am scheduled for a ekg and asv titration.
RE: AHI is getting worse. Having more centrals
Great news. Be patient. It took me a couple of sleep studies to finally get my ASV machine. Some of the problem was the insurance and DME coordination.
Rich
RE: AHI is getting worse. Having more centrals
So glad to hear you have a new Doc. How did you find her?
I was getting worried for you reading this thread. Please let us know how it goes. Your actions and info will encourage others to persist for the correct treatment they NEED.