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CAs and Baseline Setting Question A10 Auto
#1
CAs and Baseline Setting Question A10 Auto
I set my A10 Auto at 11-16. I have fairly low numbers, from .5 to 2, but usually a large % are CAs. My SH graph shows between 11 and 13. Should I lower the 11 until the graph line doesn't sit on the bottom (11) or does it make a difference?

Are there any other techniques to stop CAs?
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#2
RE: CAs and Baseline Setting Question A10 Auto
(06-12-2016, 12:14 AM)player Wrote: I set my A10 Auto at 11-16. I have fairly low numbers, from .5 to 2, but usually a large % are CAs. My SH graph shows between 11 and 13. Should I lower the 11 until the graph line doesn't sit on the bottom (11) or does it make a difference?

Are there any other techniques to stop CAs?

Hi player,

If your AHI is 2.0 and even if 100% were Central Apneas, I wouldn't worry about it unless the apneas were longer than 20 or 30 seconds, or were giving me symptoms such as excess daytime sleepiness or morning headaches or fatigue.

Personally, I suspect a central apnea lasting 20 seconds may be less stressful to the body than an obstructive apnea lasting 10 seconds, because with the CA as soon as I made effort to breathe, I did, but with the OA I was being choked until I aroused myself strongly enough to gasp for breath.

I am not aware of any insurance company which would cover the cost of an ASV or similar machine which is able to treat central apneas as well as obstructive apneas, unless the number of CA per hour is at least 5.

But regarding how to minimize the number of CAs we get, the way which is usually most effective is to lower the amount of exhalation pressure relief we use (Pressure Support or EPR or 'Flex or similar).

Also, for some users, simply lowering the Max Pressure limit may be helpful for lowering the number of CAs we get, if the CAs are happening predominantly at high pressures.

But lowering the Max Pressure or eliminating exhalation pressure relief or Pressure Support may increase the number of obstructive events we get, and sometimes obstructive events may cause more stress on our health than central events.

I think it is important to keep an eye on the length of our apneas, and adjust the pressures with the goal of reducing the duration of the longest events as well as reducing overall AHI.

Another common cause of CAs is medications, especially strong pain relievers such as opioids. But if we are in pain management, opioid medications may be required to make life livable, at least as a portion of our medication regimen, and obtaining an ASV class machine may be absolutely required.

The Advisory Member group provides advice and suggestions to Apnea Board administrators and staff on matters concerning Apnea Board operation and administrative policies.  Membership in the Advisory Member group should not be understood as in any way implying medical expertise or qualification for advising Sleep Apnea patients concerning their treatment.
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#3
RE: CAs and Baseline Setting Question A10 Auto
Thanks vsheline. I have the Resmed A10 for her. I am a guy, but the extra feature was supposed to be better. Anyhow the exhale lowering feature is at the maximum lowering. I have the max pressure set to 16, but it never gets much over 13.

I will start looking at the length of events.
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