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Centrals: Do you feel your breathing stop when drifting off? I do.
#1
Cool 
Centrals: Do you feel your breathing stop when drifting off? I do.
So a a long time CAS patient, I thought it may be a good idea to find out if there are others who experience the same sensations as I do, when drifting off . I physically feel my breathing slow to a stop as I am drifting off to sleep which in the past, before my ASV therapy started, this sensation would prevent me from falling asleep for the fear of not waking up after. Smile 
Of course eventually I would fall asleep (exhausted) only for my arrested breathing to complicate my sleep through the night and eventually waking up tired and sleepy all day with lowered oxygen saturation levels , a serious problem which if left untreated it can lead to cardiac complications and even worse. (So NO!, you won't DIE because of your CAS but left untreated you may end up with more serious cardiac issues that can lead to checking out earlier than your time).
Nowadays however, I still get this sensation except that I know my ASV will take care of my missing breaths and with that confidence level, I just enjoy the moment and then I am off into the wonderland of spectacular dreams, waking up in the morning, refreshed and as if nothing happened.

If you have been diagnosed with CAS, you may not necessarily get this sensation when drifting off however it would be great to learn about your experiences, so let us know about any weird, wonderful or scary sensation that you may have experienced.
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#2
RE: Centrals: Do you feel your breathing stop when drifting off? I do.
I was dxed with central apnea in 1987. no treatment. by 2016 my apnea was about 50/50 central and obstructive so I can't say the following is necessarily from ca, but I believe it is.

it's a nightmarish struggle to breathe if I happen to doze without the machine, like during a power outage (and before pap). it's actually a bit terrifying when I'm aware that I'm not breathing and can't until I wake enough to force a breath. also, pre pap, I often dreamed I was underwater, barely sipping enough air to survive, or of short repetitive dream scenarios that in retrospect I realized corresponded to not breathing/breathing.
  Shy   I have no particular qualifications or expertise with respect to the apnea/cpap/sleep related content of my posts beyond my own user experiences and what I've learned from others on this site. Each of us bears the burden of evaluating the validity and applicability of what we read here before acting on it.  
 
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#3
RE: Centrals: Do you feel your breathing stop when drifting off? I do.
Yes, the experience can be terrifying actually. It used to scare the heck out of me and yes dreaming about suffocation is usually what used to wake me up.
Nowadays I keep at least TWO machines at home and a whole host of battery backup systems for both at home power outages and for traveling  and yes even the thought of sleeping without my machine is quite unsettling.
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#4
RE: Centrals: Do you feel your breathing stop when drifting off? I do.
I was in Miami and woke up with no cpap.
They had a scheduled "OFF" to fix the hotel electrical system.

Scared the you-know-what out of me. Waking up and finding it really hard to breath that night.
DaveL
compliant for 35 years /// Still trying!

I'm just a cpap user like you. I don't give medical advice. Seek the advice of a physician before seeking treatment for medical conditions including sleep apnea. Sleep-well

http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php..._The_Guide

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#5
RE: Centrals: Do you feel your breathing stop when drifting off? I do.
Every second night or so I become aware that I was just drifting off and my breathing slowed down to a crawl and then stopped. It usually doesnt flag as a central in Oscar, but can see it in the graph.
I dont flag centrals otherwise, just this odd beginning of the night thing.. and only once (but sometimes not at all).
I assume its by body reacting to the pap.
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#6
RE: Centrals: Do you feel your breathing stop when drifting off? I do.
This was one of the most noticeable symptoms I had before I finally went to see the doc about my sleep issues. It really pointed me towards thinking "hmmm maybe it's sleep apnea", after years of wondering what the heck was going on. I would be exhausted all day long from lack of sleep, yet it would take hours to go to sleep because my breathing would slow, then stop, then I would jolt back awake, over and over again. After reading up on it I thought for sure I had CSA.

The home sleep study indicated OSA though. I was prescribed APAP, and now I can put the mask on at night and fall asleep within minutes. I mean, I still see short bursts of CA clusters during sleep-wake transitions, but it seems to be working, so... Unsure
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#7
RE: Centrals: Do you feel your breathing stop when drifting off? I do.
(12-14-2021, 05:26 PM)DaveCar Wrote: Every second night or so I become aware that I was just drifting off and my breathing slowed down to a crawl and then stopped. It usually doesnt flag as a central in Oscar, but can see it in the graph.
I dont flag centrals otherwise, just this odd beginning of the night thing.. and only once (but sometimes not at all).
I assume its by body reacting to the pap.

I have the same thing and it is scary to me. Could it be happening all nite, but we are asleep and don’t notice it, and doesn’t show up on myAir app because it’s shorter than ten seconds, but disrupting sleep nonetheless?  Is there a name for this phenomenon?
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#8
RE: Centrals: Do you feel your breathing stop when drifting off? I do.
(12-16-2021, 10:40 PM)sweetnothings Wrote: This was one of the most noticeable symptoms I had before I finally went to see the doc about my sleep issues. It really pointed me towards thinking "hmmm maybe it's sleep apnea", after years of wondering what the heck was going on. I would be exhausted all day long from lack of sleep, yet it would take hours to go to sleep because my breathing would slow, then stop, then I would jolt back awake, over and over again. After reading up on it I thought for sure I had CSA.

The home sleep study indicated OSA though. I was prescribed APAP, and now I can put the mask on at night and fall asleep within minutes. I mean, I still see short bursts of CA clusters during sleep-wake transitions, but it seems to be working, so... Unsure

The same thing happens to me and it is scary. Did you ever find out what it is - are they CA events, OA events, or something else? Possible they could be happening all nite but the machine doesn’t report them because < 10 seconds?
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#9
RE: Centrals: Do you feel your breathing stop when drifting off? I do.
(12-21-2021, 10:48 AM)tsmith502 Wrote: The same thing happens to me and it is scary. Did you ever find out what it is - are they CA events, OA events, or something else? Possible they could be happening all nite but the machine doesn’t report them because < 10 seconds?

tsmith502,
It may best to start a new thread of your own. We can look at your data and maybe see something that's causing your discomfort.

Download our free software OSCAR. Be sure there is an SD card in your machine.
It must be in your Cpap while you're sleeping. After one night, post a Screenshot of the daily page in OSCAR. Use the link below in my signature line to guide you.
OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

_______________________
OSCAR Chart Organization
How to Attach Images and Files.
OSCAR - The Guide
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing therapy
OSCAR supported machines
Mask Primer



INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE.  ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA.  INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#10
RE: Centrals: Do you feel your breathing stop when drifting off? I do.
It's so interesting to see this topic, as I just recently joined the forum after being diagnosed and getting my APAP and was combing through the posts looking for something that matched what I'm experiencing - you've described it exactly. I've been using the machine for all of four nights now and last night in particular I was hyper-aware of my breathing and of repeated pauses in my breathing as I was drifting off. If I'm reading the Oscar results properly it looks like it happened several times in the course of about 25 mins, with the longest lasting 24 seconds. Pre-diagnosis, I'm sure it occurred but I would just roll onto my side right away so it didn't happen repeatedly. Now, with the tubing and everything I'm less inclined to roll over so I notice it happening more. It's quite jarring, and I'm hoping it gets better as I get used to everything.
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