Hello Guest, Welcome to Apnea Board !
As a guest, you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use.
To post a message, you must create a free account using a valid email address.

or Create an Account


New Posts   Today's Posts

Clear Airway Question
#1
Clear Airway Question
Hi,

Since I figured out my mask/mouth leak problem (using a wider piece of tape to better keep my mouth closed) I have been sleeping through the night with less wakeups and nightmares. That said, I have noticed that my AHI shot up last night with several clear airway apneas. What causes these to occur and is there any way of reducing them? 

I have included my last sleep chart and my statistics. It looks like I have more CAs than OAs.

Thanks,

Sleepwreck


Attached Files Thumbnail(s)
       
Post Reply Post Reply
#2
RE: Clear Airway Question
Now that you have taken control of your leaks, the CA's could be treatment induced.  This is caused from lower levels of CO2 than what your body is accustomed to.  Give it a few days for your body to acclimate and see if they will decrease.  If it doesn't, you can try reducing the EPR setting to find a happy medium.
Crimson Nape
Apnea Board Moderator
www.ApneaBoard.com
___________________________________
Useful Links -or- When All Else Fails:
The Guide to Understanding OSCAR
OSCAR Chart Organization
Attaching Images and Files on Apnea Board
Apnea Helpful Tips

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.
Post Reply Post Reply
#3
RE: Clear Airway Question
Centrals are very irregular- one day you havre them the next you don’t. No pressure changes help. 2 things SEEMS to help. The first is just getting use to the pap therapy. They call that type of centrals as Emergence centrals because you see those when we first start therapy. The 2nd thing is the amount of change between min and max pressure. Some people need straight Cpap (both min and max pressure is the same). So I see your EPR is set to 3 and that makes the min and max 3 points higher. Some people turn off the EPR and that helps centrals. The problem with that is your flow limits will probably go up without EPR.   

It becomes a balancing act between the two. And if you have a lot of centrals (you don’t) there are more expensive pap machines designed to eliminate centrals.
Apnea (80-100%) 10 seconds, Hypopnea (50-80%) 10 seconds, Flow Limits (0-50%) not timed  Cervical Collar - Dealing w DME - Chart Organizing
Post Reply Post Reply
#4
RE: Clear Airway Question
All good info on CA. Nothing to add. See what the CA trend is in a few days something like 2, and then we can suggest actions. Include OSCAR shots and we'll see what up then.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
Post Reply Post Reply
#5
RE: Clear Airway Question
Thanks everyone for the quick replies. I'll try EPR 2 for a few days and let you know how it goes.
Post Reply Post Reply
#6
RE: Clear Airway Question
Why not lower the minimum pressure by 1, too?
Post Reply Post Reply
#7
RE: Clear Airway Question
You could, but with one change at a time you know what caused the results.

Typically reducing EPR, the differential pressure between inhale and exhale, will increase your CO2.levels enough to impact CA events.
Post Reply Post Reply
#8
RE: Clear Airway Question
I wanted to share the data from last night after reducing the EPR from 3 to 2.  The result was a very low AHI. I know this is only one data point, but I hope it worked!


Attached Files Thumbnail(s)
   
Post Reply Post Reply
#9
RE: Clear Airway Question
Excellent results! But it is one night, so watch for a trend.
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.
Post Reply Post Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  [Treatment] Clear airway / central apnea events -- causes and solutions? mitzvahtime 6 2,399 03-25-2024, 04:10 PM
Last Post: Jay51
  First Day with S9 AutoSet - Many Clear Airway in the morning liuzilong 6 122 03-18-2024, 09:25 PM
Last Post: liuzilong
  Recently started CPAP -- very high proportion of Clear Airway Events matt2 0 119 03-17-2024, 02:48 PM
Last Post: matt2
  Clear airway Bullabill 3 237 03-12-2024, 02:40 AM
Last Post: stevew168
  Why does my clear airway events keep increasing? deirdrepen 3 269 03-12-2024, 02:37 AM
Last Post: stevew168
  [Treatment] Struggling to reduce Clear Airway events codebread 6 908 02-23-2024, 09:15 PM
Last Post: Sleeprider
  String of open airway events vinegarben 34 3,898 02-16-2024, 05:18 PM
Last Post: Sleeprider


New Posts   Today's Posts


About Apnea Board

Apnea Board is an educational web site designed to empower Sleep Apnea patients.