Newbie - Clear Airway/ Flowlimitation

[SwissLady]

Hi

I'm newly diagnosed and currently trialing CPAP Machines before buying my own one. I did download Sleepyhead after finding it mentioned on the boards and have since uploaded my data.

Last week I had a Fisher and Paykel APAP machine that had pressure 5-9 and my AHI was over the 5 still. Since yesterday I have a Resmed Airsense10 on trial and we changed the pressure to 5-12. So last night was my first night using the new pressure and the Resmed machine.

Now, curious as I am I couldn't help myself uploading last nights sleep data and now I'm a bit confused as the Resmed records, or shows more Data on the Sleepyhead than the F &P one.

What is new to me is the Clear Airway Stats. From what I could gather on this forum it also could be CA's? The night of my diagnose with all the hookup there where no CA's recorded and therefore I was not diagnosed with CA's only OSA?

With the F&P there was no such data shown on Sleepyhead but what I had was a stat called Flow Limitation and I wonder if they both are the same?

My AHI went from 5.42 on Tuesday with the F&P and lower pressure (max. 9) to 2.67 last night with the higher pressure (max. 12) and the Resmed. Oh also, what is Rera??

Thank you

[Crimson Nape]

Hi SwissLady! -

CA stands for Clear Airway or also known as a Central Airway.  There is a difference between the two but it requires more input than a CPAP can provide.

CA's can be pressure induced and are very common when starting CPAP therapy.

RERA is an acronym for Respiratory Effort Related Arousal


To be better informed on your new found treatment I have listed links to help.
For these definitions and a lot more CPAP information, please visit the Apnea Board Wiki. Either click on the link here or at the top of the page.

Additionally, I have provided more information under Useful Links below.  

Good Luck!

[trish6hundred]

Hi SwissLady,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Good luck to you with CPAP therapy, hang in there for more responses to your post.

[Sleeprider]

Those of us who have machines that detect the "type" of apneas get used to seeing a mix in our results. It's particularly important to understand that the machines do not always get it right as they use remote flow and pressure sensors in the air generator to detect and classify the apnea. Details aside, CA is also likely to show up at times of sleep disturbance and awakening. You don't mention what your AHI is or your CAI (central index), or whether they happen in isolated events, or as clusters. Those of us experienced in interpreting the data can usually identify "junk" vs things that should concern us. Don't get too caught up in the data details. It is not at all unusual to have some CA events when trying a new machine, or as you adapt to therapy. We use longer term data trends to optimize. If you wish to post the data, we can help make some sense of it for you.

[xxyzx]

Hi SwissLady! -

CA stands for Clear Airway or also known as a Central Airway.  There is a difference between the two but it requires more input than a CPAP can provide.

CA's can be pressure induced and are very common when starting CPAP therapy.

RERA is an acronym for Respiratory Effort Related Arousal


To be better informed on your new found treatment I have listed links to help.
For these definitions and a lot more CPAP information, please visit the Apnea Board Wiki. Either click on the link here or at the top of the page.

Additionally, I have provided more information under Useful Links below.  

Good Luck!

more often CA = CENTRAL APNEA

[Sleeprider]

more often CA = CENTRAL APNEA

Actually it is clear (airway) apnea because of the incertainty in using the CPAP sensors to detect the apnea type.  We know it is the machine not detecting flow (breathing) for 10 seconds or more, and the FOT (forced oscillation techniquei) or PP (pressure pulse) indicates the airway meets the criteria of being open rather than obstructed.  The measurements are pretty good, but not perfect and can be misleading, therefore a diagnostic term "central" is not used.  A lot of what is labeled CA is not apnea at all, but is from a disrupted sleep stage or physical movement. Before I call CA "central apnea", I'm looking for evidence that it fits patterns, or sleep study findings that are consistent with that conclusion.

[stanleydean]

Welcome to the forum and to a major source of help. Good luck with your treatment.

[SwissLady]

They do happen as single events all through the night. I could not see them on my F&P Machine Data and sleepyhead but now I'm using the Resmed since a few days so that machine shows me obviously more data and those Clear Airways come up...

They do make up majority of the AHI up.

Last night for example:

AHI 2.23

Clear Airway 1.41
OSA 0.35
Hypo 0.47
Rera 1.06

PS: How do I ad a JPEG Shot attachement?

[Melman]

see the links below for how to organize and post screenshots of your data.

[SwissLady]

Hah! I think I got it now

Thank you