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Painkillers Cause Of 36 AHI?
#1
Painkillers Cause Of 36 AHI?
I had a small surgery unrelated to breathing, cpap etc. They gave me a regime of painkillers and anti inflammatory meds to take and my numbers have gone from 1-3 per hour to up to 36!

Today I stopped the pain killers, and I am hoping for better stats.

Anyone else experience this spike?
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#2
RE: Painkillers Cause Of 36 AHI?
It's rather common. Most pain killers suppress the central respiratory drive.
Likely SleepyHead is showing your increase in AHI as Central Apnea.
Admin Note:
JustMongo passed away in August 2017
Click HERE to read his Memorial Thread

~ Rest in Peace ~
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#3
RE: Painkillers Cause Of 36 AHI?
There is association between opioids pain relief medication and central apnea

Probably AHI will subside as the body get rid of the medications
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#4
RE: Painkillers Cause Of 36 AHI?
sometimes full central apneas do not occur (they have to last at least 10 seconds). hypopneas may also occur related to the opioids, and those are counted as well. your sleepyhead report would then show extra H as well as CA.

So what are the makeup of your results on those nights?

QAL
Dedicated to QALity sleep.
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#5
RE: Painkillers Cause Of 36 AHI?
It is breaking down to about 75% obstructive, 25% CA.
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#6
RE: Painkillers Cause Of 36 AHI?
given the 3 to one ratio towards obstructive - one possibility is your pain meds are enough to let you get more sleep, so there is more chance of apnea. since you are on a straight pressure it may just not be enough on these nights.

QAL
Dedicated to QALity sleep.
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#7
RE: Painkillers Cause Of 36 AHI?
(07-13-2015, 10:34 PM)player Wrote: They gave me a regime of painkillers and anti inflammatory meds to take and my numbers have gone from 1-3 per hour to up to 36!

You have a lady up there in Canada by the name of Frances Chung. For at least 5 years she has been championing the dangers of sleep apnea in the perioperative period. The numbers you describe are criminal. IIWY I would take the following summary:

http://www.patientsafetysolutions.com/do..._Apnea.htm

and go back there and staple it to the forehead of every member of your surgical team.

I mean, what would have happened if your mask fell off during the night?

And if you did have opiods:

http://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/..._final.pdf
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#8
RE: Painkillers Cause Of 36 AHI?
On a positive note: More surgeons are insisting that patients be screened for sleep apnea before surgery.
Admin Note:
JustMongo passed away in August 2017
Click HERE to read his Memorial Thread

~ Rest in Peace ~
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#9
RE: Painkillers Cause Of 36 AHI?
(07-14-2015, 07:44 AM)mollete Wrote:
(07-13-2015, 10:34 PM)player Wrote: They gave me a regime of painkillers and anti inflammatory meds to take and my numbers have gone from 1-3 per hour to up to 36!

You have a lady up there in Canada by the name of Frances Chung. For at least 5 years she has been championing the dangers of sleep apnea in the perioperative period. The numbers you describe are criminal. IIWY I would take the following summary:

http://www.patientsafetysolutions.com/do..._Apnea.htm

and go back there and staple it to the forehead of every member of your surgical team.

I mean, what would have happened if your mask fell off during the night?

And if you did have opiods:

http://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/..._final.pdf
Best post this week.
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#10
RE: Painkillers Cause Of 36 AHI?
It all depends on the pain killers and moreover, it depends on the anaesthesia. It takes a good week or more for the anaesthesia to get out of your system, and when combined with certain pain killers will certainly depress the breathing reflex. This is rarely dangerous, since these are short term problems that disappear once the the various stuffs are out of one's system, but during that time, a person who is already respiratorlly compromised can experience a marked increase in apnoea events, which is a problem only if one is not already under the care of a physician and on a CPAP regime. As I said, the effects are temporary. Where this becomes a real problem is if someone is suffering from COPD or other deep respiratory or cardiological problems. Sleep Apnoea is generally not considered a greater problem in this regard.

It is now standard procedure during the pre-surgical work-up with the anaesthesiologist to ask about respiratory and circulatory problems and adjust surgical and post surgical procedure accordingly.
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