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The CA would not likely be heart related. How to address this with the doctor? Take your sleep study table that's shown above. Highlight the 40 CA to 4 OA. Ask when are they going to decide to treat them. If they don't know what CA are, or that they don't think the CA need treatment, you'll need to replace them with a doctor that understands what CA are, and are willing to script ASV.
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.
You don't want just any BIPAP. Insist on an ASV machine. I have complex apnea and eventually purchased my ASV out of pocket. Insurance doesn't like to pay for them and they make doctors jump through hoops to prescribe one. I use Aircurve 10. Central sleep apnea doesn't necessary mean something is terribly wrong, I have a cardiologist and get a checkup regularly. My central sleep apnea isn't cardiac related. In my case the titrations always got me just below 5 so they always prescribed auto CPAP and insurance wouldn't pay for it. Life is better with the ASV....
Machine: ResMed AirCurve ASV Mask Type: Full face mask Mask Make & Model: ResMed AirFit F40 Humidifier: with unit CPAP Pressure: unsure CPAP Software: OSCAR
myAir
Other Comments: Complex Apnea, needing ASV. Got it April 2025!
Sleepybai -- I have moved from AirSense11 in APAP and then CPAP mode, which would not take care of my forests of nightly CA events. I had them on my sleep study (2 home tests) and they confirmed during a titration. I was diagnosed with complex sleep apnea. It was hell on earth trying to get an ASV, but the first night I had it, my AHI dropped to like 1.5 AHI.
I had an echocardiogram and my "Ejection Fraction" was normal/good. I do have some mild heart valve regurgitation (in 3 valves) of no concern, but possibly correlated with central apnea. I live at over 5,000 ft, and was told some of us may have more cases of central apnea (esp women). Sometimes the central is ideopathic. I do know that my oxygen levels never were that bad and my Oura 4 ring shows 94-95% sats overnight, which is ok for Colorado.
The ASV machine is totally helping me. I hope you get the care you need.
Hi everyone. Thanks to each of you for taking the time to look at this and give me your thoughtful responses. As a clinician myself, it's nice to see a community take the time to help a stranger. It's helping me stay motivated and recognize the need to care for myself to take better care of my patients. I met with the sleep medicine PA on Wednesday, who increased my pressure to 14 to 18 with plans to increase min pressure if necessary. Since increasing, I'm noticing myself gasping for air, waking up as I drift off to sleep. She got me scheduled for a BIPAP titration in late July, as she says there wasn't enough time on my last titration to really see if we can get BIPAP to work for me. She said from there we can consider ASV if necessary. Here are the results from last night. I'm still struggling, but the night before I slept better and dreamt quite a bit (didn't have my SD card in that night, dang it!). I will keep updating on this forum, please continue to give me your advice or thoughts. THANKS!
Machine: Lowenstein Luisa Mask Type: Full face mask Mask Make & Model: Resmed Quattro FX Humidifier: separate F&P humidifier CPAP Pressure: Epap 4-20 PS 4-20; "auto" rate CPAP Software: Not using software
Other Comments: Using 45 degree angle upper body wedge (36"x36") and 4.5"soft cervical collar; 500 assured tidal vol
You are having a lot of leaks that are affecting your therapy. On your OSCAR chart, anytime you see the gray - shaded areas, that means your leaks have gone over 24 L/Min. When this happens, your therapy becomes unreliable, as your machine can't correctly determine or respond effectively to your breathing.
Here are some tips that might help you decrease your leaks:
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.
Check in with your doctor, asking if she would include the ASV mode in the upcoming Titration test. Then you should have more info and ammo to discuss which will be better going forward.
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.
