VAuto Journey

[OpalRose]

It's not likely you will be able to treat your Central Sleep Apnea with a VAuto.  You will probably fail at this machine and should talk to your doctor about an ASV.  

In the meantime, you could check the Trigger setting and set it at High or Very High.  This has been known to bring down the CA's.  It may or may not help, but worth a try.

It also would be better if you would keep your therapy questions to one thread.  It makes it hard for folk to jump around looking for previous threads to see what has been suggested or tried in order to give you more accurate advice.

So how will people know when I post new data every day?  Should I change the name of the thread?

When you post new data, the thread is automatically bumped to the top.

[lbl82]

When I talked to the sleep technician at my sleep clinic she said that she has had a lot of success with VAuto in treating centrals. I also talked to another person who is Respiratory Therapist not affiliated with my clinic. She said that she would start with VAuto cause my Centrals are mild. Both of them said that the ASV is usually for moderate to high centrals. When I mentioned that the apnea board and resmed website only mentions the use of ASV for Centrals they just don't agree with it. What should I say or information do I need to know to argue my need for a ASV tiration or at least another sleep study?

[SarcasticDave94]

I'd think that ResMed knows what they're talking about when they say the ASV is to treat CA. Sorry but those "experts" are wrong that say the VAuto is the right machine for treating CA. Below is a screenshot from the ResMed product list. There's another one out there that compares each model. If I find it, I'll post it as well. Anyway, see what is said of the ASV on the right by the manufacturer.

[attachment=23812]

[SarcasticDave94]

I think what will need to happen is you will need to endure the torture of the VAuto not addressing CA events, you will need to document a symptom/complaint diary, and then you will need a face to face visit with the doctor and state plainly that CA events are not addressed with the VAuto. You may need prints of OSCAR showing events. You need to bring your complaint of symptoms out, to convey it in such a way that is both respectful and firm, stating you need better therapy. You will likely need an ASV oriented sleep study. I think you need more info and data than just telling these experts. Go to ResMed's website and get the ASV PDF and print it. Show them what ResMed states the ASV and VAuto are for. Again I use the word respectful; present it firmly that you will not take NO for an answer but be respectful while doing it. I had to do this myself so I know what it takes. Admitted my CA were likely a lot higher, however if you document and present that your CA are disrupting sleep, they must listen or they don't do their job well.

[Gideon]

VAuto is the right machine for something like Treatment-Emergent Central Apnea where the central apneas go away over 2-3 months as your body readjusts and the central apnea disappears and the VAuto can do what it does best, treat OSA.

In other words, if Father Time can treat the central apneas, the VAuto will do just fine.

With a VAuto, all you can do is avoid the central apneas, not treat them. There is a difference.

[optimalsleep]

click on the event bar above the orange bar with the AHI and number. Then double click on central apneas..... and so on down the event list with the time.

You'll be able to see which ones are legit and the ones that aren't.

Post a few on you thread for the "experts" to see.

[lbl82]

What setting should my trigger sensitivity and Ti control be?

[Sleeprider]

Your are dealing with relatively high CA. Change trigger sensitivity to high or very high, and cycle can stay at default Medium. Ti Controls are fine at defaults of 0.3 min and 2.0 max.

[optimalsleep]

When I talked to the sleep technician at my sleep clinic she said that she has had a lot of success with VAuto in treating centrals.  I also talked to another person who is Respiratory Therapist not affiliated with my clinic. She said that she would start with VAuto cause my Centrals are mild.  Both of them said that the ASV is usually for moderate to high centrals.  When I mentioned that the apnea board and resmed website only mentions the use of ASV for Centrals they just don't agree with it. What should I say or information do I need to know to argue my need for a ASV tiration or at least another sleep study?

Surprisingly the sleep study techs aren't supposed to share your results but your Dr..... in my experience with two studies.

I suggested that you show/expand your flow rate chart on the OSCAR software to see whether or not you have mild or moderate to high CA's.

According to my Dr..... I had OA's and not CA's.... on my first study. The Ins. Co. wanted to treat my OA's first which primarly might have caused CA's. My second study found I needed to have biPAP ventilation even though my OA"s were managed before the study and during the second. The tech mentioned that if the CPAP cleared OA's and the CA's were still there, he would put me on BiPAP. He wasn't supposed to tell me he switched me over during the night.... but I woke up due to I had to hit the bathroom and could tell I was on a biPAP. The tech walked in and said, "how'dya like that biPAP?" Oooopps. LOL I said... you weren't supposed to tell me ! And we laughed.. he felt comfortable telling me, our conversation was a little techy me knowing some stuff learned in the last few months.

[lbl82]

When I talked to the sleep technician at my sleep clinic she said that she has had a lot of success with VAuto in treating centrals.  I also talked to another person who is Respiratory Therapist not affiliated with my clinic. She said that she would start with VAuto cause my Centrals are mild.  Both of them said that the ASV is usually for moderate to high centrals.  When I mentioned that the apnea board and resmed website only mentions the use of ASV for Centrals they just don't agree with it. What should I say or information do I need to know to argue my need for a ASV tiration or at least another sleep study?

Surprisingly the sleep study techs aren't supposed to share your results but your Dr..... in my experience with two studies.

I suggested that you show/expand your flow rate chart on the OSCAR software to see whether or not you have mild or moderate to high CA's.

According to my Dr..... I had OA's and not CA's.... on my first study. The Ins. Co. wanted to treat my OA's first which primarly might have caused CA's. My second study found I needed to have biPAP ventilation even though my OA"s were managed before the study and during the second. The tech mentioned that if the CPAP cleared OA's and the CA's were still there, he would put me on BiPAP. He wasn't supposed to tell me he switched me over during the night.... but I woke up due to I had to hit the bathroom and could tell I was on a biPAP. The tech walked in and said, "how'dya like that biPAP?" Oooopps. LOL I said... you weren't supposed to tell me ! And we laughed.. he felt comfortable telling me, our conversation was a little techy me knowing some stuff learned in the last few months.

What is considered mild, moderate and high CA?