Central/Mixed Apnea

Hi VersatileMagentaLlama0669, your story sounds allot like mine, but mine was back in 2007! If your suffering from mixed apneas, and are having centrals, back then they found that increasing pressure on CPAP or BiPAP often increased the number of Central Apneas, and that just compounded the problem and made things worse! I went through that quite a few times, each sleep study they would increase the pressure, and get the apneas under control, and send me home. Within just a matter of a couple of weeks I was back in complaining that my condition was getting worse, and sure enough after another sleep study they found I was right! Central Apneas were getting worse, and oxygen saturations were going down and staying down while I slept! I know what I went through during those 18 months, and I don't wish that on any body! So I think I can definitely empathize with you!

You might want to ask your sleep doctor ( since your having some central apneas), why he isn't considering you for the ASV machine? Better yet ask him if he knows of any other PAP treatment that is more effective against mixed and central apneas, Then maybe mentions about the ASV machines. You might want to go to the ResMed and Philips Respironics web sites and look up central and mixed apneas and also ASV machines. It helps to be knowledgeable, and also I have found, especially concerning sleep apnea, you really have to be your own health advocate! Dealing with Doctors can be tricky and I have found that it is best to use lots of tact! ( they {Doctors} often don't like to be told by their patients how to treat them) so politely lead them in the direction you want them to go, and make them think it was all their idea! ( I have worked on both sides of the medical profession, patient and care giver and from my personal experience I have found this technique often works the best!) Of course ASV might not be the answer to your problem, but again it might be????? At least it might be worth checking out!

I personally like the full face mask, I also had a deviated septum and it was so bad that I ended up having it surgically corrected. I still suffer from nasal stuffiness so often just before going to bed I will take a Benadryl. Also do you use a humidifier with your PAP machine. That is one thing that I have to have, and I used it with all the different machines I've had. I fill my humidifier on my ASV machine every night with distilled water, and I have it set on high. I have found without it, I just cannot breathe! So that might also be something that you might want to talk with your Doctor about! The best advice I can give you is just keep pressing your sleep doctor for adequate treatment! Persistence does pay off in the end! Remember, Doctors work for you! You hire them and you can fire them! Even if your payment is done through your insurance, you pay for the insurance, so your paying their wages. If your not getting adequate treatment from your sleep apnea doctor, then go to someone else for a second opinion! Complex sleep apnea can be difficult to treat, and not every sleep doctor or clinic is capable of adequately treating it! I Wish you well! Good Luck to YOU!

Hi @VersatileMagentaLlama0669. I agree with a lot of what @WhiteBeard posted. Your condition can be a difficult one to treat, and persistence is key. Your respiratory therapist can only do so much without a prescription, so talking this over with your sleep physician is a good plan. Central apneas sometimes resolve with time, but this should be monitored closely in the event BIPAP does not improve your condition. I would also encourage you to talk to your provider about the nighttime nasal stuffiness to determine if there is treatment that may be able to help.