Sleep Apnea Blog

Archive for the ‘Central Sleep Apnea’ Category

I’ve recently been diagnosed with sleep apnea; the full diagnosis was "obstructive, central, and mixed " I’ve been prescribed a CPAP, w/ full mask (CFlex). Guess my question is.. how soon can I expect to feel better, and just what will ‘feel better’ feel like? evidently i’ve had this for quite some time, and would appreciate hearing from someone with personal experience of treatment for same.
Thanx~

It takes time. Your body is used to running on empty so to speak and it has to readjust to being normal. Use the CPAP nightly as prescribed and hopefully you’ll see effects soon. If after a month you see no change in how you feel (less tired, etc) call your home care company for a follow up (which they should be calling you regularly anyway, be honest when you talk to them) Sometimes the pressure isn’t right the mask isnt right for the person and alot of patients hate c-flex from my experience. Sometimes turning that off helps.

I can’t use a C PAP.I tried for a month and gave up due to sleep deprivation. it doesn’t help anyway.
this is not obstructive. my air ways are open. it is more a neurological problem I think.

even though taking a sleeping pill will depress your respiratory system, you might try doing that before using a CPAP…
if it is neurological, they can give you meds for that too…

I am 53, male, former smoker(I smoked for 19 years and quit in 1992). I do not drink.

I have epilepsy(since 1966), Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease(since birth), essential non-pulmonary hypertension, gastro-esophageal disease, BPH, complex Central Sleep Apnea.

Could you please cite your sources for your answer, i.e., National Institute of Health, American Heart Association, etc. Thank you

Everyone is unique and no one person is the same, so as their health. There is no specific guidelines to how often should the physician check your CBC. Your physician will determine the frequency according to your need. The decision will mainly be affected by your current health (more ill, more frequent), your medication and the physician preference. There is some recommendation to some medication of how often should the physician check your blood work (may not be CBC). Also some physician like to check it more frequently than others.

If you really want to know, you should ask your primary physician, s/he know your health the best.

Late last year I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea, both Obstructive and Central. I was prescribed a VPAP, which was not in any way better than nothing.

I lost sleep for a month, and often woke up unable to breath. The last time I used it, I woke up gasping, disoriented, and with a severe headache, all of which went away after two hours of NOT USING the VPAP.

In general, I sleep fine (As fine as the father of seven month old twins can sleep!) I only went for the sleep study as a ten year follow up. Ten years ago they coached me on changing sleep positions and losing weight.

Now I’m trapped. As a CDL holder, this diagnosis affects my ability to work. I’m sure it will affect my ability to get insurance in the future. And once again, I don’t think it’s accurate.

As a Patient, is there anything I can do to challenge this diagnosis?
I went to the Second sleep study as a follow up to my sleep study from ten years ago, which was a positive experience after the coaching in sleep position and weight loss.

And my regular doctor suggested I do a follow up study. If I had it to do over again, I would refuse. But now that the damage is done, and the treatments being recommended are both expensive and ineffectual, and with serious long term consequences toward my job.

With all that in mind, how is the best way to challenge this diagnosis and/or method of treatment.

You sound like all of this is being done by your private doctor. Do you not have a pulmonologist’s consultation on this? They are the experts on sleep apnea of all types. He/she would be the one to bring this issue up with. If the sleep apnea test showed you have it I’m afraid they’ll just have to find a different way to help you. That’s why they give him/her the "big bucks", ya know? I know there are pulmonologist’s out there that order a sleep apnea tests for virtually everybody and then set them up with CPAP. And everybody makes money, except you. My pulmonologist looked almost disappointed when my test was normal. But he recovered fast and smiled. I won’t see him again. Had the feeling of being cattle being herded. Never again.
Any time for any reason you disagree with a doctor talk to him/her. They don’t bite. And they should take the time to explain everything to you. If they just hurry you in and out like cattle find another doctor. Really.
God bless.

They want to run more tests but I have been with out that machine for days now, and I can tell a difference. I am so tired.
What can I do until I get a CPAP to sleep with, that I won’t be so tired?
I do not have obstructive but Central Sleep Apnea.
I can really tell a difference in my energy when I use the CPAP. I contacted the DR but ehy want me to wait until I have taken more tests.

Centrals are caused because some people’s bodies can’t stand air blowing in their faces, what you really need is a VPAP (that’s V) it was developed in Europe & now is available here in the States now, it’s very expensive, hope you have Good Insurance, ( & don’t rent it, you’ll need it for a lifetime) but have your DR to order a VPAP test
sometimes this is seen (Centrals) in cardiac pts,
1 out of 2 / 50% of heart disease pts have Sleep Apnea

I have a CPA because I have Central Sleep Apnea. For some reason unknown I just stop breathing while I am sleeping.
I am take Lexapro before I go to bed. I was taking it in the morning but I was so sleepy during the day so I started taking it at night.
I use a CPAP MACHINE sorry

go to dr.House! baci

Two years ago my brother was admitted to the hospital for an electrolyte imbalance caused by many weeks of vomitting and dehydration. His sodium level on his admittance to the hospital was 96 and within a 36 hour time frame was increased to over 120. As a result of his treatment he now suffers from Central Pontine Mylenosis (CPM). He has struggled to learn to walk and talk again. He experiences issues with tremors that prevent him from writing, typing driving and feeding himself. He recently was also diagnosed with Central Sleep Apnea as a direct result of CPM.

I am trying to find a support group for survivors of CPM, or anyone who has experienced this condition personally or know of someone who has CPM.

I have searched the web for support groups until my eyes are crossed.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Has he gone to a sleep lab? I can only help you chip away the sleep thing. I use one of those CPAP thing nightly, now I am 61 years old and was diagnosed at 60. I feel like I am in my 40’s! True sleep is wonderful, my whole adult life I never had a good night’s sleep! I also had a knee twitch that kept my brain from going into REM stage of sleep. Thats where the eyes dart around, its like perfect sleep time, anyway I lived without it for 40+ years.

I hated going to the lab and did not enjoy the whole idea of it. The idea of having something poked up my noise was not comforting! I HATED IT! BUT MY WIFE MADE ME GO !!!!

The lab was tolerable, but the results are unbelieveable!

THE DARN MACHINE WORKS MIRACLES! SO … LIKE A SAVED SINNER, I AM HERE TO SPREAD THE WORD, TELL THE WORLD WHERE THEIR REDEMPTION MAY BE FOUND ( WELL MAYBE A LITTLE PUSHY )!

WISH YOU LUCK ON ALL OF YOUR PROBLEMS, BREATHING THROUGH THE NIGHT SERIOUSLY HAS RE-STARTED MY WHOLE PERSONAL LIFE!

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

APS

I suffered with horrible sleep paralysis while taking Tegretol (Carbemazapine) and now that I don’t take Tegretol I suffer with a special kind of sleep apnea (central apnea) that is usually brought on by brain trauma or drugs/medication. I am trying to determine if they are all connected….the Tegretol, Sleep paralysis and central apnea. Any serious reply would be greatly appreciated.

Dear "tubby"
I was on tegretol at one point but soon after I started to develop these strange spasms and odd muscle spasms during the night. Shortly thereafter I started to get seizures. They are not epilepsy or gran mal. They are now being called "stress seizures". But to me it is way too coincidental that this started when I was on Tegretol. I dont have difinitive answers, I really wish I did. I hate to see someone else suffering. I woudl recommend you do a search for adverse effects to Tegretol. This is a good start here and I really do hope you get some answers. I am sorry I couldn’t offer you more help or better hard proof. I’m sorry that you are going through this. I sincerely hope that you feel better soon and get the best treatment possible for your apnea. One thing to keep in mind is a sleep study.

On a 15 hour flight to a different time zone, I took 4 or 5 dramamine to keep from getting sick. In the few nights after I arrived, I had difficulty sleeping, waking up in a panic several times. After a few days it went away.

After flying home, taking the same amount of dramamine, I am having similar symptoms. I wake up with feeling of numbness or tingling in my arms, and as if I had stopped breathing, like Central Sleep Apnea? Would this be caused by the dramamine or by the jet lag itself?

it can actually be caused by both…
also the numbness and tingling can be caused by poor circulation… this flight could have brought out underlying medical conditions.. you might want to have a checkup just to rule that outl…

I have moderate obstructive and Central Sleep Apnea. My blood oxygen levels according to sleep study dropped down to 60. I tried the CPAP machine for a couple of months and finally gave up. And I can’t sleep with that dental appliance either. BTW I am tall and very thin, medically I would be considerated underweight.

I am looking to buy a pulse oxyimeter with alarm that would wake me when my oxygen gets too low, like below 80. Do you think this would work? Where is a good place to buy one?
Thanks.

I would think that would wake you up just as much as sleep apnea.

Go to the place that supplied you with your machine and ask them to be fitted for a new mask. They have ton’s of choices and there is bound to be one that will work for you. If you find a nice respiratory therapist who is willing to spend extra time with you, you can find a mask or nose mask that will work right for you.

Good Luck!

I’ve had sleep apnea for years and it took a while to find a working mask.