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I am having 22 central apnoeas per hour sleep. The doctors have been debating whether to start me on CPAP or BiPAP. Any advice would be appreciated.
Question:
If I have Central Sleep Apnoea, do I need CPAP or BiPAP?
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If you have Central Sleep Apnoea you may be offered a CPAP machine. This can help to stabilise the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your body, reducing the number of central apnoeas.
While many people with Central Sleep Apnoea benefit from CPAP, it is not always successful. Instead, BiPAP can help stabilise your breathing rhythm and assist you to take breaths when your breathing pauses during apnoeas. It can also help to correct shallow breathing, making it ideal for treating Central Sleep Apnoea.
If you have Cheyne-Stokes respiration, your breathing becomes gradually deeper and faster and then shallower and slower before pausing. These two extremes alternate throughout the night in a repetitive cycle.
Adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV) can be used to treat Cheyne-Stokes respiration. An ASV machine alters its air pressure, breath by breath, to match your breathing patterns and compensate for any instability. It can also force you to breathe when you fail to inflate your chest, making it suitable for treating Central Sleep Apnoea. However, according to research it may not always be suitable if you have advanced heart failure.