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Old 02-25-2013, 01:18 AM
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MommaBear MommaBear is offline
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Location: texas
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MommaBear MommaBear is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: texas
Posts: 96
10 yr Member
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho View Post
... But, what many of us would pay to have those great days of oxygenated and alive brains. I have wondered about trying to get a prescription for an oxygen concentrator and nasal cannula to breath more concentrated oxygen when I sleep. Dreaming with a fully oxygenated brain is so nice.
Mark, as a Respiratory Therapist, i would not recommend this idea for you. You have Central Sleep Apnea which means your neuro system "forgets" to breathe, you say it "remembers" to kick in when your oxygen falls. If you had that much oxygen it would not kick in again.

In order for it to work, you'd need to switch to a BiPAP machine, which means it guarantees so many breaths per minute and it pushes in a preset inspiratory air pressure, as well as maintain the expiratory pressure. CPAP is just expiratory pressure, it does not ensure that you take a breath, and it is more used for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (i.e. tongue falls back and obstructs breath efforts).

Neither would an O2 cannula; it would in fact fool your neuro system into not breathing anymore since lack of oxygen is what triggers your breathing. Is your CPAP really adequate and ensures you take enough breaths?? Really not likely, and if I were you I'd get another sleep study titration done at a different place that understands the difference between OSA = CPAP and CSA = BiPAP!

For oxygen, your BiPAP machine can have an adapter for O2 tubing going to the concentrator. For BiPAP, you would need another sleep study to determine the settings you need. For Oxygen to be prescribed along with it, you'd need documentation that your O2 sat falls down while you're sleeping. (At least in order for your insurance to pay for it.)

BEST WISHES Mark -- stay safe!! (P.S. I wonder too if this issue may be causing a lot of your PCS mud days, fatigue, etc... CPAP is just most often not adequate for CSA.) Tell me what your current setting is, just in case you do in fact have a BiPAP machine and not just CPAP, just so we all understand the difference; some people seem to use CPAP as a generic term. Is your setting one number, like 5, or is it two numbers, like 10 / 5 ?
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