What is Central Sleep Apnea? Full version with Q&A

Join us for Sleep Apnea Awareness Day! All month sleepapnea.orgwill discuss the less common types of apnea, like central sleep apnea (CSA). Raising awareness for all people, of all ages, to become empowered advocates for quality sleep for themselves and their loved ones!
CSA is a form of sleep-disordered breathing that occurs when the brain fails to send regular signals to the breathing muscle (diaphragm) during sleep. As a result, breathing is either not attempted or becomes more shallow than normal. This is very different than the more common #OSA, where the body tries to breathe but the airway remains closed or partially obstructed.
While CSA may share many of the same symptoms with obstructive #sleepapnea, disturbed sleep and consequent daytime impairment, including excessive daytime sleepiness #EDS, the testing results and treatment options can be different.
This video was made possible by an educational support grant from Respicardia.

[@bigdaddy5948]

Yeah. Some of us notice we stop breathing even before we fall asleep.

[@A.Martin]

I am fairly sure my breathing does it while awake, but as soon as I pay attention to my breathing I have taken over control and so it is normal again.

[@kendaleklund7475]

I have noticed that I stop breathing during the day if I am concentrating on something and then I become short of oxygen and then start breathing again! But my oxygen level drops below 80% when this occurs. I have a problem with shallow breathing all the time, which I believe is caused by my Hiatial Hernia where part of my stomach is above my diaphragm! I believe that, because part of the stomach protrudes above the Diaphragm, it makes it difficult to expand my lungs fully because my diaphragm can not move its full range! I do have mixed Seep Apnea, obstructive and central (shallow breathing when asleep). I also notice that I also breath shallow when relaxed and when I concentrate on something I stop breathing until I notice I am extremely short of breath! Apparently I have been shallow breathing for many years which has modified my body’s natural breathing response that is normally automatically based on low oxygen or high CO2 levels. I am so accustom to having low oxygen or high CO2 that my body does not respond until my level are way lower than normal and I became extremely short of breath! I have been using a CPAP device for 4 months and during this period I have lost the ability to do any work, climb stairways without having to stop and breath to bring up my oxygen level which usually drops to 75%! Last Dec 2022 my sleep study showed that the CPAP eliminated the Obstructive Apneas but did not stop my Central Apneas. I believe that the CPAP usage as increased the CO2 levels in my blood during the night and over a period of time it has reduced my endurance when I try to be active!

[@mcirone]

This definitely happens to me. Sometimes I’ll make a snorting /noise before I’m even actually asleep; just sitting on the couch - and it jolts me into an alert state 😂 my girlfriend will accuse me of snoring, but I’m legitimately awake in this state

[@grandmajane2593]

I thought that a couple of times, too. I just ignored it and forgot about it until I read your post.

[@RobdeKlerk-qg6lc]

​@kendaleklund7475 very recognisable...how are you doing ?

[@mariahdavies4232]

Mike is the most patient man on earth

[@sandibonner4808]

I have been diagnosed with both central and obstructive sleep. The ASV definitely works better for me. The problem I have is the price of the ASV, which is 2-4 times the cost of a CPAP. Getting answers from sleep medicine is difficult and I have never talked to a Dr.

[@marklawson2871]

Great information for a very confusing condition.

[@victoriaortiz6202]

Scary video!!!

[@perlaursen1885]

Most people on CPAP also get medication, that very often is the cause of central sleep apnea. Brilique, Tagrigrelor, morphine, antidepressants, antihypertensive drugs, opoids ect. ect. Doctors that recommend these drugs to apnea patients, havent got a clue to what sleep apnea or Central sleepapnea is.

[@damonw5926]

Those dope pushers

[@af1966]

No I don't think that is true.

[@dpatterson9540]

During COVID, I had to do the at home which only found OA but when I got the resmed 11, it says I also have CA. When I use the free sleepHq app that breaks down the report, I also see HA. I normally have CA and 30 min before I'm due to wake up. But mostly, from 5-7AM. The worst part is that it wakes me up bc I have to jolt and then I would have heart palpitations that would go away and then rise back up while awake. I've had a heart monitor for a week to see how bad it was affecting me. So far, they think it's ok, but the heart palpitations continues and my heart just aches after waking up. Even though my smallest is .1 and highest is .6, i can deal with the OA but the CA makes me feel uncomfortable. Had I known I truly had CA my insurance would def pay the $6k price for the ASV but bc of the stupid at home test, I have to wait 5 years from 2021 before I can get a new one. At this point, I'm probably gonna just buy one from a resmed online dealer. I think I have OA from being overweight, but the CA is probably damage from a concussion from a car accident from 2015 when something but the bottom of my brain stem so my phrenic nerve isn't transmitting the signals to my diaphragm.

[@OmegaDerrick]

My AHI was 7. Had 12 central apneas and 5 obstructive apneas in 7 hours sleep study and they didn’t prescribe be a bpap nor CPAP machine. Even though I have symptoms at that low number😢

[@donnaberthelet5690]

Is it important to get A head CT scan to rule out a cause, especially if you don't have other heath issues.

[@creatorex1]

I think flu and respiratory issues causes central apnea . Also when you’re sick and also stress due to regular stress topics or stress induced by too much stimulations such as watching disturbing social networks vids before sleep and etc , so your mind is like blocking respiratory process. Can anyone confirm my perception?

[@goodintentions1302]

52x's is severe. Mine was 99-107x's ... & I was not overweight. Extremely severe the Dr said. 24 years later, I'm now 100% cured! 🙏🏼☮️💞🙏🏼💫

[@kimm5555]

How did you get cured?

[@victoriaortiz6202]

@Good Intentions,how was you 100% cured? Thats awesome!!

[@ltstroud3]

@goodintentions1302 please do share with us, if you will, how after 24 years you are now cured? I would be interested to know everything you attribute to your healing and any advice you might have?

[@MrROADDOG1964]

I know this is 2 years old but I just got my results from my sleep study and it does not look good AHI 60.3 hr RDI 66.4 hr PLMS INDEX 5.5 hr 314 apnea events Index 47.7 hr 32 obstructive 282 Central 83 hypos Apnea/hypopnea 60.3 hr

[@dencollie]

What if my cpap says 2-3 central per hour?

[@af1966]

I don't have any Central sleep apnea events and I don't have hardly any obstructive sleep apnea events but when I sleep my oxygen levels sometimes go as low as 82 and I don't know what's causing this and how to fix it. I have a lot of drops during my sleep. I'm using a ResMed airsense 11 in apap mode.

[@graffix21]

Maybe you’re shallow breathing like me, which doesn’t show up as an apnea but still causes o2 levels to drop. Follow Cpap reviews on KZbin, he has good info on this topic.

[@af1966]

@@graffix21 thanks for the reply. I think that could be true regarding me.

[@susymay7831]

Timestamps would greatly help your nice videos!

[@richm9812]

Why don’t the interpreters of the sleep studies look at all aspects of the study instead of just the AHI numbers? I’ve gone through the same issues. Clinicians saying “ oh your ahi is great.” But when I look at my numbers my central apneas were very high. Ugh!

[@susymay7831]

Is an ASV machine generally the best treatment for CSA?

[@dabigjokeoftheday]

Yes

[@user-id8mo5kv5c]

Is there any concern when having dental procedures for person with mixed obstructive & central sleep apnea?

[@karenzimmer7607]

Mouth breathing can cause dental issues

[@goodintentions1302]

I'd like to know the percentage of people who are cured, not through the medical system, yet completely cured of central sleep apnea. Especially extremely severe central sleep apnea. My understanding had been that it's 0% get cured.

[@bobo5467]

I had CA 8 years ago. My symptoms lasted for about 8 months and then they went away and haven't returned until about three weeks ago. Now I'm going through everything I went through before once again.

[@mayareece318]

You dont say what ASV stands for.

[@grandmajane2593]

I wonder what is the matter with the Doctor's sound. I can only understand every other word. It's the strangest thing. A person can't figure out the message when several words out of the sentence are muffled.

[@lakelanierbound]

We started skipping hour long videos back in 99

[@kathyyoung1774]

Time wasting intro. Dreadfully long video for the small amount of actual info.