ELEVATION APNEA

[6fatrat]

I have a friend that has developed "Altitude induced elevation apnea" .
Hope fully some one on the site has some thoughts on this.
Thank you
Steve Bair

 

[Dosh]

Steve, I know a lot of people who experience similar issues at altitude including myself. Apnea essentially prevents the lungs from filling with air which is agrevated at altitude. In a nutshell a CPAP is a great fix. There are units available with battery power. I just use a quiet inverter generator. I live at 1100' and hunt at 6400'-8300', that can have you gasping for a few days.

 

[HARPERC]

A new one for me??? I've been in respiratory therapy about 40 years, fun to hear a new term once in awhile.

I had to look it up so your guess is as good as mine Dosh, but this is more a central apnea, than an obstructive one. Which causes me to wonder if CPAP will help much.

Certainly an underlying, or under treated obstructive apnea could be worse at altitude. Fatigue, drugs etc, probably make it worse.

Off for a few days, I'll check with the sleep lab folks, and see what they say.

 

[6fatrat]

Thank you for the input.
Steve

 

[6fatrat]

ttt

 

[HARPERC]

Not much info readily available. The folks I spoke with mentioned the CPAP route could lengthen the pauses in breathing.

The advice with most altitude related issues is to drop some elevation.

At what altitude is the problem appearing?

 

[FEENIX]

A new one for me???

Me too!

Steve, I know a lot of people who experience similar issues at altitude including myself. Apnea essentially prevents the lungs from filling with air which is agrevated at altitude. In a nutshell a CPAP is a great fix. There are units available with battery power. I just use a quiet inverter generator. I live at 1100' and hunt at 6400'-8300', that can have you gasping for a few days.

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2007 and used CPAP for awhile ... cannot stand it and went with a oral device from https://somnomed.com/en/ and much happier with it.



I understand this might not for everybody but it works great for me. It gives me more mobility and can use them during long flights and avoid the embarrassment from snoring. I have been using it since 2008 without any issues. I live at 3300' and mostly hunt between 5-8500'. My sleep apnea only kicks in while sleeping, no problem with activities at high altitude without it.

My EENT friend said most of the occurrence is while sleeping on your back. He is not a fan of CPAP and tries to change his patients' sleeping positions instead. Sleeping on the side helps and he has a belt like contraption where he can put a tennis ball on back (waist line area) and forces the patient to turn to their side. A pillow between the legs while laying on the sides also helps.

Good luck!

Ed

 

[HARPERC]

You aren't alone Ed, compliance rates with CPAP are terribly low for what we are collectively spending on them-50-85% non compliance depending on where one sets the numbers.

The obstructive sleep apneas, are very different than the central apneas.