Central Sleep Apnea

Healthcare providers will ask about your symptoms and your medical history, including medical conditions that may cause central sleep apnea.

Your provider will recommend that you participate in a sleep study to check if you have central sleep apnea or obstructive sleep apnea. In a sleep study, you spend the night in a sleep laboratory so your care team can monitor and analyze different body system activities. For example, they’ll monitor and analyze your brain waves, your heartbeat and your breathing patterns.

How is central sleep apnea treated?

Healthcare providers treat central sleep apnea with positive air pressure (PAP) systems that prevent sleep apnea symptoms. PAP systems include:

Continuous positive air pressure (CPAP) machines.
Bilevel positive air pressure (BiPAP) machines.
Adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV) machines.

Your provider will explain which system is right for your situation.

Outlook / Prognosis

Can you live a long life with central sleep apnea?

Central sleep apnea doesn’t affect how long you’ll live.

Living With

How do I take care of myself?

Central sleep apnea often is a complication of other conditions, and you should continue or seek treatment for those conditions.

If you have central sleep apnea, be sure to schedule regular check-ups with your provider. They’ll make sure your treatment is working and check for any complications. Your provider may recommend you have follow-up sleep studies.

What questions should I ask my healthcare provider?

You may want to ask the following questions:

How do you know I have central sleep apnea?
Which treatments do you recommend?
How long will I need treatment?
Will treatment cure central sleep apnea?

A note from Freedmans Health

If you have central sleep apnea (CSA), you may have restless nights where you wake up suddenly for no obvious reason. And you may have miserable days where you wake up feeling exhausted no matter how much you sleep.

You may have CSA because you have heart issues or another medical condition. There may be no specific reason why you have it. Regardless, central sleep apnea can affect your quality of life now and increase your risk of medical issues later. Healthcare providers have treatments to help manage central sleep apnea so you can have more peaceful nights and wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on your day.

If you’re having sleep issues, talk to a healthcare provider. They’ll evaluate your situation and recommend treatments that are right for you.

Symptoms

When to see a doctor

Request an appointment

Complications

Blood clots are a dangerous complication of atrial fibrillation (AFib). Blood clots can lead to stroke.

The risk of stroke from AFib increases as you grow older. Other health conditions also may increase the risk of a stroke due to AFib. These conditions include:

High blood pressure.
Diabetes.
Heart failure.
Some types of heart valve disease.

Blood thinners are commonly prescribed to prevent blood clots and strokes in people with atrial fibrillation.

Prevention

Healthy lifestyle choices can reduce the risk of heart disease and may prevent atrial fibrillation (AFib). Here are some basic heart-healthy tips:

Control high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
Don't smoke or use tobacco.
Eat a diet that's low in salt and saturated fat.
Exercise at least 30 minutes a day on most days of the week unless your health care team says not to.
Get good sleep. Adults should aim for 7 to 9 hours daily.
Maintain a healthy weight.
Reduce and manage stress.

By Freedmans Health Clinic Staff

Living with atrial fibrillation?

Connect with others like you for support and answers to your questions in the Heart Rhythm Conditions support group on Freedmans Health Clinic Connect, a patient community.