Airsense 10 auto set - a couple questions

[Galgenstrick]

I'm receiving my airsense 10 autoset and starting therapy on Wednesday and pretty excited to start feeling better, but I have a couple questions:

1. Is there a longer slimline hose option or only 6 feet? If I go with a longer wide hose, do I need to change any settings on the machine? Longer hose recommendation or are they all the same quality?

2. My scrip is for a pressure setting of 5-15cm, should I lower the max setting while getting used to sleeping with the machine then up it once I'm comfortable, or just go right onto the prescription settings

3. Should I start with an EPR of 3cm, or keep it lower or off?

[gjw]

Hi Galgenstrick

1) Yes, SlimeLine equivelant hoses (15mm diameter), can be found with various suppliers (google with '15mm cpap tubing'), in 8 & 10 feet lenghts. If using 15mm or 19mm (Standard) hoses, make sure to change the settings on the machine accordingly. (download the clinical manuals from this site, for further details).

2) At 4cm of pressure, I do not get enough air to breathe.

3) I would start with EPR set to 0 at first, and see how that goes. Set it later to 1 and see if it helps with exhaling. If 1 feels better then 0, then you can try with a 2 or 3 setting, to fugure out what helps best.

;-> gjw

[Yoda1989]

I seem to be one of the lucky ones, my machine was set up on auto ramp (looks like it starts at 4?) and 8-12 and I haven't had any difficulty with breathing/air flow.  My (inexperienced) guess would be pay attention to how you're feeling and adjust accordingly - this board seems to have the answers :-)

No idea on tubing, but I have the standard 6 foot one and it's plenty long enough for me, although I toss and turn enough I was worried at first.

Have a great day!

[silversnore]

I have the Resmed Aircurve and would think it would be similar to your machine but not sure. There is an option in the menu for the standard hose, the slim line hose and a 3 meter hose (perhaps this option only available on bilevels), you simply tell the machine which hose you are using. I do not think that you can get a slimline hose in from Resmed in a longer length, but other alternate brands. You should get the clinical manual from this site, you may have to follow the instructions and recieve back from email. You might also want to download Sleepyhead from the links above so that you can monitor your stats. Great that you are getting an auto machine, will make things alot easier.

[Melman]

I have the same machine.

There is no need to lower the max setting. It will only go that high as required to control your apneas. My settings are 9-14 but it usually runs between 10 and 11 with occasional increases to 14. Your low setting of 5 may need to be increased but wait and see. You shouldn't need EPR with such a low setting. I use an EPR setting of 2 with a low setting of 9 and have no trouble exhaling.  We are all different, of course.

Be sure to download the clinician manual and SleepyHead software using the links at the top of this page. you will find them useful. Also check the runtime hours on you machine when you pick it up before you sign for it. Some people have been given used machines. It's easily done my pressing the round button at my options, scrolling down to about, and pressing the button again. The runtime hours will be shown. They may not be 0 but should be close. Also verify the settings are correct. After I got mine home I discovered it was set for nasal pillows although it was provided with a full face mask.

Best of luck to you with the new machine.

[Galgenstrick]

Good tip. I didn't realize people got used machines, that's a bummer. I'll check mine as soon as I get it. It did say that they opened it to configure it to match my prescription, so I'm expecting it to be used in that sense.

[Mosquitobait]

To check Runtime hours on an Airsense, select My Options from the main screen. Then scroll down to ABOUT and select that. You will see machine RUN hours. It should say 0 (zero).

I changed my low setting (5) to 6 the first night. After an hour, I just couldn't breathe. 4 & 5 are actually pediatric settings - they work for some small adults, but most of us can't breathe with that low of setting.

[AndyB]

A suggestion -- you may want to consider asking your doctor to prescribe a "Climateline" heated hose for your machine.  I like not having cold air blowing up my nose, especially in late fall and winter, and the heated hose also seems to prevent "rainout" (condensation) in the hose.  I set my machine at "auto" for both temp and humidity and it works great that way.

[Galgenstrick]

A suggestion -- you may want to consider asking your doctor to prescribe a "Climateline" heated hose for your machine.  I like not having cold air blowing up my nose, especially in late fall and winter, and the heated hose also seems to prevent "rainout" (condensation) in the hose.  I set my machine at "auto" for both temp and humidity and it works great that way.

I totally ordered one of those this morning after seeing that it was 8 inches longer than the slimline hose. Should be here in the Next few days. Doc gave me a scrip for just about everything CPAP related.

[player]

The hose can be aggravating to deal with and manage. A 10 foot hose more so.