Anyone had problem switching from dreamstation to airsense [breathing problem]

[TaxFreeira]

Sleeprider, do not misunderstand, I am not argueing with you.  I see the Airsense reports look better than the dreamstation.  But with the airsense, i still can not get over the feeling that it makes me pause before breathing in again.  Instead of a continuous breath in, breath out cycle.  Please clarify on Rera, i thought if they were below 5, it was insignificant, am i misunderstanding something?  thanks

[Ratchick]

thanks Ratchick. i do not use a ramp, so starting pressure is not low.  

I didn't mean during ramp. Your machine is set up to use a range of pressures, and if you only fit it at the minimum therapy pressure, then it may leak more at higher pressures.

Please clarify on Rera, i thought if they were below 5, it was insignificant, am i misunderstanding something?

Neither your AHI nor RDI are under five. The TOTAL is what counts, not just one measure. Your RERAs add to your AHI to create your RDI, so on that chart, you had an AHI over 7 and an RDI closer to 11.

RDI = AHI in terms of diagnosis. That is untreated. Just because the RERAs are 3.something, not 5, it doesn't mean you can ignore them.

[TaxFreeira]

If i am i reading these 2 nights correctly, dreamstation [with removed foam] these rera and ahi are results much better?
[The real bad readings were when minimum pressure was set to 8 instead of 9.5]

Also, concerning the flow and chin tuck, how do these two nights rate compared to the airsense 11? Thanks, I appreciate the help/
   
   

[SarcasticDave94]

I'm seeing some clusters, alternating between Obstructive Apnea and Hypopnea, from one chart to the other.

Flow limits are high enough at .19 to .24 that you probably want to consider Flex to try and combat that.

And there's sometimes really bad but brief mask leaks. It may not compromise therapy, but it's got to be a source of disruptions.

[TaxFreeira]

Thank you. I tried the dreamstation Flex c and also the flex a. Could not get comfortable with them. Tried one and had an uncomfortable night. Then tried another after 3 hours I turned it off. I did both on the highest setting.

I usually get up in the middle of the night to pee at least three times. When I turn from my back to my side I usually end up with a mask leak and have to adjust my mask. Could either of those be what you are saying? Once in awhile but not every night I end up having to blow my nose in the middle of the night. Thank you

[TaxFreeira]

Comments please.  How am i doing after i increased minimum pressure? this is on the nights I used dreamstation
[on Feb 6th I left the machine on too long to dry out after i got up]
Also comment on the flow limit

                  

[staceyburke]

This is your therapy and you need to do what is best for you.  But I can not believe that the dreamstation is less disruptive to your sleep than the resmed.  Take a look at the pressure chart of both.  The ResMed is very smooth while the dreamstation is driving pressure up and down.  That should cause more leaks and waking up.

[TaxFreeira]

Thanks Stacey.  I can't figure it out either. When I look and compare numbers the ResMed looks better although certainly I am below a novice in understanding these readouts.  

I am much more comfortable with the ResMed than I was the first several weeks ( but not as comfortable as the dreamstation).

However sometimes when I wake up at night with the ResMed I find that my breathing is not as comfortable as with the dreamstation. Recently when I felt that I pulled the hose off the airsense and put it on the dreamstation it felt better

Some days when I have used the dreamstation the night before I am less tired than the ResMed.

I cannot figure it out. I would like to be more comfortable with the ResMed. It is a more advanced machine

How did those three look in regards to chin drop?

[Geer1]

They are different machines and you are using different settings so it makes sense you are noticing a difference in their operation. Main difference is when you used Resmed you had EPR on which increases pressure during inhale and decreases it during exhale, with the dreamstation you are just using fixed pressure. If you turned EPR off on the Resmed it should be closer to dreamstation feel although what you will likely find is that the Resmed will increase the pressure to a much higher level due to how it is programmed to react to flow limitations.

The Resmed machine is much more aggressive when it comes to increasing pressure. If you look back on the 1/3 data you can see how min pressure was 8.9, average pressure was 12.5 and max pressure was 15.4 compared to your dreamstation which plods along with min pressure of 10 and rarely increasing above 11.

If you want to see what Resmed feels like with similar settings you can try min pressure 10, max pressure 12, EPR off. If that feels better to you then it might just be that your body doesn't like the higher EPR and then you could try EPR of 1 to see if any EPR is better than no EPR.

If you want to try modifying dreamstation settings further you could try turning aflex on and setting it to 1 to see how that feels to you (similar idea to the EPR on Resmed machine) otherwise your only other changes would be to try raising pressure a tad higher (say 11 or 12 cm) although it seems like you are getting close to right pressure range now.

[TaxFreeira]

Thanks Geer1.  On the airsense 11 I tried it without EPR but it was unusable. At the end of my exhalation it felt like I stopped breathing before I inhaled . 

With the dreamstation one I tried it with the two flexes I believe it is A flex and C Flex. Both were not good.

 I found with the airsense 11 the only way I could get half way comfortable with it was to increase the lower pressure. I can increase the lower pressure on the dreamstation if you think that might be helpful