humidifier mystery

[ghstudio]

My friend and I both have Philips Respironic Dreamstations (I have an APAP, he has a CPAP but I don't think that matters in this case).  We both use the same mask.  My APAP is set for a 15 minute ramp time to 4, the bottom setting of my APAP range, his was set to no ramp...just start at 9.  We got to talking and he mentioned that he had trouble getting to sleep and according to his wife, he made strange sounds (whatever that meant) when he tried to fall asleep.  I mentioned that I found my humidifier used almost no water....he said his almost empties every night...in fact his wife said it almost sounded like bubbling water??  So, at his wife's pleading request,  we decided to experiment.  We changed his ramp time to 15 minutes (in his case, it ramped to 9).  Wow, what a difference according to both my friend and his wife....she was ecstatic that she could actually sleep though with no strange sound. (My cautious friend is going to check with his doctor to see if leaving the ramp on is OK).  

So finally, my question:....he mentioned that with the ramp on, he used almost no water?????  The only thing that changed was the ramp time. We checked to see if he accidentally changed the humidity but it was still set to 3, the same as mine has been since I started with the APAP.  The starting water temperature in both cases was the same (we were on a cruise ship when we did this experiment), the ambient humidity on the ship was essentially the same in both rooms.  

So why did the humidifier work so differently with a ramp than it did without a ramp???

[Walla Walla]

Higher pressure uses more water because there's more air moving across the humidifier tank. But I suspect that your friend might be having mouth leaks which would cause even more air to move through the humidifier.

[BiPAPman]

Speaking of dry mouth I know that I am a mouth breather and I just got a ResMed P20 FFM Size Large but still get dry mouth.  As for the ramp I have it on my current machine and will see what it is set too if it is set at all.  My pressures on the BiPAP are 23-17.  I do use all the water at nite too.

[ghstudio]

you might be on to something....we use nasal masks. It's possible that when his CPAP starts at 9, it's too much pressure so he starts to breath through his mouth which would just be a large leak since it is not under the mask. Perhaps starting with a ramp, the pressure is low enough that he doesn't breathe through his mouth at all and actually does just breathe through his nose. That would also explain the "strange noises" his wife hears because there would be loud air leakage perhaps even with some gurgling.

I knew the folks here were smart....

[Lise C Gervais]

yes tell me about Dream Statio Pro Bpap using a lot of water. I have notice sometime I am empty in the morning. Just got this machine but I don.t understand the report
I am set 17 preassure right off the bat to start and 25.  So I am 25/17
Every morning when I look it is never the same number

AHI.         Usage.       Mask fit.      Clear Airway.      Obstruction apnea.       Total Hypopnea
10.2.         12.44.        66.                62.                         18.                           50
22.1.           9.01.        87.               138.                        39.                           23
40.4.           9.13.       100.              300.                        65.                            8
13.8.           6.14.        93.                43.                         21.                           22
19.1.           7.50.        89.                67.                         35.                           48
31.8.         10.55.       100.              211.                       119.                          17
17.9.          8.51.        100.              126.                         26.                           7
14.2.         12.11.         60.                94.                         21.                          58
30.9.           9.27.       100.              253.                         34.                            5

Is this mild , moderate, or severe to your opinion ?
This is my report since I had the Dream Station. But I have no idea what it means if good or bad ?
I am at a lost can someone help me to describe each department of titles and what they mean
I would appreciate some kind of difenition of this report.. Greatly appreciated and Thank you.

[ghstudio]

yes tell me about Dream Statio Pro Bpap using a lot of water. I have notice sometime I am empty in the morning. Just got this machine but I don.t understand the report
I am set 17 preassure right off the bat to start and 25.  So I am 25/17
Every morning when I look it is never the same number

AHI.         Usage.       Mask fit.      Clear Airway.      Obstruction apnea.       Total Hypopnea
10.2.         12.44.        66.                62.                         18.                           50
22.1.           9.01.        87.               138.                        39.                           23
40.4.           9.13.       100.              300.                        65.                            8
13.8.           6.14.        93.                43.                         21.                           22
19.1.           7.50.        89.                67.                         35.                           48
31.8.         10.55.       100.              211.                       119.                          17
17.9.          8.51.        100.              126.                         26.                           7
14.2.         12.11.         60.                94.                         21.                          58
30.9.           9.27.       100.              253.                         34.                            5

Is this mild , moderate, or severe to your opinion ?
This is my report since I had the Dream Station. But I have no idea what it means if good or bad ?
I am at a lost can someone help me to describe each department of titles and what they mean
I would appreciate some kind of difenition of this report.. Greatly appreciated and Thank you.

I'd suggest you post this as a separate thread.  I think you could use some guidance from some of the "experts" on this board.

[chill]

Yes, start a new thread.  It appears you have Complex Sleep Apnea which means you have the wrong kind of machine to treat it.  Your AHI numbers indicate you are not getting effective treatment.