Changing Pressure settings

[supyasieve]

I was curious if changing your pressure too often is bad? I admittedly am throw stuff at the wall and hoping it sticks now.

I adjust my pressure based on breathing and how I feel, but sometimes I find myself jumping back and forth between higher/lower setting or fixed vs auto based on how I feel. 

Is it better to just set it and let it ride for a few weeks before tweaking or do you find yourself adjusting it alot?

[upsman]

It's always better to give any changes several days or a week before a re-evaluation is made. In addition, you would generally want to only make a couple of changes at a time to keep track of what works and what doesn't. 

There's really no way to effectively evaluate what changes need to be made without the proper data. You should definitely begin using a comprehensive program like OSCAR or equivalent. You can post your charts here for expert evaluation. Take a look at OSCAR here.
 
OSCAR - The Guide - Apnea Board Wiki

[Nightynite]

I would download Oscar, it tells you what pressure you breathe at night when your sleeping and you can make appropriate adjustments to fine tuning instead of guessing.

[PaulaO2]

There are far too many factors that go into sleeping to change your settings too often. Everything from food intake, to stress levels, to tiredness levels, to alcohol intake, etc etc.

Like others have said:

- make changes slowly and only one or two at a time. Give at least a week for things to settle in.
- either use OSCAR or write down the data each day from your machine to determine if the setting change is making a difference
- also consider keeping a journal while you are making these changes. Note what the settings are, what kind of day you had, any differences from the day before (more or less alcohol or bad day at work, for example).
- The idea here is to determine what is "normal" for YOU and your life.

Using the data and the journal, you can determine how things are going. But, really, as long as you feel well rested and the AHI is below 5, you're doing good.

[Gideon]

Let's see what you daily charts show.  That will give us a basis for suggesting changes

[RayBee]

Hi supyasieve.

I kind of made it a personal rule of mine to make only one small change at a time early on. (As in 2 cmH2O at a time) And to hold that setting for a week. Evaluate, then make another small change as necessary. It took a little while to hone in on the perfect settings, but I actually found myself very well educated and in tune with my body's needs such that I was fine tuning in the tenths. And I could actually feel a difference with those very small changes.

The downside, if there is one, is that you may have to tweak those "perfect" settings as time marches on. But at least you know what to do and how to proceed.

On a side note... Expect that your headgear will stretch over time and may need a little snugging-up after a while. That can sometimes be misconstrued as machine setting issues.

Post some OSCAR charts and see what the experts recommend. I owe them many thanks for getting me dialed in pretty quickly.