[Equipment] ASV reacting too early when falling asleep

[Spy Car]

Ah guys honestly I'm really happy to see some concensus on a possible solution and that I'm not the only one whos experiencing/experienced this. I'm going to try what you've suggested tonight and see how it goes, last night I got fed up and took it off after about 1:30h.

Don't be disappointed if you don't have this issue resolved in one night. Very unlikely.

Do attempt to breathe steadily. Use blowback if the machine goes wild. 

Stick with it. Once you and the machine fall into sync (and we all seem to) you should experience very good sleep quality.

Stick with it.

Bill

[SarcasticDave94]

Hopefully another helpful tip:
As Spy Car mentioned, getting in sync. IMO this is where you and ASV machine are working together and in time with each other. Since there's a bit more going on in ASV therapy than with a CPAP or BPAP, the time curve to get used to ASV therapy can take a bit more time to gain that sync and also to show the great results I know you'll get.

Just saying invest a bit more time and it'll get to a point where the therapy will just click into the "just right for you" status. Meanwhile, if deemed helpful, continue to monitor your stats, post via Sleepyhead if you can, and you can edit the settings as well. Unless, of course, if you've already reached what you believe is the best combo of settings, then certainly don't change things just for change. That's my reason for me letting my EPAP Min at 9.8 despite the machine will typically start me at 10.6-11. My settings give great results, so you know the saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Again, best wishes on current and future successes.

[antstephenson]

Last night whilst controlling my breathing a bit more and using the blowback method you all suggested I managed to fall asleep without ramp! interesting that I now seem to wake after 2-2h30 with this treatment. I guess it's probably pretty acceptable for people to wake a few times per night, but since I've battled with this for so long, I'm not sure what's normal anymore..

@Dave, I'm pretty happy with the settings actually, Sleeprider suggested I increase my EPAP min to 5.00 to remove the chances of hypopnoea (I was seeing one on my first night), which seems to have worked. I've even purchased a ClimateLineAir Heated Hose and set everything to auto, and it seems pretty comfortable.

Heres a link to my chart from last night:

[SarcasticDave94]

Very good. If you can make this a trend you're gonna do great with this therapy. As long as you're feeling better, you've got this thing nailed down very well. Congrats & best wishes it stays this way.

[Spy Car]

@antstephenson, all I can say is that I battled insomnia and periodic sleep for a long time prior to ASV.

One I fell into sync with the machine my sleep quality has improved greatly. I hope you are going to experience a similar trend.

Bill

[sleeplover69]

I've been using the Aircurve 10 for a few weeks while my old S9 was in for warranty work. The 10 is slightly more aggressive in the way it delivers pressure support, and I found that I had to reduce PS Max by a few points to allow me to get to sleep. The downside of that, of course, is that my AHI went up a bit.

The blowback method described above does seem to work, but it's better to get yourself into a nice regular breathing pattern so the machine can synch with you more easily.

As for ramp, I found the transition at the end of the ramp period always resulted in a distinct pressure pulse - it's much better to use these machines without ramp if you can do so.

Hmm, if you're referring to the S9 VPAP Adapt 36037 vs the AirCurve 10 ASV, I've been under the impression from what I've read over and over again on that other major cpap forum that the algorithms, internals under the hood, etc. between the two versions are exactly the same so thus should provide no difference in the quality of therapy. I've not used either personally, but I got instantly shut down there when I mentioned that I read that someone found a difference in therapy between the two.

[DeepBreathing]

I have the VPAP Adapt 36377, which is the Australian market model. The 36037 is the US market model. AFAIK they are identical.

I was also under the impression that the S9 and A10 versions wee identical other than the packaging. However the was a noticeable difference in the way the pressure was delivered, with the A10 being more aggressive in changing over from EPAP to IPAP and in selecting higher pressure support (this is subjective as I haven't bothered analysing the #SleepyHead results in any detail). I dialled back both the EPAP Max and PS max to achieve good comfort but my average AHI went up a bit. I now have the S9 back from repairs and it is definitely a gentler machine than the A10.

I was surprised at this result, as I have been telling people the two models delivered identical therapy. Perhaps my two machines were at the extremes of the allowed tolerances, which made the differences more apparent.