[Pressure] Danger Involved - Changing your own CPAP pressures

[BobbieM]

I can’t believe that in this day and age, people would still argue that paper qualification is somehow proof that a person is better informed, better equipped and better motivated and therefore will make better decisions in a field where research is still in its infancy.

The assumption - based on the posts in this thread warning of dangers of adjusting the CPAP machine without first consulting a doctor - is that some people can be very stupid. No arguments there. But some doctors can also be very stupid - and greedy to boot.

Furthermore doctors - even the best intentioned and least greedy - are only as good in their medical advice as the latest research. If you lived in the 12th century and went to the doctor for help because you caught the flu, he would likely have suggested blood letting.

In the Apnea Forum, you read the information and advice posted there. You do some more research and seek out other sources of information and then decide if it (adjusting pressures or humidity etc) is something you might consider doing.

In fact I’m about to post my apnea charts for comments and advice on why I have been doing worse and sleeping badly on the vAuto than my previous Dreamstation.

Before I joined this forum I was so frustrated with my apnea problem. My doctor and the sleep tech (who did not have apnea) would tell me to tighten my mask to whatever problem I had or go for yet another expensive sleep study. I don’t have the money or energy to try out all the different doctors and sleep techs in town till I chance across someone suitable. Good help, as women have been staying for centuries, is hard to find.

[S. Manz]

After reading some of the comments quoted here, I find the arrogance of this dude quite nauseating. He is most likely a new and low ranking individual within his hive at work, evident by his over-exaggerated view of himself. He does not understand that as the owner of my own machine, I am perfectly in the right to adjust its pressure settings in the pursuit of a better night asleep, rather than waiting days on end for an "appointment" for a physician to do some guess work as to what pressure settings he would like me to suffer under, for yet another few weeks of sleepless nights.
From a technical perspective, it is not rocket science either. We are dealing with less than a handful of pressure settings, half of which are to do with pressure relieve and have absolutely no impact on one's health and what are the odds of going wrong with a combination of 2 or three pressure settings min/max levels anyway.
1 CMH2O equates to less than 0.015Psi so the most powerful machines on the market , capable of delivering 30 CMH2O can only deliver what amounts to less than 0.45 Psi, not enough pressure to burst a small birthday balloon, let alone have a dramatic impact on anyone's health.
The entire concept of CONTINUOUS POSITIVE AIR PRESSURE (CPAP) is itself a very crude way of delivering positive pressure to your lungs so as to prevent obstructive events from occurring. (Very crude, it is like killing a mosquito with a Cannon ball, however it works and it is safe....AND it is relatively inexpensive therapy but not a cure).
Facts however are that the CPAP industry has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide and naturally there are a lot of interested parties who want a slice of it, including and not limited to our little big guy here, the illustrious lab technician who thinks of us as idiots.
As far as I am concerned, changing the pressures of your machines ever so slightly and for the purposes of getting a better sleep and a more meaningful AHI, is EXACTLY what people who suffer from apnea need to be doing, not what this dude wants us to do by submitting to the will of the "expert":-)

[cathyf]

As I've said many times here before, and said straight up to the NP in the sleep center...

I will not connect a machine to my body and then go to sleep, unless I

1. Have complete control over the machine's behavior; AND
   
2. Have the ability to monitor and audit the machine's behavior after I wake up.
   

period.

hard no.

https://youtu.be/Z4n3dbPqk58