Machine switch

[Zorki1c]

Went in for my first visit with sleep doctor since starting CPAP about three weeks ago. Told her although my P&F Icon Auto was OK it seemed to me there was a lot more information available on the ResMed S9 and it was also easier to track data. She said no problem and wrote me a prescription to switch. Tonight will be my fist night with the S9 Autoset (although the ICON is more compact.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Zorki1c,
Good luck with your new S9AutoSet and let us know how things work out for you.
Hang in there for more responses to your post.

[Paptillian]

Since you have both, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on each in terms of comfort and noise.

[Zorki1c]

Not a big thing but an irritation with the ICON was the light. You can adjust the level of the dial light but you can't reduce the level of the light when you turn the machine on and off. If I got up in the middle of the night for a nature call and pushed the button to turn the ICON off, the dial light came on full and lit up the entire bedroom. After about 30 seconds it dimmed down. Then when I came back to bed and turned it on, the dial light went to full bright for another 30 seconds.

[Zorki1c]

One night doesn't provide a complete answer but it did provide some interesting results.

I scored a 37 AHI on my original sleep test. Using the ICON Auto+ for two weeks with the Swift FX nasal pillows my best AHI was 1.17 and my highest was 5.22 (pressure of 8). When the RN analyzed the first two weeks she suggested actually dropping my pressure to 6. She said that also would help reduce leaks. Also talked her into letting me switch from the ICON to the ResMed S9 Autoset. Kept my original mask. Results for the first night: Virtually no leaks and an AHI of .38! Not a bad restart. I found it interesting that lowering my pressure lowered my AHI.

[Shastzi]

Nurses advise seems to be running against the laws of physics here.
dropping pressure to aleviate leaks is like letting more air out of your tires to slow down a leak from running over a nail.

hmm....yah, right.

No. you dont drop the pressure, you fix the freakin' leaks!

Arg... =>.<=

[Zorki1c]

The nurse said the data indicated I was getting more pressure than necessary to keep the airway open so lowering it didn't hurt. She seems to know what she's talking about given the results.

[RonWessels]

I suspect that the lowering of the AHI has more to do with the new machine and its different analysis algorithms than the lowering of the pressure, particularly with such a relatively small difference.

As for leaks, it is true that higher pressures need tighter straps to keep the mask against the face, so decreasing pressure could theoretically reduce leaks. However, lowering the pressure from 8 to 6 isn't really going to make much of a difference.

[archangle]

Nurses advise seems to be running against the laws of physics here.
dropping pressure to aleviate leaks is like letting more air out of your tires to slow down a leak from running over a nail.

hmm....yah, right.

No. you dont drop the pressure, you fix the freakin' leaks!

Arg... =>.<=

Many people get more leaks with more pressure. In particular, many people using nasal masks have more problems with mouth leaks as pressure goes up. Leaks around the mask are often more of a problem with higher pessure.

One night doesn't provide a complete answer but it did provide some interesting results.

I scored a 37 AHI on my original sleep test. Using the ICON Auto+ for two weeks with the Swift FX nasal pillows my best AHI was 1.17 and my highest was 5.22 (pressure of 8). When the RN analyzed the first two weeks she suggested actually dropping my pressure to 6. She said that also would help reduce leaks. Also talked her into letting me switch from the ICON to the ResMed S9 Autoset. Kept my original mask. Results for the first night: Virtually no leaks and an AHI of .38! Not a bad restart. I found it interesting that lowering my pressure lowered my AHI.

The AHI numbers between two different machines are not necessarily comperable. For people who are reasonably well treated by CPAP, a lot of the apneas are somewhat borderline, and one model of CPAP machine may give you a higher reading than another.

This isn't as bad as it sounds at first. The real, "hard core" apneas show up either way, it's just the ones in the gray areas that are uncertain.

[Zorki1c]

Second night: AHI 1.42. Had some mask leaks the last couple of hours of the night which drove the score up. But I feel more rested. May be partially psychological but I don't get as sleepy during the day. The latest Sleepyhead version may support the ICON (my previous machine) but I think there may be some wrinkles that still need to be ironed out. The ICON charts often had spots with no data while the ResMed data runs throughout the night without any holes.