New user question

[rsxlvr]

I am very new to using my CPAP machine and just had a question about some general functionality. My understanding is that when you stop breathing during the night the machine senses that and prompts you to take breath. I was fooling around with my new machine last night and I would Breathe In and hold my breath just to see what would happen. Nothing happened. Finally after maybe 45 seconds or a minute I exhaled and breathed in again and held my breath and still no prompting from the CPAP. And I missing something? I got about 30 seconds of instruction from the home medical supply place so that's why I Googled some information and came across this website

[DavePaulson]

This depends on the type of machine and the settings. What is your exact machine model? Do you know what your pressure or range of pressures is? Is it in APAP or CPAP mode?

Dave

[Gideon]

Welcome to the forum.

Your profile shows CPAP mode so you will get a constant pressure all night.  This pressure needs to be set to a value that will prevent obstructive events.
APAP mode your machine will increase pressure AFTER obstructive events and will ignore CA events.

Advanced machines (BiLevel/BiPap) will perform differently depending on model and mode set.

Read the articles in my sig for good general information.

Fred

[dmeRT]

Looks like your on a cpap at 15 cmH2O. cpap stands for "continuous positive airway pressure." The pressure you are breathing against is constant and does not change between inhalation or exhalation. The machine does not kick in and deliver a breath. It is not a ventilator.

As far as "stop breathing" during the night...you probably have been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea(OSA). With OSA you don't necessarily "stop breathing" what stops, or is diminished is air flow. your body still tries to breathe, but the airway is obstructing the air flow to your lungs. When you fall asleep there is a lot of soft tissue, muscles...etc. that relax and fall down into the airway, thus causing the blockage in airflow.

While breathing with the cpap, the pressure you are breathing against keeps everything in its place when you fall asleep. Thus keeping your airway open. Now, after you fall asleep, your airway stays open and the normal body function of breathing will supply the proper amount of air to your lungs. So you don't really "stop breathing." *Central sleep apnea is another story....*

15 cmH2O is a lot of pressure. Use the ramp feature, (green triangle button next to the on/off button), this will drop the initial pressure for a while so you can ease yourself into the 15 cmH2O.

Hope I didn't confuse your further...

[trish6hundred]

Hi rsxlvr,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Good luck with CPAP therapy, hang in there for more responses to your post.

[stanleydean]

Hi rsxlvr and welcome to the forum, stick with it and you will soon start getting answers and feeling more confident.
Go ahead and download SleepyHead and get some data posted as soon as you can. That will allow forum members to start giving you input. The links shown below will help you get started with SleepyHead. Keep us posted.

Regards,

Stan