[Pressure] Applying APAP Data to CPAP Machine

[ajack]

Beat me to it I did edit the mistake.

Yes you have it now. With the system one, you keep increasing the min pressure till the events resolve. The forum likes to get the min pressure as low as possible, while having an acceptable number of events. With the auto raising the pressure as needed.
The fixed pressure on the S8 is the number that will resolve most events in the first place. If your AHI readout on the S8 is high, you would increase the fixed pressure to 11. If you want to put up the screen numbers when you use it.

[OpalRose]

Don’t worry to much about getting different advice from three different people. We simply look at things a little differently, and are not that far apart.

As long as you start slow and watch your numbers for a few days, you can raise the pressure slowly. Your AHI is good, but your Flow Limitation, RERAs and snores need a higher pressure to be tamed.
My recommendation of 8 minimum may still be too low, but you can adjust it if needed.

The Respironics APAP will respond more slowly to apnea events than a ResMed. Also, the AFlex does not work the same as EPR on a ResMed machine.

I don’t recommend using a AFLex of 3, it tends to force you to inhale or exhale before your ready.
A setting of 1 or 2 works best. You won’t get any more than 2cm pressure relief no matter what Flex setting you use, as it is based on flow.

An EPR setting of 3 is fine if your pressure is set high enough as AJack recommended for the S8. The EPR setting of 3 will give you a true 3cm drop in pressure upon exhale.

[khw210]

I've set my machine to a pressure range of 8.0 - 13.0. That's higher than I've even used before and much higher than my long ago Rx of 7.0.
I'm anxious to see how it goes tonight and will post my result tomorrow.

[khw210]

Good morning. I bumped up my APAP pressure from 5.0-11.0 to 8.0-13.0. Slept well, which isn't unusual for me. Attached are the result from last night along with the result from the previous night. Must say, I was hoping for improvement in my AHI but I seem to have taken a step backward.
What might my result be telling you?

[Dog Slobber]

You can't draw conclusions from a single nights data. There is considerable variance night to night.

Change your settings, watch your numbers for a few days, alter to accommodate trends. Rinse, repeat.

[OpalRose]

Not a step backwards. Your AHI stayed pretty much the same, but there was a small improvement in Flow Limitations and RERAs, with a bigger improvement in Snores. These are not part of the AHI, but make up a big part in how you feel.

Agree with Dog Slobber, not to judge anything by one night. The fact that you sleep well is a big plus for you.

However, a Respironics machine just won’t respond to some apnea events as fast as we would like, so sometimes the only thing you can do is raise the minimum pressure slowly until you see more improvement.

You went from a minimum of 5 to 8 with little or no issue, so raising it by 1cm should not bother you.

Remember, your AHI is good, and you would more than likely see better results when you use your ResMed machine.

[khw210]

Thanks for boosting my confidence. I'll continue to follow your advice and won't change any of the settings for 2-3 days. I'll be in touch.

[khw210]

I've run my APAP pressure at 8.0-13.0 for a couple of nights now and am encouraged by the result. AHI is up a bit but my Event Flags are reduced significantly. 
I'm thinking that I might increase my minimum pressure up to 9.0 and see what that does.

[OpalRose]

No reason not to bump the pressure up.

I just noticed in your profile that you have Opti-Start on. If I remember correctly, this feature will readjust your start pressure every 30 days to whatever it determines is best.
Have you noticed this at all?

[khw210]

I recently noticed that the Opti-Start feature was available on my machine. Seemed to me to be a good idea so I activated it a few days ago. I understand that 30 must pass before it kicks in. How do you feel about this feature?