RE: Pressure experiment
I thought I’d follow up on my original post with more information about how my autoset machine titrates my pressure in a way that is probably not correct for me (possibly due to my clear airway events which for me are worse with pressure changes). I was titrated to a pressure of 10 in the sleep lab by manual titration, it was found that lower pressures did not resolve my obstructive events. A prescription was written for a pressure of 10 in CPAP mode.
Once I was setup with my machine I changed it from a set CPAP pressure of 10 to the auto mode with a pressure range from 8-12 which I thought would confirm my prescribed pressure. What happened is that my pressure increased to 12; over time I increased my higher setting to 13. My pressure increased to near 13 but I noticed that my AHI’s were no better than when I was set to a straight pressure of 10. I then put my machine back in CPAP mode with a pressure of 10 and remained at that pressure until I decided one night to drop it to 9. That was an evening where I just didn’t feel like wearing my mask and rather than not wear it decided just to try the lower pressure. That was back in November. Two nights ago, I turned my pressure down again from 9 to 8. It turns out that MY AHI was great at 8.
[attachment=3079]
Because I thought it would be interesting for some folks on Apnea Board and as an experiment, last night I set my machine in auto mode with a pressure range of 8 to 12.
[attachment=3080]
My AHI was really good last night which surprised me because my past experience on an auto setting was usually an AHI of around 3 with the highest pressures delivered. Anyway, my results from last night were very good with a lower AHI then my fixed pressure of 8 but I'm setting my machine back to 8 because I prefer the lower pressure and usually my AHI is higher with the pressure range.
Once I was setup with my machine I changed it from a set CPAP pressure of 10 to the auto mode with a pressure range from 8-12 which I thought would confirm my prescribed pressure. What happened is that my pressure increased to 12; over time I increased my higher setting to 13. My pressure increased to near 13 but I noticed that my AHI’s were no better than when I was set to a straight pressure of 10. I then put my machine back in CPAP mode with a pressure of 10 and remained at that pressure until I decided one night to drop it to 9. That was an evening where I just didn’t feel like wearing my mask and rather than not wear it decided just to try the lower pressure. That was back in November. Two nights ago, I turned my pressure down again from 9 to 8. It turns out that MY AHI was great at 8.
[attachment=3079]
Because I thought it would be interesting for some folks on Apnea Board and as an experiment, last night I set my machine in auto mode with a pressure range of 8 to 12.
[attachment=3080]
My AHI was really good last night which surprised me because my past experience on an auto setting was usually an AHI of around 3 with the highest pressures delivered. Anyway, my results from last night were very good with a lower AHI then my fixed pressure of 8 but I'm setting my machine back to 8 because I prefer the lower pressure and usually my AHI is higher with the pressure range.
