ResMed Airsense 10 Auto for Her - Advice Needed From Users

[Siesta]

Hello CPAP Users!  (Are we having fun yet?)  I am currently using the DreamStation Auto only because it's the only machine offered to me at our local 
supplier.  It's been a great machine.  I have no complaints, but I also don't have anything to compare it to.  I originally wanted the ResMed Auto based on recommendations from friends.  I am sure they operate very much alike....perhaps someone can tell me otherwise.   It does appear the ResMed can provide more detailed information to the user. 

I am very interested in the ResMed for Her, because they advertise as having to algorithms, one being suited more for women.  Have any of you used this machine and can you report on your experience with the machine?    I would love to connect with someone who has used both the DreamStation and the ResMed for Her, if such a person exists.  My insurance will not pay for the Her machine, only the standard ResMed Auto.  So, I want to make sure the machine will do what it says, because I will be buying it myself.  

I am so hoping to hear from some folks about the machine, as I would like to buy it this week and begin using it.

[Sleeprider]

The Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset and Autoset For Her have significantly different features from your Dreamstation that affect both comfort and efficacy for most people.  The Dreamstation does work well for most people, but tends to fall down where more flow limitation and upper airway restriction exist, or respiratory flow volumes are not strong.  The Resmed auto algorithms are sensitive to flow limitation, hypopnea and snores so the machine quickly increases pressure quickly before an obstructive apnea occurs.  By comparison, the Dreamstation is much slower to increase pressure, and tends to reduce pressure too quickly, allowing many more obstructive apnea and hypopnea to occur.  The Dreamstation must be optimized with a higher minimum pressure to prevent this behavior and result.  Although the Resmed will respond quickly to events, it is still better to use a high enough minimum pressure to reduce pressure changes which can be disruptive to sleep.  The Autoset with standard and soft response auto options as well as CPAP, whle the For Her adds an algorithm that changes the amount of pressure response for flow limitation and does not increase pressure for apnea above 12 cm.  See the Wiki article on various CPAP Algorithms http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...Algorithms

In addition to the better preventive pressure algorithm, the Resmed uses exhale pressure relief (EPR) which is a true bilevel pressure with up to 3 cm pressure difference between inhale and exhale.  Philips machines use CFlex, CFlex Plus or AFlex which provides pressure adjustment as respiration cycles to exhale and triggers inhale, but it tends to be poorly timed for people with flow limitation as discussed above.  If you use OSCAR, and indication of this problem is when the inspiration time is longer than expiration time.  

There are lots of differences, and from this long post, you can certainly tell which way I lean in preference.

[Gideon]

My insurance will not pay for the Her machine, only the standard ResMed Auto.

Interesting since they are the same price.

I'll second the above recommendations.

[Melman]

Sleeprider has explained well the differences between the machines and the advantages associated with the Resmed. As he stated, however, the Dreamstation works well for many. If you have purchased the Dreamstation and the $$$ cannot be recpvered I suggest you download OSCAR and post some data before spending additional $$$ on a new machine. It may show the dreamstation works well for your needs and avoid the additional expense. If you can return the dreamstation at no expense, go for the Resmed.

If your paying out of pocket look at the supplier list http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...plier-List
Supplier #33 offers excellent pricing and free shipping if you choose USPS  priority. Two friends have purchased from them and were very satisfied. You will need a copy of your prescription.

[0xfeedface]

Hi, I have used a DreamStation for 2 weeks and am in my second week with the AutoSet. I plan to write up a comparison of the two machines but here is a short version.

What I like about the DreamStation:
- humidifier easier to fill, seemed more effective (w/ heated hose)
- firmware upgradable
- DreamMapper iOS app (no need to take out SD card just to check 90 % pressure)

What I like about the AutoSet For Her
- three different algorithms to choose from (AutoSet, AutoSet Soft, AutoSet For Her)
- can detect sleep onset and increase pressure only thereafter
- easier to optimize therapy
- smaller/lighter
- better build quality
- less noisy
- more responsive user interface
- display backlight adapts to ambient light

But as already said by others, both machines are able to treat you well if set up properly. The AutoSet might have an advantage during therapy begin as it requires less min pressure for effective therapy. If your DreamStation is already treating you well and you are happy with it there is little to be gained from an AutoSet For Her in terms of therapy. It might actually make you feel worse the first couple of days as your body needs to adapt to the different algorithm. To find out how effective your therapy is, please post some OSCAR charts from the DreamStation data. There are very knowledgable folks here who can help you optimize therapy with either machine.

[theoak]

For the AutoSet, if you tweak the options, you can get more feedback for your sleep report which can give you a "Pressure" result which corresponds to the 95% value.

Otherwise, yes, my wife has a Phillips and I was a very disappointed with the ResMed sleep report.  I did figure out how to get the "Plus" report which gave much more information versus a couple smiley faces. I also prefer DreamMapper compared to myAir.  The bluetooth feature of the Phillips to get instantaneous feedback is nice.  I notice for myAir it takes about an hour before I can see the results. Of course OSCAR puts these all to shame.

[alshayed]

I used a DreamStation Auto CPAP for ~14 months, and almost 2 weeks ago bought a ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet for her. What Sleeprider said is spot on for me as I seem to be suffering from flow limitations.

[Siesta]

Sleeprider, 
Yep, it's clear you are partial to the ResMed.  I'm not certain your role on this forum, but thank you very much for your thorough explanation.  I am still getting use to the acronyms and jargon associated with the CPAP, but i am usually a quick study.  I downloaded OSCAR and tried to ascertain the information.  Not having any baselines or any other person's information to gauge my results, I would say the information is positive.  

As mentioned, I was trying to determine if the ResMed for Her would be of any more benefit to me than the DreamStation Auto.  From my results, it states that my most recent Flow Limitation was 2.02  Last Week 2.30 and Last 30 days 0.49.  I was on a fixed pressure of 9 for most about 70 days.  I just recently requested a change to the Auto, so the range was changed from 7-12.  Low and behold, the machine took me to an average pressure of 11.4, this only in the last 7 days, however.  

I was miserable prior to the change, waking up every hour on the hour.  My doctor just tried to put me on sleep medicine, saying that I must be sensitive to the pressure.  I refused to trade one problem for the other (taking chronic sleep altering meds).  Prior to my sleep apnea test, I not only had no symptoms, but I slept very well.  This, being ironic since my sleep study resulted in a score of 88 incidents. Severe,  of course.  

So, that said, based on that flow limitation record, do you thing that the DreamStation is doing the job just fine?  I don't know what a good flow limitation number looks like and if higher or lower is better.  

Thank you again for taking time to give me information. 
AmyGrace

[Gideon]

Depending on the severity of Flow Limitations, RERAs, and Hypopneas you may do better with a bilevel machine which allows a greater difference between EPAP (which treats Obstructive Apnea, and IPAP which treats Flow Limitations, RERAs, and Hypopneas.  The ResMed AirCurve 10 VAuto is our machine of choice for this.

Post daily charts (OSCAR) and that will show us where you are at and allow for much more accurate feedback.

[ajack]

If it's a choice, I'd choose Resmed or F&P before the dreamstation. Resmed is more forgiving if you have the wrong min pressure and will quickly increase.. Properly set up, there is no reason the dreamstation wouldn't treat your apnea properly.

The philips does like the min pressure closer to the 95% than the other two. I would get some charts up. If your average pressure is 11.4, and you run 7-12. You may need to lift the max pressure more. I would have min 12 and max 16 or 20 and see where it wants to go. Then get the chart up for opinions.