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+--- Thread: High IPAP Pressure Increases My Apnea Events (/Thread-High-IPAP-Pressure-Increases-My-Apnea-Events)
High IPAP Pressure Increases My Apnea Events - S. Manz - 10-29-2021
So my doc had prescribed the calculated pressure in my sleep study which was something like 21 but at that pressure I could not get a good night sleep no matter how hard I tried. Besides, at about 3 to 6, my AHI was also nothing to write home about.
I knew I had to do something and my doc is not the most sociable person on the planet either which is why I had to take matters in my own hands and after researching pressure Vs Apnea events, I found that there is a lot of medical opinion out there that connects high pressures to an increase in apnea episodes, particularly for OA patients whom high pressures appear to cause them to have CA episodes
To prove the validity of this opinion, I have been experimenting with Maximum pressure support and find that as I increase it (effectively increasing my IPAP Max), my AHI also increases by several folds per CMH2O.
In fact I persistently get an AHI of only less than 0.5 at IPAP max of 14 and I can increase my AHI to between 3 and 4 when I increase my IPAP Max to 17, an increase of 6-7 folds in AHI with a mere 3 CMH2O increase in pressure.
My experiment methodology is simple: (ASV setting won't let you go below PS Max of 10 with a min EPAP of 4=total IPAP Max 14)
I will be doing several studies for the next couple of weeks to get a reliable statistical repeatability of my results, however all indications are that there is a positive correlation between IPAP and AHI .
Below are a couple of examples.
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[attachment=36732]
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RE: High IPAP Pressure Increases My Apnea Events - clownbell - 10-29-2021
While no expert, my understanding is that the goal is to use to LOWEST pressure that will give good results. 21 sounds crazy -- to me.
RE: High IPAP Pressure Increases My Apnea Events - S. Manz - 10-30-2021
Exactly.
I have no idea why some docs don't just start patients with the lowest possible pressure and then monitor their progress, instead of going up high right from the get-go.
Also CPAP Titration study is meaningless in my opinion because you get to sleep in a strange bed with a bunch of wires attached and usually an older model pap machine with an ill-fitting mask. How accurate can the results be ?
BTW, when I crank my ASV machine all the way up to 25, I can see that the max pressure I may use during the night is around 15 (spiking to 15, not staying there), so that's the best indication as what pressure my breathing requires. Normally they suggest to subtract 40% from that for "therapy pressure", in my case that ends up being about 9, a pressure that I will be reducing down to ,slowly.