Need a little help to set my Respironics BiPap on auto !

LittleRedTruck · Post by **LittleRedTruck** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 7:47 am

Hi I have the Provider manual for the Respironics Bipap auto with Biflex and wish to set it on Auto for some nites to see if I have a sweet spot in a home environment! I need to set PS (pressure support) The range is 3 to 8 cm H2O. What is PS ? My setting now is 15 IPAP and 11 Epap !What would a good Min EPAP, Max IPAP and Max PS setting be to make this study ? I'm thinking maybe 6 Min EPAP, 18 Max IPAP and dont have a clue about Max PS ! Thanks for your help ! Dan

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:33 am

Hi Dan,

PS stands for "Pressure Support", and is the minimum allowed distance between IPAP and EPAP. In other words IPAP and EPAP will never be allowed to be closer together than the value set for PS. (For the mathematically inclined, PS is simply the minimum differential pressure allowed.)

If the BiPAP-auto algorithm is well designed, and many here seem to believe that it is, then it should do an acceptable job if you just let it determine IPAP and EPAP on its own. To do that, simply open up the range all the way. I don't know that I'd do that personally, but I believe that some here have done that. When I was using the BiPAP-auto I set a narrower range. Ultimately, I found that straight BiPAP worked better for me than the "auto" mode did, so I can't really offer much advice about how to optimize it in auto mode. Good luck.

Regards,
Bill

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 12:56 pm

Dan, I'm not a doctor so this is just my opinion based on my personal use of the BiPAP Auto since last summer.

Any time I change my EPAP/IPAP pressure settings, I set the "PS Max" as high as it would let me. The pressure settings you mentioned, (11 EPAP and 15 IPAP) mean that the most the PS Max can be set for is " 4 ". (15 - 11 = 4)

If you changed the EPAP to 6 and IPAP to 18, then the PS could be set for as much as " 8 ".

" 8 " is as high as the PS Max can be set. " 8 " is as far apart as the machine will allow the EPAP and IPAP to actually move away from each other.

When using the BIPAP Auto in either of the modes where "auto-titrating" can be enabled (ABPAP or AbFLE) I simply run up the PS setting as much as it will go. That allows the EPAP and IPAP pressures to "do their thing" as independently of each other as possible.

There are no doubt reasons for some people to need the PS Max setting handled differently. Setting PS Max as far as it will go (and that will be dependent on the EPAP/IPAP settings I already put in) works for me. I think of the PS setting as like having two dogs yoked together on a leash:

viewtopic.php?t=15666
Dec 08, 2006 subject: Question for BiPap users - UPDATED 12/14/2006

Dan, I'm curious... it's usually better (imho) to have the EPAP set for a pressure that will prevent apneas, even when using an auto-titrating mode. You said your current EPAP is 11. Unless you have a particular reason for lowering that, I don't think I'd move the EPAP as far down as 6. If I were going to lower the EPAP at all, I'd probably not put it lower than 9. Again, I'm not a doctor or anything in the health care fields.