How different are brands of APAP machines?

Hello,

Only 4 weeks into the world of CPAP: couldn't figure out why I was so tired after 7 hours sleep - did a sleep test (AHI=57), and Ah! that would explain it.

Its hard to know which Apap machine to go for, so it was more or less stick a pin in at random and I bought a DeVilbiss Sleepcube Auto (Intelipap, DV5). After a week of messing about with masks, found one that worked well (resmed Airfit N20), and found I felt a load better. I was getting AHI's of around 10.

This is huge: get sleep right, and life get a whole load easier. Get it wrong, and you grind through the day in first gear. So I'm wanting to look around and get the therapy as good as I can get it...... I dont want to find in 5 years time that I could have made a big improvement.

I like the DeVilbiss - it is sturdy, quiet and gets on with the job. But it is poor at providing data, and seeing - on this site - what you can achieve with good data and analysis, I went and got a Philips Dreamstation, for a back to back trial. I reckoned I could either keep the second machine as a backup, or sell it on.....the important goal is to get the sleep as good as possible.

So I dialled in the same settings into the Dreamstation as I had on the Devilbiss, min 8, max 20, and...... woke feeling as bad as I had pre-CPAP. So, after reading various wisdom on here, night 2 increased the min to 9, still awful, night 3 to 10, little bit better, and last night up to 11, little bit better again. But AHI's have been around 5-7, which would suggest better sleep. Which it most definately wasn't.

I am working on trying to set up Sleepyhead, so as to see what is going on, its putting up a fight, but I will get there.

But my big question is this: Do DeVillbiss (Or Philips or ResMed or F&P) go about blowing air in the same way, or are there variations between the manufacturers? Its the only conclusion that I can think of that I feel great after the Intelllipap and not after the Dreamstation.... Do people fish aroound between machines and manufacturers like this? My provider says they all do the same job....but do they? Do some machines suit some, but not others?

(I am not going to give up on the DS untill I get sleepyhead to work, and figure out what is happening. If the issue is fixable, I want to fix it. The more I can understand what is going on, the better. I dont want to just revert to the DeVilbiss, but not know why)

Thanks for reading

Phydeau

They all use proprietary methods for event detection and for automatic pressure adjustment. It's certainly possible that one would work better and/or need different settings than another to work for you.

That said, I haven't seen anything to suggest that one brand grossly over- or under- counts AHI, so it's curious that the DreamStation would give you a lower AHI and yet leave you feeling worse. Agree with SleepyHead as the next step here...

I have two of the more popular brands, ResMed and Respironics, and find that they are similarly effective for me in terms of AHI and sleep quality.

Having used the IP for years - but NOT the module, just screen codes entered on Cpap.com's product pg interpreter (I'm very consistent, not much ever changes so don't feel the need for more info than it gives), I'm quite happy, but if I were to make a change I'd go for a ResMed Airsense 10 auto rather than the Respironics/Phillips because I had a Resp's x a wk when first changing from ancient (now) Legacy 'tank' to (now) IP and did not like it - the pressure pulsing drove me nuts, so luckily they let me exchange it. Personal pref. I suppose.

The only APAP machine I have used is Dreamstation. I set the minimum pressure to ~2 cm-H2O below my 95%Pressure in order to get great results. My AHI is ~0.5.

Thanks for the replies.

I suppose the goal I'm aiming for is waking up, and thinking 'hey, bring it on', with plenty of energy. I suppose if you get that with the first one you try, then great, job done.

But if that isn't the first port of call, then I guess you need to work at the problem, first step being getting Sleepyhead up and running. See whats going on.

FWIW, my mac couldn't read the SD card, so I am getting a universal SD card reader and see if that works. I'm also getting the Smartlink module for the Intellipap, so as to see why that seems to work better.

Well in terms of blowing air they all blow the same air at whatever pressure...8 cm pressure is the same no matter what brand but how they decide to auto adjust to whatever the machine thinks it needs is based on the brand's own particular algorithm for how it decides to respond.
And yes...some people will find that one particular brands algorithm seems to work better for them for various reasons. Doesn't necessarily mean that they are doing something wrong or the algorithm is doing something wrong. It just means that in terms of auto adjusting algorithms...one brand's might work better for some people. In general though we don't get a chance to try various brands...we are given one brand and we tweak it until we obtain optimal results from that auto algorithm or even sometimes switch over to fixed pressure.

phydeau wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 20, 2018 9:36 am

I suppose the goal I'm aiming for is waking up, and thinking 'hey, bring it on', with plenty of energy.

We all yearn for that "bring it on" thing. Myself included. We read about some people having it and think that there is something wrong if we don't get it but in truth there's a lot more to getting that bundle of energy than just AHI numbers.
Going by my AHI numbers I should be a ball of fire every day but I am not. There's just so much more to feeling the good numbers than just getting them.

I have had the opportunity to use only the ResMed and Respironics brands...I have played with several models and various ways of doing things. Started my therapy in 2009 on a Respironics M Series Auto...and did well with the auto adjusting algorithm for some years and got a chance to try ResMed and learned that I actually like it's way of doing things a little better. I can't say that my sleep or energy levels were all that different though...mainly just I liked how the ResMed did its job a little better.

I still have a Respironics machine as a back up and travel machine. So I currently own both brands. I do have to use different settings to obtain the same results though because of the difference in auto adjusting algorithms. Took just a little bit of tweaking and using the software to come up with the settings but it can be done.

So if using fixed pressure.....8 cm is 8 cm no matter which brand...but if using auto adjusting pressures the algorithms or how they go about deciding on what pressure to use is different between the brands and you have to fiddle with the settings to optimize things.

Thanks Pugsy, that's helpful.

Its a pity that there isnt a 'rent before you buy' option (although here in the UK there is a place that does that, but for the prices they charge, you might as well buy new). For me, the difference between machines isn't subtle regarding the outcome.

I'll get Sleepyhead working and delve some more.