CPAP at 6500 feet?

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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scruffies
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CPAP at 6500 feet?

Post by scruffies » Tue May 22, 2018 4:15 pm

I visit my brother for a couple of weeks several times a year and he lives in the mountains at about 6,500 feet. I plan on just packing up my machine in its padded case and including it in my carry on bag so that part of it should not be a problem. However, I was wondering if the higher elevation would affect the settings? Right now I am at 11-15. :)

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Pugsy
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Re: CPAP at 6500 feet?

Post by Pugsy » Tue May 22, 2018 4:21 pm

You don't need to do anything.
Your machine has an automatic altitude adjustment feature up to 8500 ft and even above that altitude it really doesn't diminish the effectiveness all that much.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... #specs-tab
Operating Altitude: Sea Level - 8500 Feet (2,591 M); Air pressure range 1013 hPa - 738 hPa
I have used mine at over 11,000 ft and I had no issues.

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D.H.
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Re: CPAP at 6500 feet?

Post by D.H. » Tue May 22, 2018 4:34 pm

This machine has automatic altitude adjustment up to 8500 ft (2600 meters). You should be fine.

I was told that my machine (which is only certified for 7500 ft) would work fine at considerably higher altitudes without any major problem.

I used my old one in Quito (over 11,000 ft) with no issue, except that the heating element did not work. Not sure why that was, perhaps it just drew too much power to keep the thing blowing and not enough was available for the heater. The same thing happened in Shangri-La, China (yes ,that's a real place), and at the higher elevations in northern Chile.

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Last edited by D.H. on Wed May 23, 2018 6:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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scruffies
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Re: CPAP at 6500 feet?

Post by scruffies » Tue May 22, 2018 4:45 pm

Thanks Pugsy. Didn’t know that.

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Machine: ResMed AirSense™ 10 AutoSet™ CPAP Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Mask: Swift™ FX Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: 11-15 pressure setting, CPAP starting 1-22-18

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palerider
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Re: CPAP at 6500 feet?

Post by palerider » Tue May 22, 2018 5:26 pm

scruffies wrote:
Tue May 22, 2018 4:15 pm
I plan on just packing up my machine in its padded case and including it in my carry on bag
Just so you know, your cpap, in it's travel case, doesn't count against your carryon limit. It's usually recommended to NOT pack it in your luggage, in case you get to the gate, and they say "we'll have to check your bag".... and then your checked baggage gets left at the airport, or smashed, or ends up somewhere else.

If you DO go the route you're planning, be ready to yank the cpap out and take it on the plane with you... they *can't* keep you from taking that on the plane with you, since it's medical stuff.

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zonker
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Re: CPAP at 6500 feet?

Post by zonker » Tue May 22, 2018 5:27 pm

palerider wrote:
Tue May 22, 2018 5:26 pm
scruffies wrote:
Tue May 22, 2018 4:15 pm
I plan on just packing up my machine in its padded case and including it in my carry on bag
Just so you know, your cpap, in it's travel case, doesn't count against your carryon limit. It's usually recommended to NOT pack it in your luggage, in case you get to the gate, and they say "we'll have to check your bag".... and then your checked baggage gets left at the airport, or smashed, or ends up somewhere else.

If you DO go the route you're planning, be ready to yank the cpap out and take it on the plane with you... they *can't* keep you from taking that on the plane with you, since it's medical stuff.
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zonker
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Re: CPAP at 6500 feet?

Post by zonker » Tue May 22, 2018 5:30 pm

scruffies wrote:
Tue May 22, 2018 4:15 pm
I visit my brother for a couple of weeks several times a year and he lives in the mountains at about 6,500 feet. I plan on just packing up my machine in its padded case and including it in my carry on bag so that part of it should not be a problem. However, I was wondering if the higher elevation would affect the settings? Right now I am at 11-15. :)
i moved from seattle washington to flagstaff az. that's pretty much sea level to 6500 ft. mine adjusted to the altitude with no trouble.

now, humidity? THAT was a different story!

:lol:
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Shnorky
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Re: CPAP at 6500 feet?

Post by Shnorky » Wed May 23, 2018 2:42 am

I know everybody says their machine adapted without any problems, just to report another outcome:

Usually living around 1000ft altitude, with AHI ~5. Went on vacation:
Sea level meant AHI ~1
8200ft altitude and AHI skyrocketed up to 24, 27 until I increased the pressure just a little bit and it came back down.

How long will you stay there?
Depending on if you have the time, you might plan for an easy day just after the first night just in case.

D.H.
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Re: CPAP at 6500 feet?

Post by D.H. » Wed May 23, 2018 6:10 pm

Shnorky wrote:
Wed May 23, 2018 2:42 am
I know everybody says their machine adapted without any problems, just to report another outcome:

Usually living around 1000ft altitude, with AHI ~5. Went on vacation:
Sea level meant AHI ~1
8200ft altitude and AHI skyrocketed up to 24, 27 until I increased the pressure just a little bit and it came back down.

How long will you stay there?
Depending on if you have the time, you might plan for an easy day just after the first night just in case.
You have an auto-CPAP, at least according to your profile (the same unit that I have). I leave the max at the machine capacity. I think that would take care of that kind of situation automatically.

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SeekSleep
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Re: CPAP at 6500 feet?

Post by SeekSleep » Wed May 23, 2018 7:10 pm

We travel a lot, be it traveling in the RV or simply cruise ship or motel travel with elevations ranging from slightly below sea level to 10,000 plus foot elevation. I haven't ever noticed any differences in my AHI results as a result of altitude. When not in the RV, sometimes different beds make a difference as I tend to roll onto my back on some beds for comfort, and my apnea pretty much becomes non correctable when I sleep on my back even with an asv machine that can ramp up to some pretty significant pressure.

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