What is Flow Limit?

[macewa]

This is the first time I've seen that on my daily report. It says Flow Limit 0.77% Is this new because I just started using my BiPap on Auto? or is this something else I have to be worried about? Thanks . . .

[Pugsy]

Flow limitations are NOT scored on the regular straight bilevel mode of your BiPap.
They are scored in Auto mode because they are something that the machine in auto mode will respond to.
So you probably had some in the other mode but just never saw them because the machine chooses to not report them since it can't do anything about them. Bad programming IMHO for it to always show Flow limitations 0.0... Gives a misleading sense of "I am doing so great with 0.0 FL"

Anyway, not to worry. Flow limitations are minor reductions in flow that don't meet criteria for a hyponea or apnea. Obviously with less than one per hour...nothing to worry about. Flow limitations are not counted in the AHI totals. Might be important if someone had the UARS diagnosis where they have a large number of flow limitations but not many hyponeas and apneas. Obviously you have enough of the grown up events that the flow limitation thing is not your problem.

[macewa]

Thanks Pugsy. Last night my flow limitation was 2.60 Is there a range where it is okay and a point where it becoems too much?

Flow limitations are NOT scored on the regular straight bilevel mode of your BiPap.
They are scored in Auto mode because they are something that the machine in auto mode will respond to.
So you probably had some in the other mode but just never saw them because the machine chooses to not report them since it can't do anything about them. Bad programming IMHO for it to always show Flow limitations 0.0... Gives a misleading sense of "I am doing so great with 0.0 FL"

Anyway, not to worry. Flow limitations are minor reductions in flow that don't meet criteria for a hyponea or apnea. Obviously with less than one per hour...nothing to worry about. Flow limitations are not counted in the AHI totals. Might be important if someone had the UARS diagnosis where they have a large number of flow limitations but not many hyponeas and apneas. Obviously you have enough of the grown up events that the flow limitation thing is not your problem.

[Pugsy]

Last night my flow limitation was 2.60 Is there a range where it is okay and a point where it becoems too much?

I have never seen any set of numbers to indicate an acceptable range. Personally...I wouldn't think much about them unless I saw double digits for several nights consisitently. Using auto mode and letting it do its thing would be the first option anyway and since you are already in experimenting with EPAP minimum pressure needs mode that is all we would do anyway which would be raise EPAP minimum a bit.

In other words you very likely are going to need a bit more minimum EPAP for your full grown obstructive events and that is what we would consider doing if Flow limitations were apparent in consistent large numbers anyway.

I wouldn't worry about FL index in the single digits though, especially since you are still doing a trial with your minimum pressure needs.