New CPAP user swallowing air

[Pugsy]

You might not even be getting the full 2 cm on exhale. Remember how much of a reduction depends on how forcefully you breathe.

And it's not just exhale that is the cause of air getting into the stomach....inhale is a factor but what lower exhale does is take some of the pressure off the sphincter.

As for people who say that exhale relief causes aerophagia....I don't know what to tell you except that with cpap stuff....everything comes with a big YMMV your mileage may vary sticker....so I won't argue with them...but most people won't have that happen.

If you are already using Flex exhale relief....your only choices are reduce your pressure or go to bilevel in terms of what to do with the machine or pressure.

[palerider]

Pugsy,

Whats the difference between a Bilevel CPAP and a CPAP with the pressure decrease on the exhale feature? Seems like the BiPAP reduces pressure further on exhale than C-Flex does, whereas C-Flex only does it a max of 3. So I guess the question is: If my pressure setting is 7, and C-Flex drops exhale to 4, would dropping it beyond 4 with a BiPAP really make all the difference?

Bilevels (not BiPAP) don't 'reduce pressure', they *raise* pressure.

You start with EPAP and increase pressure on inhalation to IPAP. this can be up to 22cm more pressure, though that would give most anybody a severe dizzy spell, though such things might be used in the hospital as a treatment for awake breathing problems.

[palerider]

Ok so then if I am at 7 on inhale, then I am at 5 on exhale with C-Flex at 3 right?

Only if you're breathing REALLY HARD.

[RomanDelta]

Hi Pugsy,

Sorry for the delay. Below is the exact Dreamstation I have:

DSX500H11C

[Pugsy]

Hi Pugsy,

Sorry for the delay. Below is the exact Dreamstation I have:

DSX500H11C

That is the DreamStation Auto CPAP machine

[RomanDelta]

It's stays on 7.0 all night though no matter what, unless I hit ramp which drops it to 4.0 for 30 mins.

[Pugsy]

It's probably set to stay on fixed 7 cm pressure all night. Probably set to CPAP mode.

It is the model that can auto adjust but it's just set in the mode that doesn't auto adjust.
It has 2 modes available...fixed cpap mode and auto adjusting (apap) mode available.

Are you using available software to see what is going on during the night?

[palerider]

Hi Pugsy,

Sorry for the delay. Below is the exact Dreamstation I have:

DSX500H11C

Please update your equipment profile to reflect the dreamstation auto, and whatever mask you're using.