Reducing pressure setting

[lhpangler]

Hi folks, ive tried different searches and i just cant seem to find what i am looking for. My ahi for the last year is 0.2. Pressure is set to 6 and 10. My friend is in a similar situation. Any thoughts regarding lowering my pressure to see if my AHI creeps back up? Tia

[palerider]

Hi folks, ive tried different searches and i just cant seem to find what i am looking for. My ahi for the last year is 0.2. Pressure is set to 6 and 10. My friend is in a similar situation. Any thoughts regarding lowering my pressure to see if i get a betters nights sleep? Tia

Less pressure rarely results in better sleep. There's more to sleep disordered breathing than just the ahi

[Dog Slobber]

There are no graphs to properly advise anyone. So you're asking people to guess..
Lowering the pressure is more likely to raise your AHI.

I'm assuming your intent is less pressure will be more comfortable. Perhaps, lowering the minimum could result in more volatile pressure swings with a net result of higher peaks as the machine tries to catch up. Will you really feel the difference between a minimum of 6 and 7.

But I think experimentation, looking for better therapy should always be encouraged.

Make a change, give it some time, note changes and see how you feel........rinse, repeat.

[lhpangler]

Two great responses so far. Ty

[kteague]

By "6 and 10" are you saying you're using an auto range of 6 to 10? Some things to consider... Having any AHI at all means something measurable (though negligible in the big picture) was able to slip past the machines defenses. If your pressure rises above 6 at all, it is in response to something it senses, and lowering the pressures is likely to cause it to have to make more efforts towards resolving those things. Having a machine taking longer to address issues is for some more sleep disruptive. Unless your starting pressure of 6 causes air in your belly or you are one of the exceptions who develop centrals even at low pressures, I wouldn't think lowering your pressure is of any advantage. Raising your starting pressure may give you perfect zeroes, not that it is necessary. What kind of problems are you having with your sleep? Maybe there's some other things that need to be considered.

[palerider]

Hi folks, ive tried different searches and i just cant seem to find what i am looking for. My ahi for the last year is 0.2. Pressure is set to 6 and 10. My friend is in a similar situation. Any thoughts regarding lowering my pressure to see if i get a betters nights sleep? Tia

lol...this is like someone getting an A+ in a class and saying "can anyone find out how I can get a better grade???" I would think with that low of an ahi, you're sleeping on Cloud-9, no???

You could have a low ahi, but still have FLs and snores that are disturbing sleep...

[zonker]

Hi folks, ive tried different searches and i just cant seem to find what i am looking for.

howdy. you don't list a machine in your sig, just a mask. i'll assume you have a sleepyhead compatible machine. while you aren't a newbie, perhaps reading here will get you up to speed-

viewtopic/t172378/Sticky--Newbies-PLEAS ... STING.html

once the good boys and girls here see your data, they can make some recommendations.

good luck!

[palerider]

Hi folks, ive tried different searches and i just cant seem to find what i am looking for. My ahi for the last year is 0.2. Pressure is set to 6 and 10. My friend is in a similar situation. Any thoughts regarding lowering my pressure to see if i get a betters nights sleep? Tia

lol...this is like someone getting an A+ in a class and saying "can anyone find out how I can get a better grade???" I would think with that low of an ahi, you're sleeping on Cloud-9, no???

You could have a low ahi, but still have FLs and snores that are disturbing sleep...

Hey, all my homies are following me...lol

That's interesting that one could have a real low ahi, ie. .2, yet still have some sleep disturbances! Btw, I surely didn't mean to step-on lhpangler's thread... I was just surprised that one could have a very, very low ahi and still not be sleeping that well. - - I'm always learning something new on this forum! Thanks guys!

I think this is relevant. We see it with people saying "my AHI is good (and it is) but I still feel like crap".

And that's when I try to remind people that there's more to sleep disordered breathing than just apneas and hypopneas (AHI)... and, of course, there's more to bad sleep than just breathing problems.

But, yeah, you can have an active flow limitation graph, which will disturb your sleep, but never get bad enough to have apneas or hypos.

[lhpangler]

By "6 and 10" are you saying you're using an auto range of 6 to 10? Some things to consider... Having any AHI at all means something measurable (though negligible in the big picture) was able to slip past the machines defenses. If your pressure rises above 6 at all, it is in response to something it senses, and lowering the pressures is likely to cause it to have to make more efforts towards resolving those things. Having a machine taking longer to address issues is for some more sleep disruptive. Unless your starting pressure of 6 causes air in your belly or you are one of the exceptions who develop centrals even at low pressures, I wouldn't think lowering your pressure is of any advantage. Raising your starting pressure may give you perfect zeroes, not that it is necessary. What kind of problems are you having with your sleep? Maybe there's some other things that need to be considered.

6-10 IPAP/EPAP I have a bipap.
I don't have any sleep problems with the exception of machine related interruptions: mask makes funny noise, exhaust air bouncing off of the pillow, nasal pillow getting dislodged.

So I wonder to what extent my bipap is still necessary. There are conflicting opinions as to whether apnea is permanent. We have seen diabetes and heart disease reverse by diet, why not apnea?

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-con ... c-20352095

[Julie]

Because in the cases of so many here who've lost some weight and then had a new test done, while they might need less pressure to open their airways, they still end up needing Cpap except in rare cases where they e.g. lost 100 lbs, had stomach stapling, or possibly only had 'positional' or very mild apnea, etc. If it were that easy a lot of us would not be on Cpap. Trouble is some people initially feel better after wt loss, but gain it back (sooo often) and/or don't take a new test because they feel a bit better or AHI is down a bit, but end up needing to go back on Cpap anyhow.

[palerider]

There are conflicting opinions as to whether apnea is permanent. We have seen diabetes and heart disease reverse by diet, why not apnea?

Because diabetes and heart disease aren't a result of a physical structure problem.

[Julie]

Good point!

[lhpangler]

Hi folks, ive tried different searches and i just cant seem to find what i am looking for.

howdy. you don't list a machine in your sig, just a mask. i'll assume you have a sleepyhead compatible machine. while you aren't a newbie, perhaps reading here will get you up to speed-

viewtopic/t172378/Sticky--Newbies-PLEAS ... STING.html

once the good boys and girls here see your data, they can make some recommendations.

good luck!

I updated my machine. I set the value years ago, not sure where it went. Resmed S9. Machine updated. ty!

[lhpangler]

Because in the cases of so many here who've lost some weight and then had a new test done, while they might need less pressure to open their airways, they still end up needing Cpap except in rare cases where they e.g. lost 100 lbs, had stomach stapling, or possibly only had 'positional' or very mild apnea, etc. If it were that easy a lot of us would not be on Cpap. Trouble is some people initially feel better after wt loss, but gain it back (sooo often) and/or don't take a new test because they feel a bit better or AHI is down a bit, but end up needing to go back on Cpap anyhow.

I am approaching the 100#s down marker and been dropping weight for three years. The mayo article suggests weight loss can help. I understand the issue being structural. I understand that people need to go back or continue to use the bipap. So how can one reconfirm the need to be on the bipap?

[Dog Slobber]

So I wonder to what extent my bipap is still necessary. There are conflicting opinions as to whether apnea is permanent. We have seen diabetes and heart disease reverse by diet, why not apnea?

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-con ... c-20352095

There are conflicting opinions on whether the earth is flat.