Have you/do you adjust your air pressure settings yourself?

[kitan25]

I was wondering: Does anyone else adjust their air pressure settings themselves?

I have an AirCurve 10 (for CSA) and I look at the myAir app every day to see how many events I had the previous night. Then based on those results I go into the clinical menu and adjust the pressure. If my CSA is acting up during the night I'll adjust the setting that same night and I'm able to get to sleep.

Back when I had insurance, I found this to be WAY better for me than waiting for my doctor's office to adjust it the next day or even a few days later. I got my BiPAP back in January and I told my doctor's CPAP coordinator that I do this, and she seemed totally fine with it. She even told me that the Ipap and Epap levels need to be within 5 cm of each other.

Now that I have no insurance I'm still adjusting it myself, but not any differently than I would if I could still see my doctor. My sleep doctor is always pretty slammed anyway so I was never even told the results of my home sleep study. They just sent me a BiPAP and didn't tell me why besides that it was "CPAP failure." I actually didn't find out I was diagnosed with CSA until I went to the emergency room one night because felt like I couldn't breathe. The ER doctor read my records and told me I'd been diagnosed with CSA. Would have been great if my sleep doctor had told me that so I wouldn't have gone to the ER...

[LSAT]

I would guess that 90% on the members her do their own adjusting.

[palerider]

I would guess that 90% on the members her do their own adjusting.

And the other 10% either will, or they'll give up on CPAP.

[TheDuke]

I adjust and experiment with both pressures, BiLevel settings. My pulmonologist sorta disapproves, but reluctantly accepts my actions

TheDuke

[Goofproof]

Just for the last 16 years, didn't require much effort, 14.5 cm,to 15 cm, range, sometimes on APAP or CPAP. I use O2 also, adjusting that myself from 2.5 to 3.0 LPM.

[Wulfman...]

I was wondering: Does anyone else adjust their air pressure settings themselves?

I have an AirCurve 10 (for CSA) and I look at the myAir app every day to see how many events I had the previous night. Then based on those results I go into the clinical menu and adjust the pressure. If my CSA is acting up during the night I'll adjust the setting that same night and I'm able to get to sleep.

Back when I had insurance, I found this to be WAY better for me than waiting for my doctor's office to adjust it the next day or even a few days later. I got my BiPAP back in January and I told my doctor's CPAP coordinator that I do this, and she seemed totally fine with it. She even told me that the Ipap and Epap levels need to be within 5 cm of each other.

Now that I have no insurance I'm still adjusting it myself, but not any differently than I would if I could still see my doctor. My sleep doctor is always pretty slammed anyway so I was never even told the results of my home sleep study. They just sent me a BiPAP and didn't tell me why besides that it was "CPAP failure." I actually didn't find out I was diagnosed with CSA until I went to the emergency room one night because felt like I couldn't breathe. The ER doctor read my records and told me I'd been diagnosed with CSA. Would have been great if my sleep doctor had told me that so I wouldn't have gone to the ER...

As I was reading and pondering a response to your question, it occurred to me that tonight will be the 15th anniversary of when I started therapy. And, "YES", I initially set up and adjusted my machine pressure ( to 10 cm. ) following about an hour of trying the pressure my sleep doctor had prescribed ( 18 cm. ). It turned out to be a better (therapeutic) starting pressure and much easier to sleep with. Over the years I've gradually increased my pressure to the current pressure of 14 cm., but I, like many others here took control of my own therapy right away and it has been very beneficial. I've also monitored my therapy with software from the very beginning. I've been in charge of my own therapy from the very beginning and don't have any regrets.
Finding this forum months before I actually started therapy was a HUGE benefit, too.


Den

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