APAP settings adjustment

gailandartie · Post by **gailandartie** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:42 pm

When I had my titration study, I was effectively treated with nasal cpap pressure of 7.

I have a Resmed S8 AutosetII (with Swift II nasal pillows) which was set from 5 min to 10 max with a EPR of 3.

The machine is so sensitive that it was always ramping up to 10, even when I was awake and not having apneas. When I was sleeping, the pressure of 10 was waking me up 3 - 4 times per night. I was exhausted and my AHI was always around 5 or 6.

I increased my min pressure to 6 and decreased my max pressure to 9. I am now sleeping better (not waking up every 2 hours) but my AHI numbers is still around 5 to 6 .

Questions - Did I make the correct adjustments? Are my AHI numbers too high? and Can someone explain the EPR settings and should I adjust that?

Thanks so much.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 6:33 am

EPR (I think it stands for Exhalation Pressure Relief) is a comfort feature. It reduces the pressure on exhale. There is no correct setting - it depends on the level of relief you want or need. Three is the maximum amount of relief.

Your AHI numbers are just above what is considered "normal" (anything 5 or less). Although, there are a lot of people here who don't feel normal until their numbers are closer to zero, i.e. they can fell the difference between and AHI of 1 and 2.

It also sort of depends on what is making up the bulk of your AHI. Is it AI or HI? Resmeds are known for being aggressive in scoring hypopneas.

You also just may be a person who doesn't do well on APAP (or with EPR, for that matter).

As far as the changes you have made, if 7 cm was your correct pressure, you are moving in the right direction (in my quasi-uninformed opinion).

RiverDave

NeedinZs · Post by **NeedinZs** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 6:58 am

Hi Gailandartie,

I had a similar experience, although I use a different machine.

I changed my EPR down to 1, (on the advice of others on here) and that seemed to help me all around.
I think it's possible that the high end of the exhalation relief may give a little too much relief for proper therapy for some.

Good luck! And welcome!