apap or cpap, which mode is better?

[iricoboy]

i wrote this thread just to ask about the benefits and disavantages of xpap, i've been on resmed for 3 weeks, and been in this forum for 2 weeks, from what i've learned, cpap doesn't disturb much your sleep, because the pressure is always invariable, while apap, though it covers a range of pressures, leaving room for the machine to adjust, but the pressure changes will disturb one's sleep, maybe stop us from going into rem sleep.

above is what i thought, but i don't know whether i'm right, i hope someone could explain this in a more professional way! thanks!

and which mode do you prefer and are using now?? a survey

[LinkC]

Each has its pluses and minuses. You (and your doctor) will need to decide which is best FOR YOU.

I've been on both. I didn't find the pressure changes on APAP noticable at all. I don't think that's a factor at all. But, if they wake you, then that's something to consider. Looking at my numbers, it seems like APAP gets better results FOR ME, but your case may be different.

[mindy]

One thing to remember: my OSA is not the same as your OSA and neither of ours is identical to everyone else's. If APAP works for you - keeps your AHI below 5 and you don't wake up from the pressure changes, then great - you don't need to fiddle with it.

I'm one of those folks who start getting "runaway centrals" when my pressure goes over 13. On APAP, every time I increased the range, so did my 90% pressure. It looked like it would just keep going up no matter how high I set it. So I tried CPAP mode and that worked much better - better numbers, that is. APAP pressure changes didn't wake me up. Some machines prevent the runaway centrals and some don't (M-series don't, but I don't know about bilevel).

Mindy

[Wulfman]

i wrote this thread just to ask about the benefits and disavantages of xpap, i've been on resmed for 3 weeks, and been in this forum for 2 weeks, from what i've learned, cpap doesn't disturb much your sleep, because the pressure is always invariable, while apap, though it covers a range of pressures, leaving room for the machine to adjust, but the pressure changes will disturb one's sleep, maybe stop us from going into rem sleep.

above is what i thought, but i don't know whether i'm right, i hope someone could explain this in a more professional way! thanks!

and which mode do you prefer and are using now?? a survey

I think you've done a pretty good job of explaining it, yourself. However, I think it may be more correct to say "staying in REM or the deeper stages of sleep". We can dream in any sleep stage.....not just REM......but it's my understanding that when we're in certain stages of sleep, we're more susceptible to more apnea events. If our pressure is changing to stop those events at those times, it COULD disrupt our sleep.

Personally, I sleep much better in single-pressure (CPAP) mode.

Den

[Paul56]

I was on APAP for several months with a defined range and would regularly wake up to find the machine blowing at maximum and having massive mask leaks... since the mask was adjusted for the lower pressure.

The last few weeks I am operating the machine in CPAP and slowly zeroing in on what will be my CPAP pressure. Although I was titrated at 8 the sleep study also mentioned that I would likely need a higher pressure.

I started operating in CPAP mode at 10 and been very gradually working my way up... now sitting at 11.8 with the AIs scoring consistently <1. I will bump it up to 12 and check the data for several nights.

Once I have determined what a good CPAP pressure that works for me is... I may go back to APAP with a very tightly defined range around that pressure and observe the results for a few nights.

All I can say is don't be in a rush to make changes... do them very gradually, gather some data and then make your next change based on that data.