try to test me s9's apap technology

[Boston Guy]

I try testing my apaps self adjusting technology by holding my breath or simulating snoring etc... and the on screen number doesn't climb. Does anyone else's number change before your eyes when you try this?

I just wanted to see the magic in action. And also want to make sure I don't have a lemon.

[ozij]

The machine's algorithm identifies an apnea as an aberration in the orderly breathing patterns typical of sleep. Waking breathing is nothing like that, so the machine (more or less) shrugs its shoulders waiting for your breathing to settle down before it starts responding to aberrations. Fooling it into thinking you have an apnea is pretty difficult -- though we all love the idea of doing it....

And if you want to see response to snoring, you have to make sure you're not doing that during settling (ramp) time. Settling (ramp) time is a time when the machine is programmed not to respond to anything.

[ldj325]

Out of curiosity I managed to fool my machine the other night. After about 5 minutes I held my breath and did my best to push my tongue to the back of my throat. Sure enough I created a 31 second obstructive apnea. And sure enough the S9 started ramping up the pressure in response. I use low pressure anyway, about 4.4 as my going to sleep rate on 4.4-9.0 autoset range.)

The next morning on loading up my detailed data, I found out that I got played the fool. After about 10 minutes of increased pressure (around 7. I went into a run of 11 central apneas. (Central apneas are my main issue.) I suppose the increased pressure when I really didn't need it brought on those centrals. The entire rest of the night I only had one obstructive apnea of 10 seconds. The good news is that I know my S9 works. And I won't be doing that test again.

[Boston Guy]

thanks for the answers. I think the only proof I have that my machine is working is the fact that when I look at the results the next morning it gives me an average pressure from the whole night. Proving that it was giving me a higher pressure than my lowest setting. And the other way I know it's working is when I wake up out of a sleep cycle, I can tell just by exhaling harder a few times that the pressure is higher than 10psi. Because when the pressure is at the starting 10psi, the mask has a giving out feel when exhaling, but when it's the middle of the night it doesn't have this feeling.

[ozij]

Do you have EPR (exhale pressure relief) set to on? Is it on for the whole time? Just wondering if it was only set for the "settling" time.

O.