my apap airflow stopped last night

[sleepergal]

Hi,

I'm not sure what happened to me last night but it worries me. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I couldn't breathe and realized almost immediately that no air was coming through my nasal mask. I reached down to my S9 apap and hit the start button and air immediately began flowing. The power did not stop last night (and I have a power stoppage alarm plugged in at the same outlet that feeds my apap). Since I tape my mouth, I'm not sure whether I was getting any air at all or for how long the air flow was stopped. My AHI was 2.4 last night which was extremely high for me. Usually it's in the .2 to .8 range.

Does anyone have any idea what might have happened? I'm a little scared to strap on my mask again tonight.

I've been using CPAP for 4 years now and this has never happened to me.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[robysue]

Have you got a cat or any other furry little critters running around at night?

[Julie]

I have found that on occasion the power will just blip in a storm and most things will go off and needing turning back on, but the occasional 'device' or appliance will in fact somehow bridge the break and stay powered. I wonder if that happened to you in the sense that your alert thingy did not register a split second glitch, but your machine did.

[Bons]

Is it possible that you turned it off in your sleep? Stranger things have happened. On another thread someone posted (can't recall who) that they had completely dismantled his/her mask and scattered the parts all around the pillow...

[jonquiljo]

I have found that on occasion the power will just blip in a storm and most things will go off and needing turning back on, but the occasional 'device' or appliance will in fact somehow bridge the break and stay powered. I wonder if that happened to you in the sense that your alert thingy did not register a split second glitch, but your machine did.

I think some of the better power line conditioners made for computers will keep "blips" in power stable enough to carry your CPAP through one. If not, you may have hit the button in your sleep. If not then, you might want to have the machine checked out - if you have a DME that can do so and give you a loaner.

[Cindy Lou Who]

When I read your post a shiver ran up and down my spine.... What happened to you is real scary. If you did experience a power surge at home how come your machine didn't respond by coming back on? Doesn't your machine have an auto-on feature? Look to see if that function was somehow turned off. I'm not well versed in different machines so I'm guessing. Some one will come by soon that will be able to give you more info and ideas.
Good Luck
Cindy

[Sleepergalguest]

Hi Everyone,

This is Sleepergal responding - I guess I'm a little rusty on posting here because I couldn't figure out how to post a reply under my own username.

Thanks much for the helpful comments. I have no cat and my apap is actually plugged into a standard computer surge protector. I think it is extremely unlikely that I stopped my machine in my sleep.

I don't use a DME. I bought my apap machine online through this site's sponsor and I've only had it 6-8 months. I tried calling the Resmed manufacturer patient support line (listed in my user booklet) but there was no answer and no message so I guess the line is not operational.

I will read the user booklet and double check that the auto-on function is turned on. Until I get this figured out, I'm going to use my DeVilbliss travel machine.

Thanks again.

[cwied]

If you have a ClimateLine hose, you might also want to check out this thread: viewtopic/t56438/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=54932

[jdm2857]

Do you have AutoOff enabled? Could you have developed a leak large enough that the machine "thought" that you had removed the mask and automatically turned off?

[jonquiljo]

Until I get this figured out, I'm going to use my DeVilbliss travel machine.

Why don't you run your Resmed machine with the mask around some pillow for the night - enough for the machine to think it is not leaking very much. You have software and it should tell you at what point the machine shuts off. If it makes too much of a racket running all night on a pillow, then put it in another room. Then you can document what is going on. In fact, if your card was in the machine last night - you can run a report and see when it happened - hopefully.

[ozij]

Make sure the power cable in inserted firmly on both sides. Mine was jiggly yesterday on the machine side - fortunately I discovered that when I inserted the humidifier.

[jbenenson]

I would immediately go out and find a surge protector with battery backup, available at every electronics store, e.g. Office Depot, Radio Shack, Office Max. I have one for my PC that has an audible alarm when it switches over to battery power. It maintains power for about ten minutes after loss of AC power. Plug in your machine and get a good night's sleep, assured that you'll know if the AC power stops. I will be using one for my APAP machine when it arrives next week.

[ozij]

I don't know much enough about electronics to say this clearly, but in previous discussions, those who do would mention problem running the humidifiers on battery power -- something about the current. Check it out -- search the forum -- before you setup the surge protector on your machine.

An alarm that beeps (or wails...) when the power goes off is also an option.

[JohnBFisher]

It is also possible that if you have an "auto off" feature on the S9 that something happened to cause the machine to turn off. What's the "auto off" feature? Well, if you start your machine, with your mask on, then take it off, does the machine turn off after a minute or so? If so, it has an "auto off" feature enabled. What might cause that? If you had a really bad leak for a long enough time the machine will turn off. It essentially thinks the mask is not on you. It is also possible that you stopped breathing for a minute or more. But that is highly unlikely based on the low AHI (though high for you, it is well within normal). So, I would think a massive leak caused the issue. Perhaps mouth breathing instead of breathing through your nose. Or just a bad fit.

Just some ideas to think about.

[sleepergal]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the great comments. I called the online company that sold me the machine and they were very helpful. I'm going to mail it to them and they're going to check it out for me to make sure nothing is wrong with it. When it (or a repaired or replaced version) comes back with a "clean bill of health", I'll definitely ensure that the "Auto On" feature is enabled.

Unfortunately, I had a good link to the S9 software but was too late to download it (the link was closed down). My S9 machine readout doesn't give me enough info to check to see if I had any long apneas. If anybody has an up-to-date software link, I would sure appreciate a PM.

Thanks again for the help. I really don't know what I would do without the info on this website.