Autopap question

[GReeNeYe]

My question about autopap pressure ranges is lets say your range is between 5 and 15cm but during the night your body only requires lets say 12cm, will the machine still ramp up to 15 or will it stop at 12cm??

[nanwilson]

It will only go as high as is needed, in your case it seems to be 12. The machine is set at a range ...UP to 15 in your case, but will only go as high as it needs to go to stop an apnea from happening.

[Pugsy]

The maximum setting available just means it could go there if the machine felt it needed to. If it never goes there it doesn't even factor into anything...becomes a moot point.
Just because the machine can go there doesn't mean it will. If it never ever goes above 12 it wouldn't matter what the maximum setting was. If the machines would go to 100 and you never went above 12 it wouldn't matter what you set the maximum at because it never enters into the picture.

[Bon Bon]

This brings up a question I've been wondering about. Will the machine ever go past the maximum setting? Are the apneas events we still have what happens when the maximum pressure isn't enough to stop them?

I apologize if this is an obvious answer type of question.

[Pugsy]

what happens when the maximum pressure isn't enough to stop them?

Then the collapse of the airway happens and we have had an event slip past the defenses.
If the max is set at 20 and that is all the machine will do..then it just happens.
If the max is set at 10...then it won't go past 10 no matter how much it might be needed.

[GReeNeYe]

thank you, the reason i ask is because the way you explain it is the way i understood it, however, i noticed in my report some nights my pressure will peak out at 12.5 (my prescribed max), so i went and adjusted my peak at 20. now my report says some nights i go as high as 17cm and since, im having ear clogging issues which i think is due to the pressure. hope im making sense...

[Pugsy]

If you think the ear issue is related to the higher pressure peaks then I would reduce the maximum and not let the machine go there. It may not impact the overall therapy very much and it is more important to be comfortable than it is to worry about letting the pressure go to a higher setting for a maybe event. In this case compromise would be a prudent way to go.
If the higher pressures cause more problems than they fix...we compromise.
We can't realistically expect to eliminate every single event anyway.

[GReeNeYe]

thanks this is exactly what i did and being my doc is good but not familair with the end user stuff as we are i like to confirm with someone else. this forum is fantastic for cpap user issues. thanks everyone now if i could only hear lol...im sure it will go away in a few days

[Pugsy]

An increase in pressure is the machine responding to some sort of event precursor...snores or flow limitations.
Not all snores or flow limitations will grow up to be a full blown obstructive apnea or hyponea even if left untreated.
The machine doesn't know that though...it just knows that it senses something that it is supposed to prevent.

[Bon Bon]

what happens when the maximum pressure isn't enough to stop them?

Then the collapse of the airway happens and we have had an event slip past the defenses.
If the max is set at 20 and that is all the machine will do..then it just happens.
If the max is set at 10...then it won't go past 10 no matter how much it might be needed.

Thank you, Pugsy.

[GReeNeYe]

An increase in pressure is the machine responding to some sort of event precursor...snores or flow limitations.
Not all snores or flow limitations will grow up to be a full blown obstructive apnea or hyponea even if left untreated.
The machine doesn't know that though...it just knows that it senses something that it is supposed to prevent.

sounds like a good call. thanks everyone

[archangle]

In theory it will go no higher than you need. However, realize that the machine isn't perfect. Sometimes it will go to a higher pressure than you really need, or not go as high as you need. That's part of the reason why they don't just give everyone an APAP set to the maximum range.

It won't go above the maximum pressure or below the minimum pressure unless it's broken.

[Xney]

Usually the machines do a pretty good job, but sometimes they 'think' they need a lot of pressure when they really don't. This is when it's good to have the maximum set to something reasonable.

if you have a setting of 6-12, for example, and you spend most of your nights in the 9-10 range, you don't want a maximum of 15 or 20. If the machine for one night decided you need 16 for an hour, you'd probably not find it very comfortable.

On the other hand, if you found your machine spending most of its time at 11 or 11.5, then you would probably want a higher maximum.

As others have said, if you have a range of 6-12, it should never go below 6 or above 12 for any reason.

[Burkebang]

In theory it will go no higher than you need. However, realize that the machine isn't perfect. Sometimes it will go to a higher pressure than you really need, or not go as high as you need. That's part of the reason why they don't just give everyone an APAP set to the maximum range.

It won't go above the maximum pressure or below the minimum pressure unless it's broken.

In Norway, they DO give everybody, and with free public healthcare, I really do mean everybody, an APAP set to 4-15 ;-D
And it actually works for allmost everybody.