Air Flow and Size Of Mask

sleepingwind · Post by **sleepingwind** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:40 am

I am new here, and a new user. Could you all help me out before I call my clinic? I have a mild case of apnea. They started me out at a "5" airflow. I was still tired during the day and they bumped me up to a "6", but twice this week I have called in sick because I just could not get up. I am still tired. I am wondering because I wear a full mask if the air flow needs to be higher with the full mask since it is a bigger area? The only reason I have the full mask is after trying 4 other ones this is the most comfortable. Also when I check my machine it says l/m is 28.3. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Peace

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:52 am

I think most people here would say your pressure is too low.

Experiment with higher pressures, and see how you feel in the morning

It has nothing to do with your mask - it has everything to do with how you feel in the morning.

In other words - no, a FF doesn't require a higher pressure. Your body requires a higher pressure.

Cheers,
Babette

feeling_better · Post by **feeling_better** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:04 pm

The number of apneas and the pressure required are not directly related. Some people (I for example) with upto 30 AHI untreated get achieve very low AHI with low pressures of 6. It is the nature of the obstruction that determines how high a pressure is needed to open it up. We usually talk about the serious of the apnea in terms of the AHI only.

For many people it takes days, and for some weeks, before we finally settle down to the new routine of using a cpap and see the benefits of it. First few night could be bad experience, even more tiredness. But if you are seeing the data for even the bad days, and know that the AHI has been brought down, give it a try for a few more days. Of course there is no harm in talking to the doctor in the mean time. My doc wanted to see me only after two weeks' full usage

WindFlyer · Post by **WindFlyer** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:31 am

I did notice that when I switched to a FFM I had to have my pressure increased. Boyle's law tells us that pressure and volume are inversely related so this makes sense. I have had to increase the pressure a few times since then, though, because my apnea was getting worse. Maybe it was just par for the course.

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:40 am

Your profile says that you have the M Series Pro CPAP. It's a fully data capable machine. Are you getting any other data, like AHI, from the LCD or software?

I would recommend adjusting pressure according to what you AHI is. Are you clearing the data each day? (so each morning's numbers will be for that specific night)

Den

ww · Post by ww » Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:33 pm

WindFlyer wrote:I did notice that when I switched to a FFM I had to have my pressure increased. Boyle's law tells us that pressure and volume are inversely related so this makes sense. I have had to increase the pressure a few times since then, though, because my apnea was getting worse. Maybe it was just par for the course.

Interesting comment, but Boyles law has only to do with pressure and volume of a closed container. In CPAP the volume of air is variable to maintain a constant pressure and is basically independent of the mask volume, but affected a little by leakage although the pressure is somewhat compensated for normal leakage values.

sleepingwind · Post by **sleepingwind** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 1:48 pm

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I am still confused. I cannot adjust the airflow myself. It is my understanding that I have to take or mail my card in to have the clinic do it. I have an appointment on the 23rd.

ww · Post by ww » Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:20 pm

sleepingwind wrote:Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I am still confused. I cannot adjust the airflow myself. It is my understanding that I have to take or mail my card in to have the clinic do it. I have an appointment on the 23rd.

Read Wufmans post again and again. Answer his question. Bottom line is you need to have some idea what you are doing and AHI is normally that method. If it is displayed what does it say. You can make the box display it if it does not and you can reset it each day, yourself. Don't just go away, let the members of this forum understand your problem and they may be able to help you.

sleepingwind · Post by **sleepingwind** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:04 pm

From what I can gather my ah is: 1.9. But I cannot find anywhere where I can really control anything. I was not given a book with my machine. I do appreciate the help here, I am just really confused and new to all of this.