A-Flex anomaly

[JimIllinois]

Hello, everyone.

In the process of adjusting the low side of my auto settings, I decided to experiment with A-Flex. The doc had specified C-Flex in the prescription, but my machine supports both. I immediately noticed something I thought was a little strange, and I ended up going back to C-Flex.

During an inhale, at about 80% through, I would get a stutter in the pressure. It seemed to drop to near-zero for a very short period. Maybe 1/10th of a second.

This occurred with every breath, and caused a "can't breath!" reaction in me. After the stutter, everything else (the remainder of the inhale, and the entire exhale) was normal. I had a very hard time going to sleep, with this going on. Maybe my breathing was too deep at this point, but wow, was it an uncomfortable sensation.

Is this a known artifact of the A-Flex routine? Anyone else experience this?

Thanks!

[BeanMeScot]

I tried A-Flex on my machine and I could never quite identify what I didn't like about it. It made me feel like my lungs were empty was as close as I could describe it. I tried it for 2 nights and it still bothered me so I went back to C-Flex. It felt very comfortable to breath with the A-Flex but it still bothered me.

[Georgio]

Yes, both my mother and I both experience the "stutter" or momentary drop in pressure, that makes it difficult to inhale for a fraction of a second every night. I don't recall ever having heard this subject discussed here. In our case, it only occurs when we first lay down and take 3 or 4 very deep breaths before settling into a more normal, and not so deep breathing pattern. In other words, it only does it when we take very deep breaths, so we only experience it for 3 or 4 breaths. It never occurs during our "normal" breathing. I speculated that our lung capacity is larger than the norm, and that the A-Flex algorithm does not "fit" us perfectly at that time. Not a big deal, since in our opinion the A-Flex feature makes breathing so much more normal feeling, we are able to overlook that small flaw.

I hope that more will contribute to this discussion, and that Resperonics gets the message.

Thanks for bringing it up!

Georgio

[OldLincoln]

I also was uncomfortable with A-Flex initially. It seemed the machine was in a hurry for me to take the next breath. That was when it was set on 3. I lowered it to 2 and it was in sync with my normal pattern. Now I honestly can't tell if my machine is running a lot of the time and often tug on it to hear the leak.

So, before giving up on A-Flex, you might try different settings. BTW, I had the EPR on my ResMed CPAP and I find A-Flex much better.

[Georgio]

Yes, Old Lincoln, I believe you had the same sensation, as though the machine's algorithm was telling you, "OK that breath was long enough, take another one!" It is possible to continue with that particular deep breath, after you get past the momentary resistance. I would think this could be an easy fix for Resperonics.

[JimIllinois]

Thanks for the comments, it's good to know I wasn't dreaming it. And I will experiment with different A-Flex settings.

I don't have a clue what their algorithm looks for and how it is supposed to respond, but it seems like it could wait 5 minutes to see how deep the breathing is, and adjust accordingly. But, what do I know...

[Babette]

I'm also an Aflex hater. I don't remember the "stutter" but there was definitely something in there I didn't like. I slept horribly and felt like I was back in the initial stages of therapy. I lasted two weeks and went back to cflex.

Some people really love it. Others hate it. Glad I've got friends.
B.

[roster]

Glad to hear it is working for some folks. In my experience, the problem with tracking my breathing was a mental one. When I was awake, I felt like I had to keep up with the machine. But I assume when I fell asleep, I just breathed naturally and the machine follow me closely.

I don't use the feature because of these two problems:

1. The noise of the machine cycling up and down tended to keep me awake longer. It is much quieter with the Flex features off.

2. I needed to set the pressure 2 to 3 cm higher with A-Flex on to achieve the same AHI. If I remember correctly the machine drops the pressure about 2 cm on exhale. So I had to set it up by 2 cm wiping out this part of the relief and now the inhale pressure was 2 cm higher. Counterproductive.

If I ever see a large number of people here saying the like the A-Flex feature, I might give it one more go.

Glad to be able to read what you are saying about A-Flex,

[Hose_Head]

Hello, everyone.

In the process of adjusting the low side of my auto settings, I decided to experiment with A-Flex. The doc had specified C-Flex in the prescription, but my machine supports both. I immediately noticed something I thought was a little strange, and I ended up going back to C-Flex.

During an inhale, at about 80% through, I would get a stutter in the pressure. It seemed to drop to near-zero for a very short period. Maybe 1/10th of a second.

This occurred with every breath, and caused a "can't breath!" reaction in me. After the stutter, everything else (the remainder of the inhale, and the entire exhale) was normal. I had a very hard time going to sleep, with this going on. Maybe my breathing was too deep at this point, but wow, was it an uncomfortable sensation.

Is this a known artifact of the A-Flex routine? Anyone else experience this?

Thanks!

I use Aflex setting of 2. My pressure is 7 - 12. I can't say that I've ever noticed any of these symptoms. I've used Cflex before. Can't say I noticed much of a difference between Aflex and Cflex. I guess that makes me an indiscriminate breather!

Personally, I love them both! I too sometimes need to lift my mask to make sure it's still working. To me the breathing pattern is no natural that I cannot tell that I'm breathing against pressure.

[Georgio]

Hose Head, when you go to bed, put your mask on, lay down and take 3 or 4 verydeep long breaths. Inhale for 2 seconds or so. See if you feel a "hiccup" in the middle of your breath. That is what we are experiencing. (This occurs at our ramp pressure of 7).

Georgio

[danw61]

Hose Head, when you go to bed, put your mask on, lay down and take 3 or 4 verydeep long breaths. Inhale for 2 seconds or so. See if you feel a "hiccup" in the middle of your breath. That is what we are experiencing. (This occurs at our ramp pressure of 7).

Georgio

I feel the same thing since I recently switched to A-Flex to try it out. It's kind of irritating. Feels like the machine is trying to rush my breathing. I may switch back to C-Flex.

Dan

[elader]

I had the same issue and switched back to c flex

[tdm5032c]

I have been using the A-flex since I started on CPAP on Thanksgiving of this last year. I have tried C-flex and to me, it felt totally unnatural and was hard to breathe with it. I have tried switching back and forth several times and always end up back with the A-flex at 2. Just works the best for me and seems completely natural. I haven't noticed any stuttering in the machine even when I do breathe deeply. I guess we all breathe a little bit different, and different modes and settings work better for some than others. Probably why they make different settings

[Georgio]

Well, we're on A-Flex 2 also and experience the flow resistance.....maybe we have a series of Resperonics a-Flex machines that have a "defective code" or something that is causing the "hiccup" when we are trying to breathe. Don't get me wrong, because I love my Resperonics machine and it has done wonders for me...but they will be hearing more about the "hiccup" phenomenon.

[Captain_Midnight]

Jim writes...During an inhale, at about 80% through, I would get a stutter in the pressure. It seemed to drop to near-zero for a very short period. Maybe 1/10th of a second.

Hmmm, interesting. I agree with above posters that ask what AFLEX setting you are using, Jim.

I've been using AFLEX (@ AFLEX = 2) for about a year and a half (after 2 yrs of CFLEX). I was going to experiment w other AFLEX settings, but I liked 2 so much, I've never looked back. As Babs says, some folks don't resonate w AFLEX, and that's fine. But this is the first I've heard of a "stutter". I would definitely consider experimenting w AFLEX 2 and 1, if you happen to be on 3.

The biggest problem w AFLEX that I can ascertain (from reading posts here and elsewhere) is not having the lower pressure of the range set high enough. For many (including moi) it needs to be at least 1 cm higher than the titrated pressure, otherwise there might be apneic occlusions just after exhalation. (No science to back this up, so please feel free to challenge.) Maybe the pressure delta at the end of inhalation and beginning of exhalation is too great for you at your AFLEX setting.

Good luck finding a mode and setting that works best for you.

.