S9,central apneas and breathing rythm

[Valkyrie0]

My wife just got an S9 to try. I have a Respironics System 1 Auto. The Respironics shows a periodic breathing reading on the LCD (although its the 7 day ave). The S9 only seems to give the AHI, and no central apneas on the display. Do I need to look at the results through the software to get central apneas on the S9? I'm assuming that central apneas and periodic breathing are the same thing.

Also,I tried the S9 and the breathing seemed to have a better rhythm, and more in line with my normal breathing patterns (EPR set at 3 ). The Respironics seems to stop the inhalation a little sooner than I'd like. and start the exhalation a liitle sooner than I'm ready. Has anyone else noticed the breathing rhythm difference in the 2 machines?
Thanks

[GTOJim]

Also,I tried the S9 and the breathing seemed to have a better rhythm, and more in line with my normal breathing patterns (EPR set at 3 ). The Respironics seems to stop the inhalation a little sooner than I'd like. and start the exhalation a liitle sooner than I'm ready. Has anyone else noticed the breathing rhythm difference in the 2 machines?
Thanks

Yes I noticed the same type of breathing difference. My 5 year old Respironics Auto recently died, replaced 11 days ago with an S9 auto. Sounds like the breathing pattern of the new Respironics hasn't changed much from my old machine. I also find the S9 has a more natural breathing pattern.

As for the S9 you will get a lot more information using software, same thing goes for the Respironics. It is my understanding that Respironics screen gives an average AHI, the S9 screen gives daily AHI. My old Respironics didn't provide on screen AHI data.

[kurth83]

I was titrated on a respironics, and knew from the start I didn't like that algorithm,
so I bought the S9.

I can describe the two in detail for those trying to make a buy decision:

S9 (resmed) - the pressure increases the moment you start to inhale,
and drops the moment you finish inhaling. It seems timed really well
to feel natural. I am a very light sleeper (at least when trying to get to sleep),
and the S9 feels natural, I don't notice the EPR at all, even at its max setting of 3.
A side effect of this is that most of the time you are at the lower pressure,
something to keep in mind when considering CO2 venting.

Respironics - the pressure kicks back up to full the moment
you finish exhaling, so in the space betwen the exhale and the inhale you are at full pressure.
I found this algorithm annoying, the little kick at the end of every exhale kept me awake.
This algorithm ends up keeping you at the higher pressure most of the time.

I thought about this a lot and here is what I came up with (lets see what others think too):
For heavy sleepers who can sleep through either algorithm, I would recommend the Respironics.
1) it fully inflates the passages before the inhale begins, this should stop OSA's better.
2) it keeps the pressure higher more of the time, better for CO2 venting.
If you are stuck with this algorithm as a light sleeper, maybe turing off the pressure relief would be best.

For light sleepers, I think the resmed algorithm is a must, you can compensate for the CO2 venting
issue (like I did) by just setting a slightly higher pressure and/or backing of the EPR (I set it to 2
instead of 3).

[ldj325]

You do not have to look at the software to see some basic parameters reporting like Pressure, Leak Rate, AHI, AI, and Central apneas. But you do need to access this information through the Clinician's menu. To do this push the "Push dial" to get to the "Home screen." Then simultaneously hold down the "Info" and "Setup" buttons for 3 seconds. This brings you into the Clinicial portion. Turn the "Push button" clockwise one click until you get to the "Sleep Report." Push the center button which enters you into the Sleep Report and scroll down to the button where you will see a reporting of the things I mentioned including the central apneas.

This is just a quick, on-screen report. The software will give you actual graphs and a lot more detail.