Dreamstation "SmartRamp" Feature

[Pugsy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvcnx6-0GhA
5 minutes or the full half hour?

I can't watch the video...but it doesn't matter...5 minutes or 20 or 30 or the full 45...it's whatever is set as the maximum time in ramp in the clinical setup menu.

It's obvious I can't change your mind .....believe me or not but I do understand fully how this works.

[gwatuk]

The video is just a silly thing about arguments from Monty Python.
The memorable line is "Do you want a five minute argument or the full half hour?"

I realise that it's very impolite of someone who has only posted a couple of times in a forum to question someone who has posted nearly 50,000 times. I experience the reverse of this situation in another forum. But...

What exactly is it that you wish to change my mind about?

[Pugsy]

What exactly is it that you wish to change my mind about?

You telling me that I am wrong....because I am not wrong.

You think I don't understand this stuff...but I do.

You say you don't understand it but then go telling me I am wrong....doesn't compute.

Have a nice day.

[palerider]

What exactly is it that you wish to change my mind about?

You telling me that I am wrong....because I am not wrong.

You think I don't understand this stuff...but I do.

You say you don't understand it but then go telling me I am wrong....doesn't compute.

Have a nice day.

Uh oh.

[palerider]

First of all palerider my apologies for not replying to you way back in 2107.
The answer to your question "which *PART* don't you understand" was (at the time) "all of it".
And I was just looking for a simple summary.
But I should have replied - sorry!

Pugsy we seem to be misunderstanding each other.
You seem to have got the impression that I thought the machine would stay in ramp forever if no events happen. What I said was that I didn't know what happens when the ramp time ends if there have been no events.

The thing I was picking up on from your post was your statement that Smart Ramp "...will act like normal ramp until it maybe senses some sort of apnea event..."
Which I think isn't correct, but maybe I misunderstood what you were saying.

Read #2 in what YOU posted back then. It's all there, in what you posted.

[foo]

Ok, I can see why the auto ramp feature isn’t liked, or understood.
If the pressure is at 4 until an event, that’s prolly the cause for frustration. A person may fall asleep early on in the ramp time while a pressure of 4 isn’t enough to provide any support.
Sure it ends ramp and goes up after the event but there is prolly enough discomfort at this stage to create dissatisfaction with it.
It won’t begin at your min ramp setting pressure? Is it locked at a pressure of 4?

I think our AHI numbers were a little high last night. Let’s get some good rest and try this again tomorrow.

[palerider]

Ok, I can see why the auto ramp feature isn’t liked, or understood.
If the pressure is at 4 until an event, that’s prolly the cause for frustration. A person may fall asleep early on in the ramp time while a pressure of 4 isn’t enough to provide any support.
Sure it ends ramp and goes up after the event but there is prolly enough discomfort at this stage to create dissatisfaction with it.
It won’t begin at your min ramp setting pressure? Is it locked at a pressure of 4?

I think our AHI numbers were a little high last night. Let’s get some good rest and try this again tomorrow.

Some of Respironics "features" aren't very well thought out, it seems. "EZ-Start" is a great one... start out with pressure WAY too low, and only bump it up one cm *a day* ... could be a week or two of crap use before pressure gets to where it needs to be.

[gwatuk]

Ok, I can see why the auto ramp feature isn’t liked, or understood.
If the pressure is at 4 until an event, that’s prolly the cause for frustration. A person may fall asleep early on in the ramp time while a pressure of 4 isn’t enough to provide any support.
Sure it ends ramp and goes up after the event but there is prolly enough discomfort at this stage to create dissatisfaction with it.
It won’t begin at your min ramp setting pressure? Is it locked at a pressure of 4?

I think our AHI numbers were a little high last night. Let’s get some good rest and try this again tomorrow.

Hi foo, no it's not locked at a pressure of 4, it starts at your ramp start setting.

Whether or not you find SmartRamp to be useful is obviously a personal preference.
I don't use it because I have no problems falling asleep with a ramp time of 20 minutes. And I have my minimum pressure set to 9 which is very close to what the machine usually uses through the night.
(If you're using the DreamMapper software you can see this in the results described as "90% Pressure". Last night for me this was 10.0)
So for me after 20 minutes the machine is guaranteed to be close to my therapeutic range.

Consider this scenario:
You decide to use SmartRamp.
Your ramp start pressure is 4
Your ramp time is 20 minutes
Your minimum pressure is 12
Your usual therapeutic range is 14 - 16
Let's say you fall asleep after 15 minutes and you start having apnea events immediately. The machine will still be at 4 and it will have to climb up to the point where it's treating your apneas. That's a fairly slow process and all the time you are having apneas.

But if you didn't use SmartRamp the machine pressure after 15 minutes would be 10, which is closer to your therapeutic range. So the time then taken for the machine to climb up to your therapeutic range will be shorter. So less apneas before your treatment starts.

[foo]

Ok, cool. I will try it at a higher setting during the smartramp.
I'll see what the data looks like after a couple of days.

EDIT:
Ok, I raised it by two each night. At 4 and 6, I was getting CA's during the ramp time. At 8, I no longer have the events. I also shortened the ramp time to 20 minutes from 30 minutes.