How do I "simulate" an apnea event to see if my CPAP works

[Arca]

I used to be able to cough or laugh with my mask on to simulate an apnea event my laughing or coughing with my mask on, as the pressure would go up when I did that. Now that's not working for some reason. I have a resmed airsense 10. How do I "simulate" an apnea event to see if it works?

[DreamStalker]

I used to be able to cough or laugh with my mask on to simulate an apnea event my laughing or coughing with my mask on, as the pressure would go up when I did that. Now that's not working for some reason. I have a resmed airsense 10. How do I "simulate" an apnea event to see if it works?

Ummm ... you have to sleep with a properly fitted mask. The machine has a microchip in it with programmed algorithms that let it know when you're asleep, been naughty or bad .... like Santa Clause.

Seriously though, you just have to sleep with it to find out if or how well it works.

[rayfree]

Put mask on, turn on machine, hold breath as long as possible.

[palerider]

I used to be able to cough or laugh with my mask on to simulate an apnea event my laughing or coughing with my mask on, as the pressure would go up when I did that. Now that's not working for some reason. I have a resmed airsense 10. How do I "simulate" an apnea event to see if it works?

coughing, or laughing should never register as an event, because an apnea event has to last 10 seconds, or longer to count.

you can hold your breath for 10-15 seconds and that should be recorded as an event. the pressure won't necessarily change depending on whether your throat stays open or not, but you can look at the data to see what the machine registered the event as, obstructive or central.

what reason do you have not to trust the machine?

[Wulfman...]

I used to be able to cough or laugh with my mask on to simulate an apnea event my laughing or coughing with my mask on, as the pressure would go up when I did that. Now that's not working for some reason. I have a resmed airsense 10. How do I "simulate" an apnea event to see if it works?

First of all, which specific model do you have?
There's a "plain" Airsense 10 which is a single-pressure, non-data-capable machine that won't increase pressure no matter how long you hold your breath (because it's a straight-pressure machine).

The only Airsense 10 machines that are auto-adjusting machines are the "Autoset" and the "Autoset for Her". And, they would need to be set to a range of pressures first. Then, it may or may not increase pressures if you try to simulate apneas. Coughing or laughing to get a machine to increase pressures is nonsense. They need something like a Flow Limitation or Snore to increase pressures.

So, which machine do you actually have?


Den

.

[yaconsult]

The best way to see how well your cpap is working is to examine the data recorded on the SD card with the wonderful, free SleepHead software - while you are actually SLEEPING!

The machine has no idea if you are awake or asleep. It can only react to the breathing it senses in the way it has been programmed to do to best treat apnea. Different machines react in different ways and Resmed machines tend to be less aggressive in their response.

The machine itself does lots of checking for hardware and software errors and will beep and show error messages when they are detected. Unless you see these or are still having problems after sleep all night with cpap, assume that everything is working as it should be. But, again, SleepyHead is the way to go - you can see every breath that you took all night long.

[cands]

I have an Airsense 10 Autoset. The machine is smart enough to recognise a cough.
To 'test' pressure increase reaction you can:
1. Hold your breath
2. Make fake snoring sounds.

I did both of these when both the machine and I were brand new, for curiosity's sake

[Goofproof]

Check under your pillow, like the Tooth Fairy, clues will appear under your pillow. Jim

[Pneumophile]

If I make fake snoring sounds my wife might hit me with a pillow. fugedabaaadit

[McSleepy]

From the ResMed AirSense 10 clinician's manual (apparently, ResMed has given up on its secrecy as it is freely available for download from their website; it came up with a simple search):

"AutoSet mode
The treatment pressure required by the patient may vary due to changes in sleep state, body position and airway resistance. In AutoSet mode, the device provides only that amount of pressure required to maintain upper airway patency.
The device analyzes the state of the patient’s upper airway on a breath-by-breath basis and delivers pressure within the allowed range according to the degree of obstruction. The AutoSet algorithm adjusts treatment pressure as a function of three parameters: inspiratory flow limitation, snore, and apnea."

There are some details further down, but here is one that's interesting:

"When a central apnea is detected, the device responds appropriately by not increasing pressure."

There may be other versions of this manual, or other sources, as this one is not very detailed. I have seen descriptions of the exact mechanisms used on my machine to distinguish between obstructive and central apneas, including the exact durations for hypopnea and apnea (including a severity classification), but it's not in this manual. For example, my machine uses a series of pressure-modulated waves to determine whether the airway is blocked or clear to classify the event accordingly. If the 10the generation machines use the same mechanism, you could simulate a classic OA by raising the back of your tongue to block your throat (those of us with OSA should be naturals in that simulation).

I hope this helps.

McSleepy

[N24]

I have an AirSense 10 Autoset. I held my breath for 50 seconds which is about as long as I can hold it and it didn't adjust the events counter. So does this mean I've been not breathing for more than 50 seconds? Or is the data generated by my machine random BS?

[Pugsy]

I have an AirSense 10 Autoset. I held my breath for 50 seconds which is about as long as I can hold it and it didn't adjust the events counter. So does this mean I've been not breathing for more than 50 seconds? Or is the data generated by my machine random BS?

What are you using to monitor the "events counter".....software or the machine's LCD screen?

At most the 50 second cessation of breathing will be counted as 1 event and probably a central apnea event.
If looking at the LCD screen...1 event isn't enough to alter overall average AHI which encompasses the entire night.
Using the software and zooming in up close you could see the lack of air flow but again it won't change the numbers themselves all that much.

The data generated by the machine is far from being BS.

[palerider]

I have an AirSense 10 Autoset. I held my breath for 50 seconds which is about as long as I can hold it and it didn't adjust the events counter. So does this mean I've been not breathing for more than 50 seconds? Or is the data generated by my machine random BS?

You don't, the machine is smarter than you.

[Goofproof]

Learn to treat your Sleep Apnea, spend less time playing with it. Play with the T.V. remote, that is more productive. Jim

[N24]

Thanks for the constructive answer, Pugsy.

Can you explain a little more what you mean by "Using the software and zooming in up close".

I'm looking at the LCD screen and it measures events within 1 decimal place. So if I'm averaging 4.1 events per hour, one additional event should alter that number. Since that number isn't changing it means that it doesn't count events within a certain time range of startup, or it fails to count events like 'not breathing'. Which is why I'm wondering what it does count.

For the rest of the gallery offering snarky comments: I'm sure your faith in technology is paying off. Just keep dreaming.