auto? What exactly is it supposed to do?

[joe n]

I have the M series auto machine.
What does the auto function do?
I wake at times when the pressure ramps up to the higher pressures, should the auto function detect normal breathing and reduce the pressure? I lay there breathing normally and the pressure stays at the 17 pressure, it is hard to go back to sleep.
The ads say the auto function should adjust the pressure with each breath, what don't I understand?

[DreamStalker]

"Auto" means that the machine auto adjusts the pressure based on your breathing patterns. So if you begin to have apneas, it will increase pressure to stent open your throat and stop the apneas. This occurs only if you have the feature on.

Your machine also has "A-FLEX" exhalation relief so that it lowers pressure so that you can breathe more naturally. When one breathes out (exhales) the pressure may rise suddenly since we are breathing against pressure while using the machine. The A-FLEX senses when you exhale and reduces pressure during the exhalation phase of your breathing. This occurs only if you have the feature on.

Welcome to the forum and start your steep learning curve by reading as much as possible.

First Law = Not give up!
Second Law = Take control of your own treatment ... both management and monitoring.
Third Law = Educate yourself here on this forum ... other forums only pretend to educate.

[Wulfman]

I have the M series auto machine.
What does the auto function do?
I wake at times when the pressure ramps up to the higher pressures, should the auto function detect normal breathing and reduce the pressure? I lay there breathing normally and the pressure stays at the 17 pressure, it is hard to go back to sleep.
The ads say the auto function should adjust the pressure with each breath, what don't I understand?

You might want to read some of these links.

our-collective-cpap-wisdom/reasons-APAP.html

http://smart-sleep-apnea.blogspot.com/

http://www.cpap-supply.com/Articles.asp?ID=123

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-auto ... achine.htm

Autotitrating CPAP machines, aka, autocpap machines and autotitration CPAP machines. (An auto-titration CPAP machine measures a patient’s inhalation and exhalation on a breath-by-breath basis, automatically adjusting the system’s in/out air pressure in response to the sleeper’s varying needs.)


It's my understanding that these machines were originally designed to provide titration in circumstances where a typical sleep study titration was unsuccessful. They would come closer to figuring out what SINGLE (CPAP) pressure was better-suited for the patient.
In the ensuing years, they became more frequently used in nightly therapy. Used in a range of pressures, they do not necessarily give "better" therapy, due to the changing pressures and their slow responses to events. There is a broad misconception that they "automatically" go to the needed pressure to "prevent" events. This is not necessarily the case and in a poorly configured machine it is far from the truth.
For some people they work and for others they don't.


Den

[elena88]

I discovered my titration pressure was 8.9 from an auto..
However, on my two month followup the graphs show the pressure going up to 16, 17, 18, even 19.
There is another thread DOES RAINOUT CAUSE OVER TITRATION.. which I think explains why my pressures went up and stayed up..

I had turned up the humidity
full blast to the last setting, and had a lot of water in the tube, which on that thread, it said that
the machine may read that water bubbling in your tube as an obstruction.. That makes a lot of sense to me..

so just tossing that out there in case you had your humidity cranked up..

[Big Daddy RRT,RPSGT]

Even with Auto you may need to use your "ramp" button to lower your pressure to get back to sleep. After a while most don't need this but at first many do. Keep trying!