S9 Going from CPAP to APAP mode?

[Boxer 6]

How do I go from CPAP mode to APAP mode on the S9 Autoset? Can that change only be done by the clinician?

Thanks

Boxer 6

[Wulfman...]

How do I go from CPAP mode to APAP mode on the S9 Autoset? Can that change only be done by the clinician?

Thanks

Boxer 6

How? You go into the "setup" and make the change.

No. You can do it, too.


Den

[LinkC]

Let me just add that you can do it IF you feel competent to do so and take responsibility for for the outcome.

(If you don't feel competent, there are many here who will help you determine the appropriate settings.) I would do so myself but I'm not fluent in ResMed...

[TooGroggy]

That type of change can be made from what is called the Clinician's Setup Menu, so-called because ResMed intends it to be used by clinicians rather than patients.

You enter that menu by pressing the Setup button (located in lower right corner of the LCD) and the Push Dial button (located to the right of the LCD) at the same time for a few seconds. The patient therapy settings are under the Settings menu. I haven't tried it but I am guessing that setting the machine to CPAP mode requires nothing more than setting the minimum and maximum pressures to the same value.

[TooGroggy]

Oops, I read the title backward. If the machine is already working in CPAP, the min and max pressures should already be set to the same value. So you'll need to set them to different values. But do be sure you know what effect APAP mode can have on your therapy. For instance, setting too low a minimum may cause the machine to react too slowly to events thus reducing its effectiveness.

The initial prescription I got from my sleep doctor was for a pressure of 10 cm. I set my machine to a range of 6 cm to 12 cm and then carefully monitored the number of events and the pressure the machine was delivering throughout the night. I printed the first 10 days-worth of graphs for the doctor to review and she agreed that a range of 8 cm to 10 cm would be optimal.

[jmelby]

CPAP mode is not simply setting min and max pressures the same (though the effect is probably the same, that's not the way they are typically set). There will a setting for mode that you need to change to APAP before you can set minimum and maximum pressures.

[TooGroggy]

You're right jmelby. The first item on the first menu switches between CPAP and Autoset modes. For some reason, I thought I thought the "Autoset" displayed on my machine simply referred to the model I had.

I guess that only goes to prove everyone's point about making sure you know what you're doing before you mess with the machine.

[rested gal]

My guess... if an absolutely never-been-used-in-auto-mode-before autopap was already set for CPAP mode when Boxer received it, then going into the clinician setup menu and changing the mode of operation to "auto" and making no changes to the pressure settings will result in this:

The autopap will operate within a pressure range of 4 - 20. The default pressure settings from the factory. Wide open. Not the best way to use an autopap, imho. If I were going to switch it to "auto," I'd set the minimum pressure at the single pressure I had been using for "cpap," or no more than 2 cm below my "cpap" pressure. I'd leave the maximum pressure at 20. Or I'd set the maximum pressure four or five cms above the pressure I had been using for "cpap."

The most important pressure to set right for effective, smooth treatment with an autopap is the minimum pressure setting, imho. The minimum pressure should be set high enough to try to prevent obstructive apneas right from the start.

If leaks (mask leaks and/or mouth leaks if not using a Full Face mask) are not a problem, the maximum pressure setting usually doesn't matter much -- as long as the max is set high enough that there's some "ceiling" up there that doesn't ever get used. With leaks under control, it's unlikely the machine would have to use any of the high pressures at all, so it wouldn't matter if the max pressure setting is left at 20.

If a person using CPAP already knows he/she has significant mask or mouth leak problems, then the max pressure setting should be set at just two or three cms above the prescribed CPAP pressure until the person works out a solution to the leak issues.

Here are some discussions about the importance of the minimum pressure setting for an autopap:

Results: 1st night with Auto A-Flex (topic started by TSSleepy)
Two nights graphs posted using pressure range 4 - 20 and 10 - 20
viewtopic.php?p=348963#p348963

November 2008 Just got an APAP (topic started by turbosnore)
viewtopic.php?p=319619#p319619

October 2008 Turning off Aflex and Cflex (topic started by DoriC)
viewtopic.php?p=307265#p307265

September 2008 New Guy - Need Help w/Settings (topic started by alanhj13)
viewtopic.php?p=294319#p294319

Wulfman, DreamStalker, and ozij explain why autopaps make changes slowly.
December 2008 Why adjust APAP. Isn't it auto? (topic started by oxygenium65)
viewtopic.php?p=323218#p323218

[MoonBear]

Just to add another perspective, my S9 ranges between 4 and 20 with 95% at 13. I have gone from 101 episodes an hour to under 1 with the machine riding the highs and lows with ease. I am wonder what your numbers are? namaste, MoonBear

[Boxer 6]

This is all very good information everyone is sharing. I'm going to make the switch from CPAP to APAP and do some fine tuning.

[neeshu]

How do you get into the settings to make these changes?