Prescribed Pressure

[romeeko]

I have jut received the Resmed Airsense 10 Friday 10/3/2014.
During the Sleep Study the technician had me at 5 for Pressure. It took a few moments to get use to it but 5 was not to hard to get use to
On 10/3/2014 the company came out to deliver the CPAP and offer training.
I received everything needed however the Technician explained that I was prescribed 5 for Pressure but with a Quattro FX Liberty Full mask he did not recommend that pressure and I should be at 7 due to carbon dioxide exhaling and being trapped. So he recommended I go to 7.
The First night I pulled off the mask due to the pressure because I felt like I could not breather into that pressure. Since the Mask clip broke I had to go to a backup P10 mask and it seemed as even more pressure due to the Nasal Pillows.
I changed the Setting to Pillows and tried 7.

Has anyone heard of this that the Sleep Study and Dr recommended 5 but the company that brought the CPAP out recommended higher?
Should I be fine with using it at 5?

On another note I have to get a replacement clip.

[Wulfman...]

There is a belief by some folks that a CPAP air pressure of 6 cm. or less may not be enough air flow to clear the carbon dioxide from a person's exhaled breath. In fact, there are variations of the following warning in many mask user instructions. This one was copied from the ResMed Ultra Mirage Full Face mask instructions.

WARNINGS AND CAUTIONS
• This mask should be used only with
flow generators (CPAP or bilevel)
recommended by your physician or
respiratory therapist. A mask should
not be used unless the flow generator
is turned on and operating properly.
The exhaust vent should never be
blocked.
Explanation of the Warning: Flow
generators are intended to be used
with special masks with connectors
which have vent holes or separate
exhaust vents to allow continuous flow
of air out of the mask. When the flow
generator is turned on and functioning
properly, new air from the flow
generator flushes the exhaled air out
through the attached mask exhaust
vent. However, when the flow
generator is not operating, enough
fresh air will not be provided through
the mask, and exhaled air may be
rebreathed. Rebreathing of exhaled air
for longer than several minutes can in
some circumstances lead to suffocation.
This warning applies to most models of
flow generators.
• The exhaust vent flow is lower at lower
mask pressures (see Pressure/Flow
Curve— section A). If the mask
pressure during expiration is too low,
there may not be enough exhaust vent
flow to completely flush the air delivery
hose of exhaled air before the start of
the next inspiration.

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Den

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[archangle]

You should be safe at a pressure of 4 cmH2O. It may feel uncomfortable due to the amount of exhaled air you're rebreathing.

You should adapt fairly quickly to exhaling against a pressure of 7. I'm using 16 and I often have to put my hand in the air stream to convince myself that the machine is running. Wearing the machine while awake reading or watching TV may help you adjust.

In theory, only the doctor is allowed to prescribe a change in pressure.