Advice on new BiPAP settings

I just switched to a BiLevel
Maximum IPAP: 15.0 cm of water
Minimum EPAP: 5.0 cm of water
Pressure Support: 4.0 cm water
It has only been two nights so I am still settling in and not worried about my numbers yet. However both nights I have had the feeling that I am right on the edge of not getting enough air. Pretty sure everything but pressure was left at default.
Is this low air feeling standard for BiLevel or is there something I should tweak?


I was using APAP with 8-14 and had trouble exhaling into pressure.

PoolQ wrote:I just switched to a BiLevel
Maximum IPAP: 15.0 cm of water
Minimum EPAP: 5.0 cm of water
Pressure Support: 4.0 cm water
It has only been two nights so I am still settling in and not worried about my numbers yet. However both nights I have had the feeling that I am right on the edge of not getting enough air. Pretty sure everything but pressure was left at default.
Is this low air feeling standard for BiLevel or is there something I should tweak?


I was using APAP with 8-14 and had trouble exhaling into pressure.

That's a really low EPAP (min). Maybe try bumping it up to 8 or 10 and see how that feels.

You should have alot of leeway with the settings in a BiPAP, so I'd be "tweaking" if I were you.


Den

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My settings are 16/12 and they work pretty good for me.

With EPAP of 5 and PS of 4 that means when starting the night you are at 5 exhale and 9 inhale...and you have been using 8 starting on your other machine...so you were use to it and these new settings are going to seem like not as much air is moving until you get used to it or increase the EPAP a little to force IPAP up a little if you keep PS of 4.

5 EPAP and 9 IPAP is on the low end of available settings since the lowest EPAP is 4 cm.

You might play with 6 or 7 EPAP to see if it feels more comfortable for you. Keep the 4 PS. See what happens. When going from APAP machine to bilevel like this...usually a person can get by with a little less than what their APAP minimum pressure might have been from a dealing with airway collapses aspect because the IPAP higher helps hold things open a little more.

All good advice. I tried EPAP at 8 and felt like a balloon. Dropped it down to 6.8 and took a nap, no shortage of air feeling and only an underinflated balloon
Planning on dropping it to 6 tonight and seeing how that does.
The feeling of exhaling into pressure is gone, until I tried the P10 which I still can't use.

Thanks for the input on this new machine, kind of used to how the DME and Doctor do zippo to help me get used to anything.

Glad to hear you're finding some better settings.......and more "air".


Den

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