Sanity Check - Switching Mode to CPAP from APAP

All,

I previously had my machine set to auto with the minimum pressure set to 14 and the max set to 16. I know that seems a rather tight range for auto-adjusting pressures and I agree. That's the main reason why I switched modes.

I set the min to 14 as I seem to spend most of my nights somewhere between the mid-14's to the mid-15's.
I set the max to 16 as I can't seem to train myself to stop aerophagia when the pressure gets above 16.

Then I got to thinking that if my pressure generally stays in the mid-14 to mid-15 range and only briefly peaks higher, I should try just setting the pressure accordingly. So I switched the machine to CPAP mode and have the pressure set to the lower end of the predominant pressure range my machine seems to gravitate to (set to 14.6). My AHI was 0.6 the first night I tried it and has stayed lower than I'm used to seeing since the change (been about a week). My "Better 3/4ths" has not reported any snoring issues, so I believe that's still under control at the fixed pressure.

So basically, I've used the APAP mode to determine where my pressure generally wants to be then switched it to CPAP mode at that pressure.

I presume that my pressure needs may change (over time) and I may need to make mid-course corrections when indicated. If my AHI starts climbing and stays up, I'll switch back to APAP mode for a week-ish and see where it wants to take me.

So, this message is a request for a quick sanity-check to see if perhaps there are other beneficial aspects to APAP that I'm missing -or- if there are any negatives about CPAP that I should consider.

I appreciate the advice!

Thanks,
-JD

I think you just do what works for you. Some people have said they experience increased waking as a result of APAP ramping up the pressure - so they potentially are deciding between decreased AHI or decreased waking when they decide between APAP mode and CPAP mode (I doubt that would be the case for you given the narrow range of pressures). A few years ago, I tried APAP mode and I experienced increased waking so switched the machine back to CPAP mode. Then about a year ago I switched to APAP mode to see if my old pressure settings were still right for me. I slept very well and my AHI's decreased from the 0.3 range to the 0.1 range during my 2 week APAP trial period, so I just left it in APAP mode.

I also believe you experiment and find what works for you.
I capped mine at 15 because the machine would raise pressure when I would get SWJ hypopneas,keeping me awake.
Now that things have leveled out I can go back to max setting if I want.
JPB