Dreamstation pressure suddenly low

Ken22000 · Post by **Ken22000** » Fri Sep 21, 2018 2:31 am

The machine was working well,,,,then suddenly I wasn't getting good see,,,I thought the mask was defective so I got a new mask....that's not the problem. What setting can I change to make it work better...of do you have any advice. Philips respironics dreamstation.. Thank you this is very important

LSAT · Post by **LSAT** » Fri Sep 21, 2018 4:26 am

What model Dreamstation? What are your current pressures? How do you know the pressure is low? Are you using Sleepyhead? What mask are you using?
What is your average overnight AHI?

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Fri Sep 21, 2018 5:25 pm

Ken, people here want to help you, but we need some feedback.
LSAT has asked for some very necessary information.
In addition, could you please fill in a couple more gaps:
--How long have you been using cpap?
--Can you tell us what your leak numbers look like?
Welcome to hosehead-land, where pillow talk is not dirty.

zonker · Post by **zonker** » Fri Sep 21, 2018 6:33 pm

Ken22000 wrote: ↑
Fri Sep 21, 2018 2:31 am
The machine was working well,,,,then suddenly I wasn't getting good see,,,I thought the mask was defective so I got a new mask....that's not the problem. What setting can I change to make it work better...of do you have any advice. Philips respironics dreamstation.. Thank you this is very important

yes, please help the good people here help you out. cpap therapy isn't one size fits all. each of us is just a bit different in what we use as our machines and masks. and so the advice the good folk here will give you depends a lot on what all you can tell them.

please read this post-

viewtopic/t172378/Sticky--Newbies-PLEAS ... STING.html

and good luck!

JonInSouthDakota · Post by **JonInSouthDakota** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 11:29 am

My Dreamstation just began to do something similar. It would start making it very hard to breathe in and would suck the mask into my face. I set it on a very high pressure and hardly any air coming from machine. After messing with it awhile, I took a look at the filters.

The ultrafine filter was clogged with a fine white powder and was severely hindering airflow. I chucked it in the trash and went with the standard larger less restrictive filter it comes with and I am back in business.

This just happened to me last week. I won't be going back to such a fine filter any longer. Phillips says it is optional anyway.

This problem made two nights almost unbearable and prompted me to purchase a backup machine. Realized how important it was for me to 100% of the time have a functioning unit. Now I have two operational machines and I am feeling confident.

hymie · Post by **hymie** » Fri Jun 14, 2019 4:47 am

Sorry to dredge up an old post, but I'm having the same problem.

My CPAP was working fine for a few months. Then I took out the big blue reusable filter, rinsed it, let it sit overnight, and put it back in. Now my air pressure is extremely low.

You asked the OP "how do you know the pressure is low". I can feel it. I don't know how to describe it. I have an old CPAP set to 16 cm h2o and when i use it, I feel air pressure. My Dreamstation is set to a minimum of 12. The 90% level is 19, and the pressure is nowhere near the old one. With the old CPAP, air rushes into my nose and uncomfortably out of my mouth. With the Dreamstation, I can wear the mask, sit comfortably, and have a conversation with my wife without the air pressure impacting it.

My 7-day AHI is 17.5 ; my 30-day AHI is 13.

I took the filter out completely, but that didn't help.

--hymie!

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:44 am

hymie wrote: ↑
Fri Jun 14, 2019 4:47 am
Sorry to dredge up an old post, but I'm having the same problem.

My CPAP was working fine for a few months. Then I took out the big blue reusable filter, rinsed it, let it sit overnight, and put it back in. Now my air pressure is extremely low.

You asked the OP "how do you know the pressure is low". I can feel it. I don't know how to describe it. I have an old CPAP set to 16 cm h2o and when i use it, I feel air pressure. My Dreamstation is set to a minimum of 12. The 90% level is 19, and the pressure is nowhere near the old one. With the old CPAP, air rushes into my nose and uncomfortably out of my mouth. With the Dreamstation, I can wear the mask, sit comfortably, and have a conversation with my wife without the air pressure impacting it.

My 7-day AHI is 17.5 ; my 30-day AHI is 13.

I took the filter out completely, but that didn't help.

--hymie!

12 is nowhere near as high as 16.

90% is better thought of as 'max' pressure, the "90%" confuses people.

The only way to know, for sure, if your pressure is wrong is to use a manometer to measure it.

Subjective pressure evaluations are very imprecise.

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:50 am

JonInSouthDakota wrote: ↑
Sat Oct 13, 2018 11:29 am
My Dreamstation just began to do something similar. It would start making it very hard to breathe in and would suck the mask into my face. I set it on a very high pressure and hardly any air coming from machine. After messing with it awhile, I took a look at the filters.

The ultrafine filter was clogged with a fine white powder and was severely hindering airflow. I chucked it in the trash and went with the standard larger less restrictive filter it comes with and I am back in business.

This just happened to me last week. I won't be going back to such a fine filter any longer. Phillips says it is optional anyway.

This problem made two nights almost unbearable and prompted me to purchase a backup machine. Realized how important it was for me to 100% of the time have a functioning unit. Now I have two operational machines and I am feeling confident.

By doing that where is that White Powder going to go, In your Lungs! You fire the filter for working when you need to find the source of the White Powder and remove it from you life.. Not the solution I would count on! Jim

hymie · Post by **hymie** » Fri Jun 14, 2019 12:29 pm

With all due respect, if you're not going to trust me, then why am I even bothering to be here. I don't have a full physics lab to do the measurements you ask for. My CPAP worked correctly for several months. Now the pressure is lower. How do I know it's lower? Because I've been using it for several months and I can tell the difference. Because up until now, the 90% value has been around 14 ish, and now it's closer to 19, which tells me that whatever pressure the CPAP **thinks** it is providing, my body says it's not enough pressure and the CPAP wants to give it more, but the maximum is 20. I'm pretty sure I know what the 90% means -- it means "90% of the time, the pressure has been this value or lower". It's constantly trying to increase the pressure because I'm not sleeping because ... gasp ... the pressure is too low.

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Fri Jun 14, 2019 12:43 pm

hymie wrote: ↑
Fri Jun 14, 2019 12:29 pm
With all due respect, if you're not going to trust me, then why am I even bothering to be here.

Anybody that trusts subjective measurements ends up giving bad advice.

hymie wrote: ↑
Fri Jun 14, 2019 12:29 pm
I don't have a full physics lab to do the measurements you ask for.

One doesn't need a 'full physics lab', one needs either a home made manometer, or an inexpensive digital manometer from eBay.

hymie wrote: ↑
Fri Jun 14, 2019 12:29 pm
My CPAP worked correctly for several months. Now the pressure is lower. How do I know it's lower? Because I've been using it for several months and I can tell the difference.

What you may not know is that it is *exceedingly common* for people, after a few months, to become so used to the pressure that what they originally thought was terrible pressure is now barely noticeable.

hymie wrote: ↑
Fri Jun 14, 2019 12:29 pm
.. the pressure is too low.

Cheap digital manometer...

Or take it back to your DME and have them test the pressure.

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Fri Jun 14, 2019 12:50 pm

hymie wrote: ↑
Fri Jun 14, 2019 12:29 pm
With all due respect, if you're not going to trust me, then why am I even bothering to be here. I don't have a full physics lab to do the measurements you ask for. My CPAP worked correctly for several months. Now the pressure is lower. How do I know it's lower? Because I've been using it for several months and I can tell the difference. Because up until now, the 90% value has been around 14 ish, and now it's closer to 19, which tells me that whatever pressure the CPAP **thinks** it is providing, my body says it's not enough pressure and the CPAP wants to give it more, but the maximum is 20. I'm pretty sure I know what the 90% means -- it means "90% of the time, the pressure has been this value or lower". It's constantly trying to increase the pressure because I'm not sleeping because ... gasp ... the pressure is too low.

You don't have a plastic bucket, water and a ruler with centimeter measurements? That's all you need to check the pressure of your machine. I used that method for years.

search.php?keywords=%22homemade+manometer%22

Other than trying to check it yourself, take it to a local DME (or find a hospital Respiratory Therapist)and have them check it with a manometer.

Den

.

kernelhappy · Post by **kernelhappy** » Thu Apr 23, 2020 7:44 am

I think I know what OP's problem possibly was, at least for my machine, a Dreamstation Auto BiPap.

My machine had been working well and my therapy was consistently pretty good (AHI < 3) until my machine suddenly stopped making good pressure the other night. It was so bad that I couldn't get my mask to leak from the normal places and it felt like I was drawing against the machine rather than the machine assisting.

In short I had BiFlex enabled and I don't know if BiFlex is a "learning" feature and maybe it just became too smart for me but disabling it seems to have resolved the issue.

I tried googling and the only threads I found were here and it seemed like everyone wanted to concentrate on form of question rather than listening to OP when he said it suddenly changed.

TLDR; if you have a Dreamstation BiPap and it suddenly makes low pressure without any setting changes, try disabling BiFlex.

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Thu Apr 23, 2020 9:36 am

kernelhappy wrote: ↑
Thu Apr 23, 2020 7:44 am
I think I know what OP's problem possibly was, at least for my machine, a Dreamstation Auto BiPap.

My machine had been working well and my therapy was consistently pretty good (AHI < 3) until my machine suddenly stopped making good pressure the other night. It was so bad that I couldn't get my mask to leak from the normal places and it felt like I was drawing against the machine rather than the machine assisting.

In short I had BiFlex enabled and I don't know if BiFlex is a "learning" feature and maybe it just became too smart for me but disabling it seems to have resolved the issue. ....try disabling BiFlex.

It doesn't work that way. It doesn't "learn" anything.

Therion · Post by **Therion** » Wed Dec 30, 2020 6:17 pm

Wow, most of the replies are so rude.

I have the same issue, almost no pressure at all. Last night, the machine was not sending any 'air' and I woke up gasping.

jms61782 · Post by **jms61782** » Mon Dec 05, 2022 10:04 pm

Therion wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 30, 2020 6:17 pm
Wow, most of the replies are so rude.

I have the same issue, almost no pressure at all. Last night, the machine was not sending any 'air' and I woke up gasping.

kernelhappy wrote: ↑
Thu Apr 23, 2020 7:44 am
I think I know what OP's problem possibly was, at least for my machine, a Dreamstation Auto BiPap.

My machine had been working well and my therapy was consistently pretty good (AHI < 3) until my machine suddenly stopped making good pressure the other night. It was so bad that I couldn't get my mask to leak from the normal places and it felt like I was drawing against the machine rather than the machine assisting.

In short I had BiFlex enabled and I don't know if BiFlex is a "learning" feature and maybe it just became too smart for me but disabling it seems to have resolved the issue.

I tried googling and the only threads I found were here and it seemed like everyone wanted to concentrate on form of question rather than listening to OP when he said it suddenly changed.

TLDR; if you have a Dreamstation BiPap and it suddenly makes low pressure without any setting changes, try disabling BiFlex.

I know. It's as though most of the people who posted those "replies" both 1) are employed by Philips and 2) are jerks. Not that it's surprising; great example of why I never engage with "people" on the internet unless necessary.

I had the same problem. I had not changed any settings, and the pressure one night just dropped to a 6 and pretty much stayed there. It was so low that another time, I'd actually been sleeping with the mask on and the machine accidentally turned off, and I didn't even notice the difference between "off" and the new inexplicably low pressure.

I've messed around with some provider settings and it seems to be working a bit better now. But I did not change anything about it; it just suddenly stopped working, as it did for you guys.

I hope you've been able to sort it out and I'm glad to know that there are legitimate people here who care about breathing.

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