Switching From CPAP to BiPAP and dont know what to expect

[bHello eVeryone!!!

I have only been on CPAP for almost two weeks. and already I am seeing the benefits. I am sleeping better and waking up with more energy. I went today to see my Resp Ther and he told me my doctor wants to change me to BiPAP. I have tried to read up om it but I wanted to here some peoples opinions on the two systems. Is one better than the other. Did you have better results with BiPaP? Please tell me what you think and what I may expect when I get switched over. Thanks for you help!!!!

Thomas][/b]

Unlike you, I did not do so well on CPAP or APAP. I had lots and lots of problems (you can search for posts by me (robysue) if you want the long version of the story) and multiple trips to the sleep doctor's office to talk to a very sympathetic PA.

At the end of November, my PA suggested a BiPAP titration study, which floored me---I really was not expecting that suggestion. The study did not go well due to massive insomnia, bui she and the doctor went ahead and recommended the switch to BiPAP anyway since I felt much more comfortable that night breathing with the machine during the 3 hours I awake after I had gotten about an hour and a half of sleep---and that hour and a half of sleep had been some of the best sleep I had gotten since starting CPAP some two months earlier.

I finally got my BiPAP on Dec. 21. I really like the way the bi-level pressure works in the sense that the pressure goes DOWN immediately when I start my exhale, and it stays down through my entire exhale---unlike what seemed to be going on with CPAP with exhalation relief. [Note, I have Bi-Flex turned OFF. I did try the Bi-Flex demo and found that I did NOT like it because I could feel the pressure start to increase back up to the full EPAP pressure during the middle of the exhale portion of each breath. But my pressure settings are low and breathing out against my EPAP is easy for me; breathing out against my (not very high IPAP, however is not. And my IPAP was my titrated CPAP pressure.

I find breathing with the BiPAP feels more natural than breathing with the CPAP/APAP ever did to me---even with exhalation relief turned on.

However, the PR S1 BiPAP that I'm now using is noticeably more noisy than ResMed S9 AutoSet APAP that I had been using. And I miss the much more detailed overnight data provided on-board by the S9. But being able to tolerate (and even seeing myself eventually come to enjoy) sleeping with the BiPAP is well worth the hassle of dealing with daily morning data downloads in to Encore Viewer and working on figuring out ways of masking the nightly noise.

And if you do follow up by reading other posts by me, It is also important to note that I am currently engaged in an all-out war with an insomnia monster. This round of insomnia first raised its ugly head very early in my CPAP therapy, although I have been prone to insomnia off and on throughout my life. I had thought things were beginning to get better in early November, but by late November, the insomnia took a turn for the worse. The switch to BiPAP---as a change in sleep environment---did not help matters. However it is important to realize that at this point I strongly believe that the BiPAP (unlike the CPAP/APAP machine) is NOT aggravating and feeding the insomnia beast. When I sleep with the BiPAP, I wake up feeling better and even a bit more rested. That was NOT happening with the CPAP.

twvHeathbar wrote:Hello eVeryone!!!

I have only been on CPAP for almost two weeks. and already I am seeing the benefits. I am sleeping better and waking up with more energy. I went today to see my Resp Ther and he told me my doctor wants to change me to BiPAP. I have tried to read up om it but I wanted to here some peoples opinions on the two systems. Is one better than the other. Did you have better results with BiPaP? Please tell me what you think and what I may expect when I get switched over. Thanks for you help!!!!

Thomas

Assuming you have poor vision, I am keeping the font size you used. Basically the BiPAP will be the same for you with one major exception. When you exhale, the pressure will be reduced. This makes it much easier to breathe during the night. Why have the different pressures? Well it might be that your prescribed pressure is so high that it interferes with normal breathing. Essentially if the pressure is so high that your muscles have a hard time breathing against it, then a bi-level machine helps. Or you might have lots of "arousals" (essentially, your body rouses just enough to interfere with normal sleep) when yuo breathe against the continuous pressure. In that case the lower exhalation pressure often helps reduce those and leads to better sleep. Either way, you should find it even easier to use. The only odd thing is the different pressures when you breathe in versus when you breathe out. Darth Vader, here we come!

twvHeathbar wrote:[bI went today to see my Resp Ther and he told me my doctor wants to change me to BiPAP. Is one better than the other.][/b]

Thomas,

It isn't that one is better than the other. There are all kinds of breathing problems, and many kinds of machines. The trick is to get a correct diagnosis, then get the right machine to treat that problem. Sometimes, it takes a bit of experimentation. Also, insurance companies often want proof that you need a BiPAP, and that proof comes from trying a CPAP machine first.

So, congrats on getting started, and welcome to the BiPAP club!

The only difference you will see with the BiPAP is that the pressure releases quite a bit when you breathe out. That makes it easier to breathe. It also makes it so that the inhale pressure can be set much higher, but without making it hard to exhale. The reason that a doctor might want to do this is two fold:

1) it might be that he/she wants to increase your inhale pressure, but it is really hard to exhale against CPAP at pressures above 13.

2) it might be that they are seeing central events. Being able to lower the exhale pressure can often fix that problem.

-john-