bipap v's cpap

can somebody please tell me the differance between bipap & cpap. is bipap for a different condition very curiouse, jean

BiPap basically has two pressure setting, your inhale pressure and a lower exhale pressure. With regular BiPaps sometimes the timing is off, so you still have a delay when exhaling or inhaling. With the ones with CFlex (Respironics) it is better timed, or that is my understanding.
CPAP is continuous one pressure only. AutoCPAP or APAP is pressure that changes with need of your airway.

hello janelle,
can i ask, are they used for differnt conditions why would a doctor prescribe a bipap as apposed to a cpap thanx, jean

Janelle is correct about BiPaps having two settings - one for inhaling and a lower one for exhaling.

C-flex, however, is Respironics name for a feature some Respironics cpaps and autopap have. A machine with C-Flex isn't a BiPap machine. C-Flex offers 3 levels for some drop in exhalation pressure. But even the company reps don't seem to say exactly "how much" drop those three levels represent, other than "a little, "more" and "most drop". C-flex can certainly give pressure relief on exhalation, but a true Bilevel machine allows for precise adjustment of any range between inhalation and exhalation pressure. The inhalation/exhalation range could be set much wider apart on a BiLevel machine, if need be, than on one with C-flex.

Cpap with C-flex (or autopap with C-flex) and "BiPap (BiLevel machines)" are really two completely different breeds. BiPap is usually prescribed for people who have to use a very high pressure. The lower exhalation pressure is easier for them to breathe out against. There are probably quite a few people who need or want relief during exhalation, for which either type of machine would actually do fine - a machine with C-flex or a true BiLevel machine. But a true bilevel machine, popularly referred to as a "BiPap", often is the machine of choice for people at any pressure, even low pressures, if they have weak lungs, asthma or other conditions that make breathing out against any pressure difficult and which require no guessing about how much the pressure drop should be for their exhalation.

As Janelle mentioned, there are even more tweaks that can be done to some of the BiPaps (ResMed's VPAP III, for example, which is ResMed's trade name for their BiLevel machine - it's a "bipap".) However, extreme tweakability, while good for certain specific cases, also can be a problem to get "right" - to get in sync with an individual's breathing pattern, especially if the therapist or person setting up the machine is not very knowledgeable about the various settings.

Respironics holds the trade name of BIPAP. Remed holds the trade name of VPAP. Both are bilevel machines.

T

rested gal said:
C-flex, however, is Respironics name for a feature some Respironics cpaps and autopap have. A machine with C-Flex isn't a BiPap machine.


Respironics has a feature similar to C-flex on their Bi-paps called Biflex. I think it is essentially the same though.

Biflex is just like C-Flex. BiFlex came first then Respironics incorporated it into the CPAP. It is a very nice feature for comfort and a feeling of natural breathing.

I have the bi-pap pro. While the pressures are preset and are adjustable if need be, the actual inhale and exhale is controlled by your breathing. The machine response to your inhaling by incressing the pressure and it then decreases when you exhale. This is not preset. I do think the machine sets a pattern and when you sleep it uses that pattern for rhythem. Mine works fine for me.

And here I thought a bipap was a user who goes both ways: CPAP or APAP.

Too easy? Yeah, I thought so. Ah well, they can't all be gems.

Liam, who'd write this closing line in French as a sort of "bilingual" joke, but he doesn't know French. C'est la vie.

I had a problem starting with the CPAP. (This will sound familiar)
Every night I would wake up after two or three hours and take off my mask. In the morning I couldn't remember why. I thought maybe I wasn't able to breath.
At the three month check up, I told my doctor, and he order a new test with a BiPap. My pressure was bumped up from 10 to 14, and I was responding better.
I have a Respironics BiPAP Pro 2 with C-flex. Works GREAT!!!!!!
I sleep all night with my Nasal Aire II mask, very seldom ever wake up to even pee.
I am 62 and feel it is makeing a change in my life. It was not spectacular, but it gets better every day. I seldom take any naps, when I used to take 2-3 and sometimes four a day.
Last night was an 11 hour sleep night.
I would never go back to CPAP.

Good Luck...........

I guess it could be either way or even straight
I use a bipap to ML. I do usually wake up once a night. I sleep either 4-5 hrs, wake up and either go pee or back to sleep. Might have been the constant pressure of the cpap waking you up. The bipap sort of breathes with you and matchs your rhythem. They never put me on a cpap so I really don't know. I started on the bipap. They said I had sever sleep apnea. Not sure how they figured that since I slept very little if any during the test. I am 60 and mine is 12/8. I just bought a pro 2 with the humidifier as a back up. Think maybe I have become dependant on it since my insurance has stopped paying on SA a long time ago. I had a lifetime amount of $2500. Let's go together and get the software ML