New to this and have question

I did a home sleep test and then was prescribed a resmed apap machine. When I picked it up,
I think the lady said my number was 6 or 8. When I put the mask on and breathe everything is fine.
The mask doesn't leak and I can feel pressure. I wake up every couple of hours and the air pressure is crazy.
Machine says 14.7 and the mask is leaking like craZy. I turn off the machine and start the whole process over.
What is going on and is this normal?

Ewathen wrote:I did a home sleep test and then was prescribed a resmed apap machine. When I picked it up,
I think the lady said my number was 6 or 8. When I put the mask on and breathe everything is fine.
The mask doesn't leak and I can feel pressure. I wake up every couple of hours and the air pressure is crazy.
Machine says 14.7 and the mask is leaking like craZy. I turn off the machine and start the whole process over.
What is going on and is this normal?

Hi Ewathen -- It sounds like your APAP machine settings (min and max) might be wide open. If your machine shows it's blowing at 14.7, then your max pressure setting is at least that high. I'm wondering if the lady at the DME was really saying that 6 or 8 is your starting pressure.

To see what your actual pressure settings are, go into the clinician menu on your machine. Here's a tutorial for the S9 machines: http://www.cpaplibrary.com/machines.html
This will show you how to access the clinician menu where you can see what your pressure settings are.

You may also have the Ramp feature turned on -- Ramp starts you at a lower pressure and then climbs up to your prescribed pressure(s). The duration of the Ramp period can be set on your machine or can even be turned off. But first let's find out your pressure settings.

Do you have a copy of your cpap prescription? That should show you the range of pressures that your doc prescribed. It's a good idea to have a copy of your prescription for a number of reasons.


Hope this helps.

It seems as your autopap is working as it should. When I use the autopap mode... It can wake me up blowin' "like there is no tomorrow". This is one of the pitfalls of the autopap mode... the adjusting air pressure delivery is changing and can wake you up. Don't worry, it will not take long and you will adjust to it. Know that when you first mask-up at night, you are adjusting your mask straps' tension to the lower pressure. As the need to treat an apnea incident during the night, the pressure will increase and the mask adjustment will play a roll in leaking or not. Also, our facial muscles will relax during the night... which will also affect the mask strap tension. You'll get the hang of it shortly.

Sheriff

It's normal for an A- machine to "ramp up" as you sleep and blow pretty hard in the wee hours. If it wakes you up, just work at adjusting the straps so that you don't get leakage at the hard pressure. Yeah, you're awake now, but over time you'll find that perfect spot where you sleep through that .

Thanks! I think I need a different mask. Going back to therapist to try on other ones