Using Philips Resperonics Bi-pap Auto SV Machine and unsure

As stated above, I use a Philips Resperonics Bi-pap Auto SV machine and neither I, nor my husband sleeping beside me, can hear my machine when the red light comes on and alarm goes off. Even though the particular warning that has sounded recently was only a filter replacement alarm and light, I get really scared thinking of it going off, my husband not hearing, as I have stopped breathing and he needs to be aware of this fact, and what could happen as a final result of the alarm not sounding loud or different enough to wake him. Having both Obstructive, and Central, Sllep apnea, in addition to Narcolepsy during wakiing hours, I worry about passing away and him finding me that way, merely because an alarm on my Bi-pap wasn't loud or intensive enough to jar one from their sleep.

Has anyone else encountered this scary problem, and if so, what kind of machine do you own, and if you have solved this problem of a too quiet alarm? Oh by the way, please don't suggest turning the alarm volume up in the machine settings. I tried that one ages ago! One more thing that I thought of is, my husband has a slight, and I really do mean slight, hearing loss, but as I don't hear it going off either, we do not attribute it to that.

Hi bargainmom10,

Cpap masks are designed so that you can continue to breathe even if the machine goes off. It won't be comfortable and it will, in all probability, wake you up due to the increased breathing effort but you CAN breathe. It is designed into the system. Power failures are not uncommon and if the power went out, any alarm in the cpap, no mater how loud, would not be able to work.

Respirators, which I unfortunately have experience with, are a different matter. They are breathing for you. Your cpap machine is not breathing for you, it's just providing enough pressure to keep the airway open. Without it, you won't sleep well but you also won't suffocate.

Some long time ago when I was using a Respironics Auto BiPap machine, the plug pulled out of the wall and turned the machine off. I eventually woke up 45 minutes later and noticed (got the number from looking at the data later.)

So, you can still breathe with the mask on and the machine off.

However, for us users of the Respironics ASV machine, it has a ventilator mode in which the machine does breathe for you and possibly for extended periods of time. My longest time was just over two hours in which I didn't initiate a breath.

Depending on the severity of your central apnea episodes at night, this might be a problem. My solution was to get an uninterruptible power supply like used for computers and power the machine via that. Mine is called CyberPower and is good for over two hours in case of power failure. It's alarm is much louder than the one in the ASV unit. Other folks on this forum have made their own systems that will last for more than 8 hours.

Here is a link to their web page for my unit:
CyberPower CP1350AVRLCD. Their page estimates run time for the full load of 900 watts which is misleading for CPAP machines. Our ASV machines with humidifier only uses less than 80 watts, less than 10% of the capacity. In a power failure last summer, mine lasted over two hours for my ASV machine.

I did not know about ASV machines - thank you for explaining it. Are the masks used with ASV machines any different or are they used with standard cpap masks?

I agree that a UPS may be the best solution in this case. I also have a cyberpower and they make top-notch stuff, much better than APC and others. Also note that you can buy them at both amazon and costco.

You will need to be very careful to buy a model that has the right alarm options. Some, especially the cheaper ones, will turn on the alarm as soon as the AC power goes off. That is NOT what you want. You want one with a most sophisticated alarm that has the option of only turning on the alarm when the battery gets low - not every time the AC power goes off or low. So make sure you download the manuals for models you are considering and verify that they have this feature.

For mask purposes, the same type of masks are available. The one caveat is that the mask must be capable of handling higher pressures than straight CPAP machines. Those generally only go to 20 cmH2O while ASV machines got to 25 cmH2O. Ventilators are a different beast and some go to much higher pressures.