Recommend a new machine

I'd like to hear your recommendations on what CPAP/APAP machine you would purchase today if you were buying one yourself.

I believe I was told that APAP machines can also be set to run as CPAP on a fixed pressure setting. Is that correct?

APAP machines have a CPAP mode.

1. Resmed Airsense 10 autoset for her. (even if you are a male).

Cardsfan wrote:APAP machines have a CPAP mode.

1. Resmed Airsense 10 autoset for her. (even if you are a male).

+1

resmed s9 vpap auto, or aircurve 10 vauto. (same machine, different case)

it can act like a cpap, an apap, an fixed bilevel and an autobilevel, and has a LOT of customizations to make it feel just right.

My DME provided me a PR 760 and it worked fine and was what I needed to travel with because it is 12 volt and works easier on battery. BUT, I bought on my own an Aircurve 10 Vauto with 0 hrs from someone on the forum. Now the Aircurve has 1st place at home. I just feel that breathing feels more natural and easier with the Aircurve. The 760 is now my backup travel machine. Both machines work fine for my apnea so it comes down to evaluating what one has and the other does not such as flow limitations monitoring or the difference between EPR and flex settings, etc.

Does anyone have the new respironics dreamstation?

davep700 wrote:I'd like to hear your recommendations on what CPAP/APAP machine you would purchase today if you were buying one yourself.

I believe I was told that APAP machines can also be set to run as CPAP on a fixed pressure setting. Is that correct?

I would buy nothing but an APAP. No sense in buying outdated technology UNLESS there is a reason that you can never use APAP (that is the case for some people with heart/blood pressure problems). Even if that is the case, you would want to get a machine that gives you real data and not just nighttime summaries. So pretty much anything that works with Sleepyhead.

Note: the Dream Machine is just a redesign. No actual operation improvement. While the 560 series are ugly, they work just the same. The main difference is that if you have dexterity issues, I think it's a lot easier to fill the humidifier in the Dream machine than with the 560 series (my brother is unable to do it, for instance, but would have been able to do so with the Dream Machine).

OkyDoky wrote: I just feel that breathing feels more natural and easier with the Aircurve.

I've heard this from a number of people. (and feel that way myself)

palerider wrote:

OkyDoky wrote: I just feel that breathing feels more natural and easier with the Aircurve.

I've heard this from a number of people. (and feel that way myself)

OkyDoky and Palerider,

I'm learning something new here. I always thought these machines were for people with specific medical issues.
What I hear you saying is that they may be beneficial for people who are very sensitive, for lack of a better word at the moment. Is that right?
Thank you,
Kathy

Sonnyboy wrote:I'm learning something new here. I always thought these machines were for people with specific medical issues.
What I hear you saying is that they may be beneficial for people who are very sensitive, for lack of a better word at the moment. Is that right?

I don't know about 'beneficial' but they can be more comfortable, I suppose that's a benefit.

typically, when one is being wrung through the 'system' they don't start talking about bilevel unless you fail, somehow, on cpap/apap.

however, some folks feel that a greater difference between inhale and exhale pressures helps them feel more comfortable, and, in the case of the resmed machines (and only the resmeds as far as I know) you can tweak the way the machine switches between pressures. there are settings to make it more, or less sensitive... so if you feel you have to start too much of an inhale before pressure goes up, you can make the machine more sensitive. if you feel it's switching to inhale pressure too easily, you can make it less sensitive.

same for the beginning of the exhale. you can also change how long the machine will stay at the inhale pressure.

speaking for myself, after looking over a bunch of my sleepyhead reports, I saw that at a lot of times, I'd be wanting to take slow breaths with longer inhales, and the machine was cutting off after 2 seconds, prompting me to exhale earlier, so I bumped up the max time it'd stay at inhale pressure. also, a number of times before an apnea, I'd see very small bumps on the flow graph, looking like I might have been trying to inhale, but maybe my throat was already starting to close, so I set the trigger to very sensitive, and the pressure would then go up when I started to inhale even a little, and my AHI came down a bit more.

as it is now, I don't even notice the change of pressures as I breath in and out, it feels completely natural and smooth.

all that said, i don't *NEED* a bilevel machine, i don't have any of the lung issues that are typical qualifications for one, but I found one at a great price while searching for an autoset, and I took it. I like it a lot better than the 560 I had before, and after letting my bedmate use the 560, and getting annoyed by the faint up and down whine of its fan as it responded to breathing, I picked up another vpap auto and sold the 560... the resmed vpap auto is quieter than the respironics 560.

Sonnyboy wrote:

palerider wrote:

OkyDoky wrote: I just feel that breathing feels more natural and easier with the Aircurve.

I've heard this from a number of people. (and feel that way myself)

OkyDoky and Palerider,

I'm learning something new here. I always thought these machines were for people with specific medical issues.
What I hear you saying is that they may be beneficial for people who are very sensitive, for lack of a better word at the moment. Is that right?
Thank you,
Kathy

I was prescribed bilevel from my titration so I've only used bilevel. Other than needing a pressure of 11 EPAP and 15 IPAP, I don't have any other lung medical issues. I was describing the difference I feel between the two bilevels. And like PaleRider says you can run them in CPAP, APAP, Fixed Bilevel, or Bilevel Auto. So if you have the opportunity why not get one. There are some machines that treat special conditions but the ones I use and the ones that PaleRider mentioned are basically a step up from the Autoset when you are using 3cm EPR. If you are concerned about flow limitations and need the extra Autoset For Her algorithm, the bilevels don't have that. With bilevel you can have 4, 5, ect. difference between inspiration and expiration. What you have to consider is that the larger differences can effect your O2/CO2 balance and contribute to centrals.

OkyDoky wrote:. What you have to consider is that the larger differences can effect your O2/CO2 balance and contribute to centrals.

good point. and like anytime you experiment, WATCH YOUR DATA... in my view, the vpap auto just gives you more tools to adjust, once you figure out what you need.

palerider wrote:

OkyDoky wrote:. What you have to consider is that the larger differences can effect your O2/CO2 balance and contribute to centrals.

good point. and like anytime you experiment, WATCH YOUR DATA... in my view, the vpap auto just gives you more tools to adjust, once you figure out what you need.

Thank you. Good to know.
Too bad we can't try out different machines before we buy one, like with cars and shoes.
When I went to the DME to pick up my machine,I fully expected to walk through a store, look them over, and try them out. In fact, I even mentioned this to the MD office staff. I was really surprised when I walked into a small DME room and the machine was sitting there, all set up and ready to go.
Kathy

Sonnyboy wrote:Too bad we can't try out different machines before we buy one, like with cars and shoes.
When I went to the DME to pick up my machine,I fully expected to walk through a store, look them over, and try them out. In fact, I even mentioned this to the MD office staff. I was really surprised when I walked into a small DME room and the machine was sitting there, all set up and ready to go.
Kathy

in all fairness.... someone new to all this wouldn't have the foggiest idea what to pick.
it'd be worse than mattress shopping. go into a brightly lit store, wearing your street clothes, and lay on a bare mattress for a few minutes.

add in the fact that most people have bought cars and shoes before...

it's rather DIY... I'm on my fourth machine, my first was a respironics M cpap, but not long after I got it, they came out with the system one series, then a while later, resmed came out with the S9 series, and people were talking about how nice and quiet and smooth and and and and it was... so I found an elite on craigslist, and liked it a lot better, plus there was sleepyhead and all that data, compared to the horror that was encore.

then I got complacent, my ahi was great, I felt good, I quit checking my data ... and after feeling worse and worse for a while, I looked at the data, and for whatever reason, my AHI had been climbing for a month.. my needs changed, but the elite couldn't keep up. being the lazy sort, I decided I wanted a machine that could do more for me on its own.... that's when I picked up a respir 560, but didn't like it after the resmed s9 elite... so I started watching ads for an autoset, and that's when I came across the vpap auto... since it could be set to act like an autoset, and the price was right, I grabbed it.

even now, with the years of experience, and having used those (and tinkered with a couple others) I don't think a showroom would do anything for me, though it might for some. a 'take home and try it for a few days, bring it back and swap it' setup could be nice, though.

What is bi level therapy, and why is it prescribed? I just learned CPAP was invented by an Ozzie in the seventies.
He reversed a vacuum blower. Must have sounded like a jet.