Right, Sadie. The 4- 20 range that is set in autopaps at the factory will include the single pressure from any regular cpap titration.Sadie wrote:Rested Gal: I'm curious...the range really wouldn't NEED to be altered, would it? ...if the preset range includes the titrated range.
...just wondering, and considering NO ramping.
Thanks!
A person could use it that way, sure. Quite a few people, though, find that 4 or even 5 just doesn't feel like getting enough air through a mask. Some also seem to find they get smoother, more effective treatment by using an autopap with the lower pressure up fairly close under (or even on) their titrated pressure. One would naturally ask, "Well, what's the use of having an autopap if you're gonna use it almost like a straight cpap?!"
For me, I like having a margin of mostly unused pressure up above, just in case more is needed sometimes during the night, or on occasional nights. My "prescribed" single pressure would probably be any one of these -- 9, 10, or 11. When using an autopap I set my range at 9 - 16. It rarely hits 13 or 14 briefly on some nights. I've used lower minimum pressures in my range, like 7 - 16 and 6 - 16. But I can actually feel my throat slam shut if I let it relax at low pressures while drifting off to sleep. Knowing that, I elected to keep my minimum pressure on autopap up where that doesn't happen.
Others prefer keeping the lower pressure down fairly low to minimize mask leaks, aerophagia, noise, etc. Some use a very, wide range and do fine.
Still others find that they do better with just a single straight pressure.
The beauty of an autopap is its versatility. You can tweak around until you find a range that suits you. Or even use it as straight cpap, single pressure.