Does this look right?

I am wondering why the bottom number of the bilevel is always 6. Why wouldn’t they increase that along with the top number? And would that account for the feeling of being hit in the face every breath?

Thanks

Could you give some context? E.g., was this a titration in a sleep lab? And what settings have you been prescribed?

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 22, 2022 11:14 pm

Could you give some context? E.g., was this a titration in a sleep lab? And what settings have you been prescribed?

It was my 4th titration in a lab. I’ve been trying since July to get diagnosed and now we’re almost there. I believe I’ll be given an S/T machine. The recommended settings based on the above titration are 16/6 with 11 backup rate.

I’m just wondering why the bottom number never was changed through the night. I thought they were normally stepped up together.

Thanks! I will alert an expert who can help you.

ShallowBreather wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 22, 2022 6:47 pm

A81BED17-3ACC-4080-99DF-B362E1D09FFE.png

I am wondering why the bottom number of the bilevel is always 6. Why wouldn’t they increase that along with the top number? And would that account for the feeling of being hit in the face every breath?

Thanks

Perhaps whoever is adjusting things isn't competent? and yes, that's where that 'whack in the face' comes from.

ShallowBreather wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 23, 2022 7:43 am

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 22, 2022 11:14 pm

Could you give some context? E.g., was this a titration in a sleep lab? And what settings have you been prescribed?

It was my 4th titration in a lab. I’ve been trying since July to get diagnosed and now we’re almost there. I believe I’ll be given an S/T machine.

For your sake, I hope not. They're really terrible machines.

ShallowBreather wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 23, 2022 7:43 am

The recommended settings based on the above titration are 16/6 with 11 backup rate.

a PS of 10 will likely cause a lot of co2 washout and depress your respiration rate, greatly exacerbating any central apnea, and having the machine be breathing for you all night long (most likely).

An ASV is a vastly superior treatment for central sleep apnea.

There's no background on this.

SB, considering palerider's post, I think you'd really better press the question with your doctor whether you could get an ASV instead of an S/T machine. At the very least, ask specifically why S/T rather than ASV.

palerider wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 23, 2022 1:51 pm

a PS of 10 will likely cause a lot of co2 washout and depress your respiration rate, greatly exacerbating any central apnea, and having the machine be breathing for you all night long (most likely).

An ASV is a vastly superior treatment for central sleep apnea.

There's no background on this.

I think it was incompetence by the sleep tech, but I haven’t seen the orders. My 2nd titration normalized me at 18/12 with 11 backup rate. And no punch in the face.

ShallowBreather wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 24, 2022 8:03 pm

palerider wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 23, 2022 1:51 pm

a PS of 10 will likely cause a lot of co2 washout and depress your respiration rate, greatly exacerbating any central apnea, and having the machine be breathing for you all night long (most likely).

An ASV is a vastly superior treatment for central sleep apnea.

There's no background on this.

I think it was incompetence by the sleep tech, but I haven’t seen the orders. My 2nd titration normalized me at 18/12 with 11 backup rate. And no punch in the face.

That's not nearly as bad, but.... why a ST?

a PS of 6 probably isn't enough to adequately ventilate you when you have a central apnea, but, it probably won't *cause* a lot of central apnea, which the PS of 10 likely would.

Finally got the machine. For a week there, they said I was getting an Auto Bipap with ipap 20 epap 8 and PS 4, but there must have been some conversations behind my back because I got the Airsense 10 ST with 16/6 and backup rate of 11.

I did reach out to the sleep therapist to confirm that they really wanted a PS of 10.

You have my sympathy.
You are going to get hit in the face with that 10 cm with every single breath you take all night long and it's going to be a major chore to get used to it....if you ever can.
Plus the 10 cm PS is very likely to cause even more centrals for it to treat.

Maybe you will have better luck with it than all the other unhappy ST users who have come to this forum.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 11, 2022 7:44 pm

You have my sympathy.
You are going to get hit in the face with that 10 cm with every single breath you take all night long and it's going to be a major chore to get used to it....if you ever can.
Plus the 10 cm PS is very likely to cause even more centrals for it to treat.

Maybe you will have better luck with it than all the other unhappy ST users who have come to this forum.

I can’t even relax to fall asleep. If the pressure support was 4, maybe.

Why do you all hate the S/T?

ShallowBreather wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 11, 2022 9:04 pm

Why do you all hate the S/T?

Because I hate seeing people getting f..d over and not being happy when there are better and more easier to get used to machines out there that do a much better job anyway.

Because all we ever see is people with problems with ST machines and it causes us a lot more work explaining why it doesn't work out so great for a lot of people.
I got to thinking....have I ever seen a success story with ST user....answer "no".
There maybe be some somewhere but all we have seen here are unhappy campers.

Especially when someone has both obstructive apnea and central apnea....it's just a huge PITA more than it ever helps.

You aren't happy with the slap in the face with every breath....unhappy camper again.
If you make the slap in the face smaller you run the risk of not dealing with your central apneas...of which that 10 PS is very likely to cause you to have even more of them.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 11, 2022 9:13 pm

If you make the slap in the face smaller you run the risk of not dealing with your central apneas...of which that 10 PS is very likely to cause you to have even more of them.

I kept it on for 30 minutes. My arms were tingling like I was hyperventilating.

It’s literally impossible to use.

I’ve been fighting since July to get this torture device. sigh

You need the ASV model. It will do the 10 cm PS or whatever PS you happen to need but it ONLY DOES IT WHEN YOU NEED IT AND YOU HAVE TO BE ASLEEP TO NEED IT. So no more getting slapped in the face while awake.
Rest of the time the PS is a much more manageable 4 or 5 PS. The PS will auto adjust as needed when you are having centrals and doesn't slap you in the face when you don't need it.
ASV will also auto adjust for any obstructive stuff you might have.

I asked a respiratory tech/sleep tech what the minimum PS to deal with centrals using the ST model might be and I was told around 8 might still ventilate well enough but 10 is the customary PS when people are put on the ST model.
8 is still a pretty hard slap in the face.