Minute and a half apnea on APAP - just a slow response?

It seems like over a minute with barely any air moving. Is my machine just slow to respond to the apneas? This seems to be a good example of why a fixed setting of 7cm left me feeling dizzy and tired in the mornings. I usually hover around 10-11cm the majority of the time and have large leaks about 50% of the time.

Are you aware that DURING any apnea event the machine doesn't do anything because it can't?
It has to wait until the apnea is resolved and the airway is open before the algorithm even begins to think about what it should do.

You were maybe expecting the machine to try to increase the pressure during the collapse and blow the sagging tissues open???
Doesn't work that way.

How does it work or fail to work?

I would go into your settings and make sure it is set to Standard response and not Soft response. You might also increase your Minimum pressure a little.

bbridge_GA wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 18, 2022 5:13 pm

How does it work or fail to work?

"Are you aware that DURING any apnea event the machine doesn't do anything because it can't?
It has to wait until the apnea is resolved and the airway is open before the algorithm even begins to think about what it should do."

bbridge_GA wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 18, 2022 5:13 pm

How does it work or fail to work?

Resmed's Algorithms

In AutoSet mode, the device provides only the amount of pressure required to maintain upper airway patency. The AutoSet algorithm adjusts treatment pressure as a function of inspiratory flow limitation, snore and apnea. At the same time, the device analyses the state of the patients’ upper airway on a breath-by-breath basis and delivers pressure within the allowed range according to the degree of obstrucIItion.

It responds based on the analysis of your breathing. If the minimum pressure is high enough, most of the obstructive events will be prevented. If its not, the machine will respond based on its analysis of what happened.

If "fails" when the minimum pressure is too low, or the analysis is wrong.

Any therapy fails with

bbridge_GA wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 18, 2022 4:47 pm

I usually [...] have large leaks about 50% of the time.

If you want to know the length of any event, click on the "Events" tab, which will give you a list of all the events, when they happened and the exact length of each.

Thanks for all the info, but I get enough snark from Anthem to fulfill my requirements. If I was misinterpreting some of the text as snarky, I apologize. I am not a sleep tech nor qualified to know how the device works, when it can improved by settings adjustments or when it is misbehaving. I checked, and the response setting is Standard. I did notice that the response to apneas on this machine (at this time) is much more muted than the response that I used to get on the System One APAP. The System One used to give me big bounces in pressure at times. I did increase the bottom pressure setting from 9 to 10 last night and slept deeper than I have in years. I just sent my SD to the DME to read, so I don't have any data from last night. I just know I slept much deeper than usual. Pressures settings from 9-18 seem to be my sweet spot if last night was an indication. Thanks for the tips.

bbridge_GA wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 19, 2022 11:58 am

response to apneas on this machine (at this time) is much more muted than the response that I used to get on the System One APAP. The System One used to give me big bounces in pressure at times

I haven't seen any of your System One reports but I would wager that those "big bounces at times" weren't the machine responding to anything but instead just the normal pressure probes that all the auto adjusting Respironics machines did. They look impressive but are really nothing more than the machine just testing the waters so to speak.
The actual Respironics auto algorithm for responding to actual apnea event or airway issues is going to be much slower than the ResMed auto response.

bbridge_GA wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 19, 2022 11:58 am

If I was misinterpreting some of the text as snarky, I apologize. I am not a sleep tech nor qualified to know how the device works, when it can improved by settings adjustments or when it is misbehaving.

Please relax, I don't think anyone was being intentionally snarky in their responses to you.

Feel free to ask anything - at most you'll be pointed to sources where the info can be found.

When we first joined the forum most of us knew nothing about how the machines work - and we still remember our first steps in this strange new world.

Zonker usually welcomes people to the zoo - but the zoo is much more familiar than this world of CPAP...

OK, I know he means some of our jungle cries, whoops, hollers, shrieks and generally uncontrolled behavior every now and then, but all in all, we're more a caring bunch of people than not.

ozij wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 19, 2022 12:15 pm

Zonker usually welcomes people to the zoo - but the zoo is much more familiar than this world of CPAP...

OK, I know he means some of our jungle cries, whoops, hollers, shrieks and generally uncontrolled behavior every now and then, but all in all, we're more a caring bunch of people than not.

Indeed....ever go by the monkey/ape cages at a zoo that are open air?? They love to throw poop at the visitors..... We even have the poop throwers here just like the zoo has.

ozij wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 19, 2022 12:15 pm

Zonker usually welcomes people to the zoo - but the zoo is much more familiar than this world of CPAP...

OK, I know he means some of our jungle cries, whoops, hollers, shrieks and generally uncontrolled behavior every now and then, but all in all, we're more a caring bunch of people than not.

just as a side note, no need for a welcome here, as the op isn't new.

and i don't seem to have any hard and fast rule about how i dole out that greeting. but the odds are if i am the first person to see a new user, i'll give 'em a "welcome to the zoo". i get my nose slightly out of joint if someone else uses that greeting, though.

anyway, back to our regularly scheduled thread, already in progress.

zonker wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 19, 2022 12:22 pm

just as a side note, no need for a welcome here, as the op isn't new.

and i don't seem to have any hard and fast rule about how i dole out that greeting. but the odds are if i am the first person to see a new user, i'll give 'em a "welcome to the zoo". i get my nose slightly out of joint if someone else uses that greeting, though.

Dog Slobber wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 19, 2022 1:17 pm

thank you so much!

(this is going to get some play here)

eta: just noticed the forum members in the jpeg.

Thanks for the re-welcome. I was on here years ago when I was struggling. I love my APAP which I have been on since 2013. My first 2005 cpap tube and mask would fill with water from the humidifier, didn't seem to help a whole lot and led to me being "non-compliant". No such problems with the new machines. I am working on getting my 3rd APAP machine. I haven't been on here or used Sleeyhead much in the past few years. I just downloaded Oscar and was looking at the data. I appreciate the help. I will go back to strapping my mouth shut and see if the leaks are reduced. I increased the minimum pressure to 10 last night and slept deeper than I have in forever. I found this in the data and wondered if I should push the maximum up to 20? On this graph, it looks like I may max out the pressure set at 18 on occasion. Does that sound reasonable?

bbridge_GA wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 19, 2022 7:28 pm

I found this in the data and wondered if I should push the maximum up to 20? On this graph, it looks like I may max out the pressure set at 18 on occasion. Does that sound reasonable?

i'd advise you to stick to the minimum of 10 for now. let it settle in for a few nights. it's good that you're sleeping better. so let that go for a few then post some more charts so we can see how you go.

just because you bumped the 18 max on this chart doesn't mean you always will. let's see some more evidence, eh?

good luck!