Aflex versus cflex

Does anyone else find aflex to be a little strange? The pressure relief appears to me even greater with a flex, but there is this weird little hesitation I get just as I am switching from inhalation to exhalation, like a little subtle speed bump as the machine switches to exhalation. That's the only way I can explain it, like the pressure dropping as I end my inhalation isn't perfectly times to my actual breath and then a little 'pop' as I start the exhale. If I switch the machine to cflex, I dont detect this at all. Its quite subtle, but when I am laying there in the dark with nothing else to do....

So those of you with the Auto M series, does anyone leave the machine on c-flex?

My personal observations about the difference is this:

C-flex seems to me to provide a more stepped exhalation relief. I think the pressure drops the most at the beginning of exhale and somewhere in the middle it puts some of the pressure back. Then at the end when you start to inhale again it gives you full pressure again.

A-flex seems to drop the pressure at the beginning and doesn't put any back until it detects you starting to breath in again. Thus I think A-flex is more of a sudden pressure change at the end.

If I pay attention to my mask I can tell pretty good what the pressure is doing because of the air-cushion design of my Activa mask. The mask pushes on my face a little harder with the higher pressure.

that may be what I am feeling, that unless I start to breathe in, the pressure is low. I kind of like the forced pressure. Well. time will tell.

C-flex always seemed too fast for my breathing. I wouldn't have even finished exhaling before it bumped the pressure back up.

A-flex feels so natural to me I don't even notice the machine anymore. Sometimes I have to pull my mask away from my face to make sure it's on.

I haven't tried C-flex, but I use A-flex at setting 3 (full strength).

For me, if I am "watching", it can feel weird. But if I ignore it, it does a great job. So I let it do it. If I try to time my breaths for it, it bothers me a lot - I even can feel my mask "puffing" in and out. (I have my auto on 16-20). But if I just relax, the puffing is minimal and when I wake up, I don't even notice anything at all, and I have to feel for the exhaust stream to make sure it is working.

I have the opposite reaction to A-Flex and C-Flex...

A-Flex begins ramping back up before I am even half finished exhaling. My husband says he feels the same way. So we are both using C-Flex.

Since it's a comfort feature, I figure whichever feels better to you is the one you should use!

Elader,

I feel the same as you. I've tried A-Flex three different times and had to switch to C-Flex which felt much more natural to me. Unfortunately, I had to turn off C-Flex because of the annoying whistle it caused with my machine. My first CPAP machine wasn't affected by it. Out of desperation, I turned off the C-Flex at the recommendation of others on this board to see if it would stop the whistle. The Whisper Cap didn't seem to help, but turning off C-Flex did help.

By the way, Those odd dips in the leak graph pretty much disappeared when I turned off C-Flex.

Lynne

CorgiGirl wrote:I have the opposite reaction to A-Flex and C-Flex...

A-Flex begins ramping back up before I am even half finished exhaling. My husband says he feels the same way. So we are both using C-Flex.

Since it's a comfort feature, I figure whichever feels better to you is the one you should use!

Hmmm.... that's interesting. I've played with mine a bit just to see if it would force me to breathe. I exhaled all the way and just held my breath (or held my breathless ). The A-flex doesn't seem to be timed at all, it just stays at the lower pressure until it detects airflow for an inhalation. Once it detects the inhalation then it pressures back up. I wonder if you do some sort of odd pause in your exhalation where you maybe breathe in just a little and then continue exhaling. I guess mask leaks or an inconsistent vent rate could also cause it to think you have started inhaling.

I hate Aflex. I used Cflex for more than a year, but recently I've turned off all Flex. Sleeping JUST FINE, thank you very much!!!!!

Cheers,
B.

I started out with C-FLEX over two years ago....and got comfortable with it....right off the bat.

About a year ago....just before the big price increase....I bought a spare...this time, with A-FLEX.

I tried the A-FLEX a couple of times....and never liked it. I can't tell you why I didn't like it.

My honey tried it both ways....and she prefers C-FLEX.

I think it's simply a matter of personal preference......whatever feels the best, go with it.

This is what I don't like about Aflex. It doesn't breathe in synch with ME. It forces me to breathe in synch with IT, and it breathes faster than I want to breathe.

Cflex felt like it was breathing WITH me, and thus I liked it better.

After turning both off, I don't miss them. I breathe just fine against the pressure. No problems.

Cheers,
Barbara

Babette wrote:This is what I don't like about Aflex. It doesn't breathe in synch with ME. It forces me to breathe in synch with IT, and it breathes faster than I want to breathe.

.......

I believe once you fall asleep, this is not a problem.

However, I don't like and don't use C- or A-Flex. Keeping it simple works better for me.