What is the difference?

What is the difference between a C-flex and a A-flex.. I have been using a borrowed Cpap machine and soon I need to buy a machine of my own.. I am still after over two months trying to get use to the Swift LT for her mask.. I like it but some nights it seem like it does not want to sit on my face right, so I fiddle with it and after an hour or so I end up taking it off and not using it for a night or two.. I know I need the Cpap but just cant seem to get use to it... I have been thinking of purchasing the M Series Auto CPAP partly because they dont seem to be as expensive as some of the others.. But I was wondering which is better the C-flex or A-flex. Also will my Swift Lt for her work with this kind of Cpap machine....

Hi, your problem is not the machine, but the mask, and you need to find one that fits properly and does the job. Just about all masks works with all machines, though full face masks are often better for many people who sleep with open mouths and lose all the Cpap air that way. C-flex gives some relief when you exhale, for people who find that difficult, especially if their pressure is on the high side (which yours is not particularly), but A-flex gives more all- around relief (I can't explain it very well but go to the lightbulb at the top of the main page and do some reading - there's a lot of great stuff there. You have EPR on your machine, which is similar to the -flex features on the M series machines, so maybe you need to learn how to use it to best advantage.

I happen to have used both the M Series Auto machines with CFlex and AFlex. Started therapy with CFlex, it does fine.
Got an AFlex machine as backup machine in Sept. The AFlex exhalation does seem smoother to me. Been using it with pressure minimum of around 10.
Model wise, the Aflex is the newer of the 2 models.
Some people complain of noise. To be honest both machines seem very quiet to me. I have to put my ear on it to hear.

You can read about AFlex and CFlex here.
http://aflex.respironics.com/

Julie,
Because she doesn't have a Vantage II... I thought that meant that she doesn't have EPR unless it's in CPAP mode. So... getting a better machine... especially if she's running in Auto mode, is totally up to her.

Well, her profile info says she has EPR...

Both c and a flex provide pressure relief during the exhale cycle. They both provide a 1, 2 or 3 cm drop depending on the setting. The difference, as I understand it, is in how quickly the pressure ramps back up. A-flex supposedly matches the natural breathing cycle more closely. Some people prefer A, some C.

Which brings us to another point. The M-series APAP w/a-flex can be set for either c-flex or a-flex. So you can have CPAP/c-flex, APAP/c-flex or APAP/a-flex. You have all the options to decide which is best for YOU.

Yes, virtually any mask will work with either machine.