CPAP & positional apnea - pressure? - APAP?

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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Muse-Inc
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Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2009 8:44 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: CPAP & positional apnea - pressure? - APAP?

Post by Muse-Inc » Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:01 pm

My variable amt of time being able to breathe thru 2 nostrils at night is directly related to increased pressure with usually higher leak. I became intolerant of straight CPAP pressure and the APAP's 'desire' to return to the lowest pressure that prevents events works well for me in a range of 6-15, I am trialling 7-15. My 95thcentile runs 10.something most nights tho the last 2 it's been 9.8 and 9.6 go figure as my congestion has been horrible the past few days (very windy here). I chose to go APAP as my insurance denied my doct's medically necessary prescription for APAP. I have only slept once on my back and my 95thcentile was much higher so that extra headroom (I showed no signs of centrals in my PSG) is a good thing. I love my APAP and wish I'd gotten one much earlier in my therapy. Good luck on making a good decision for your situation.
ResMed S9 range 9.8-17, RespCare Hybrid FFM
Never, never, never, never say never.

DreamOn
Posts: 1920
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2009 10:13 am

Re: CPAP & positional apnea - pressure? - APAP?

Post by DreamOn » Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:39 pm

Hi, Muse! Thanks for sharing your experience with both CPAP and APAP.

I'll probably end up getting an S9 Autoset at some point. I think the Climate Control would be wonderful. If I get that machine, I could experiment with APAP and if I don't do well with that mode, I'll just switch back to CPAP. I didn't have any centrals in my PSG either.

For now, I'm going to work on being grateful for my already-low numbers and stop nit-picking my results! I'm going to step back and objectively look at past trends and decide whether to lower my pressure based on that. I'll discuss this with my sleep specialist too. I think the increased humidity afforded by the Aussie heated hose may be of some benefit to me, so I'll see how/if that influences results. My numbers over the last 4-1/2 months have been muddled at times due to mask changes, EPR settings, pressure, and other variables. I'm sure that everything will become clearer and fall into place over time.