ResMed S9 AutoSet to replace Respironics Auto M bipap?

I currently use a Respironics Auto M bipap. I'm having some problems with it.

My AHI is fine. My monthly average has ranged from 0.3 to 0.5 over the last 12 months. But the Auto M "chases" vibratory snores and increases the pressure significantly while it's doing that. This is during periods where I may have _no_ OAs or HIs -- none for several hours. But I'll get a cluster of VS and the pressure will shoot up and stay there for a while, sometimes waking me up.

I save, record, and plot my data every day and I see this behavior often. As in almost daily. I asked my sleep doctor about it (showed him the EncoreViewer output) and he just dismissed it. No help at all.

My machine is only 2 years old, so insurance won't pay for another one for 3 more years. Bipaps are pretty expensive. 2x or more the price of apaps.

I noticed on cpap.com that the S9 AutoSet is $853. Coming from bipap prices, that looks fairly cheap to me.

On the ResMed website it says that with EPR the exhale pressure can be decreased 1, 2, or 3 cm.
Hmmm.

My prescription is 12/8, a difference of 4. I looked back at my stored data. I looked at the _actual difference_ between my exhale pressure and my inhale pressure for the last year on a month by month basis. (I knew I was saving all that data for something.) The _average monthly difference_ for the last 12 months are: 3.2, 3.4, 3.4, 3.6, 3.5, 3.2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.2, 2.8, 3.2, 3.2. The average of all those numbers is 3.25.

So the question is: if I get a ResMed S9 AutoSet (pay for it myself) and set the EPR to 3, will that be the equivalent, more or less, of the bipap I have now?

If you're planning on buying new... your current script won't let you purchase an Autoset... your current script is for a Bi-level... not an Auto-pap.

Not the same thing.

> your current script won't let you purchase an Autoset

Of course. I think virtually everyone in this forum knows that.
That's the least of my problems. No problem at all, actually.

But it doesn't address the question that I asked.

The actual difference between my inhale and exhale pressures is 3.25.
The ResMed S9 AutoSet's EPR feature allows a 3 cm reduction in exhale pressure.
Will that allow it to function similarly to my bipap, more or less?

The S9's EPR is very comfortable and will give you exhale relief of 1, 2 or 3 cm. for the whole exhale, but if have a reduction in air flow, it will suspend EPR. So that may be an issue for you.

> if have a reduction in air flow, it will suspend EPR.

Thank you for the response. Could you (and other S9 users) elaborate please. Does it temporarily turn it off until the reduction is eliminated or does it turn it off period?

Following is my EncoreViewer graph from last night that illustrates the problem I am having with the Respironics Auto M. At the one hour point pressure goes up significantly, and at the two hour point it just shoots up. Note that there were no apneas or hypopneas during that period.

My prescription is 12/8. Min = 5, max = 20. Start-up is 9/7.

Has anyone else seen this on their Auto M?

The S9's EPR is very comfortable and will give you exhale relief of 1, 2 or 3 cm. for the whole exhale, but if have a reduction in air flow, it will suspend EPR.

Interesting comment... I'd like some explanation as well, please.

Rested Gal explains it very clearly, in this thread:

http://nasal-opus-swift.cpaptalk.com/cp ... ls#p436373

And here is a Data Sheet from ResMed:

http://www.resmed.com/uk/assets/documen ... ur_eng.pdf

Thanks Katie! I'll give it a read.

xyz wrote:My prescription is 12/8. Min = 5, max = 20. Start-up is 9/7.

Hi,

If your 90% levels are 14/9, why not just set your max to 15? And since you spend much of the time with the min at 9, why not move the min to 9? That would keep it from running away in the conditions that you see. And why are you on Bi-Level to begin with? I think you need to know that before deciding to move to a non-Bi-Level machine. These Bi-Level machines can be expensive, and I don't think it would have been prescribed unless someone thought that you needed it.

-john-