Pressure seems too high after moving

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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cclement
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat May 29, 2010 10:20 pm
Location: Santa Clara, Ca

Pressure seems too high after moving

Post by cclement » Mon Feb 21, 2011 12:47 pm

Greetings all,

I've been using my S9 Autoset since July and been a happy campy with it. Recently I had to take my machine with me on a short trip, where it worked just fine. Now that I'm back at the house, the max pressure seems to be much higher. While the air pressure doesn't bother me, the air venting out the top of my mask (Mirage Quatro) is loud and woke me up twice.

Any thoughts about what might have changed? I've double-checked my settings and nothing seems to have changed.

Thanks!

C

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MaskHumidifier
Additional Comments: Current Rx: 16cm

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tschultz
Posts: 257
Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2010 9:36 pm
Location: Moncton, NB, Canada, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy

Re: Pressure seems too high after moving

Post by tschultz » Mon Feb 21, 2011 1:06 pm

From your description I have to ask, is your pressure really higher or is there more volume of air?

I ask this because the CPAP machines seem to want to operate in a pressure regulated variable flow manner whereby the actual volume of air, or flow, is increased to keep the pressure maintained. If you have more leaks then this volume will increase.

I run at a very high pressure, with it averaging at 18 and going as high as the upper end of 20 most nights. I normally have leaks under good control but have certainly noticed that if I do have a leak the volume of air delivered increases to compensate for the leak and things quickly escalate. I try and adjust things to fix the leak and in the process when moving the mask around usually make the leaks worse for a short time but the machine quickly compensates by increasing the flow even more. Once I do finally get the leaks back under control then the air flow decreases considerably with a noticeable change in "hissing" from the mask.

Make sure you leaks are well controlled.

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Humidifier: S9™ Series H5i™ Heated Humidifier with Climate Control
Additional Comments: Currenlty using Auto 15-20, EPR 1 with medium response; 95% pressure is 16.8
Adjusting to life with OSA and being pressurized each night ...

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jmelby
Posts: 463
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2009 7:52 pm
Location: Minneapolis, MN

Re: Pressure seems too high after moving

Post by jmelby » Mon Feb 21, 2011 7:11 pm

Have you changed your mask cushion? Make sure it is fully seated properly in the frame? I agree this sounds like you are experiencing leak... which will make it feel like more air coming at you since the machine is trying to compensate for leak. That would also account for the increased venting and noise.

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Mask: Mirage Activa™ LT Nasal CPAP Mask with Headgear
Humidifier: S9™ Series H5i™ Heated Humidifier with Climate Control
Additional Comments: ResScan 3.12, APAP 9 - 13, no EPR, ClimateControl 75F
(yet another Jeff)

cflame1
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Joined: Sat Mar 11, 2006 6:55 am
Location: expat Canadian in Kentucky

Re: Pressure seems too high after moving

Post by cflame1 » Mon Feb 21, 2011 7:12 pm

Did you by chance change altitude when you moved?

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cclement
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat May 29, 2010 10:20 pm
Location: Santa Clara, Ca

Re: Pressure seems too high after moving

Post by cclement » Tue Feb 22, 2011 7:07 pm

All,

Thanks for the feedback. As it turns out... my mask was just out of adjustment. Not sure how that happened, but once I tightened it up last night.. all was right with the world. Amazing how much the mask fit can affect your sleep. I didn't even feel like it was out of adjustment.

Thanks again.

Christopher

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MaskHumidifier
Additional Comments: Current Rx: 16cm