Breathing out of "SYNC" with machine?

Hi All:
I have an odd issue with my mask. At times it seems to "hic-cup". Sometimes just once or twice but many times it does it for several minutes. It is almost as if I am not breathing on the same cycle as the CPAP. My mask makes a clicking sound (I think it may be from the valve in the elbow) and then sort of "Jumps" on my face. This happens mostly when I am falling asleep but I have been woken up by it several times as well. I have always been a mouth breather so must wear a fullface. Any thoughts or similar situations ????

2 thoughts: 1st, have you checked tube for rainout or to see if your humidifier tank is overfilled. If you get droplets of water coming into the hose from the tank, they will hit your mask at high velocity and cause what you are describing. You will be able to see the droplets of water in your hose if this is happening. It happened to me once when I overfilled humidifier reservoir.

Other possibility: if you feel you are breathing out of sync - are you using EPR? If you are, have you tried turning it off to see if you still experience the same sensation?

I use the same mask as you do so I am skeptical that it is a mask issue, unless your anti-asphyxia valve is bad. You can test this by turning machine off and on (with mask off) and watch the flap/valve to see if it opens when machine is off and closes when you turn machine on.

Hi RandyJ
I have the climate line so no rainout. The first night I used the machine I filled it up to the max line, it blew water in to my hose so I now I dont fill to max. I have considered the EPR, but as my machine is still in the rental phase so I do not want to mess with the clinical settings. I have checked the valve and even turned it over--seems to be in good condition. Mask is less than two weeks old. My pressure is only 8 so perhaps the EPR is what is causing this. It really feels like a valve is suddenly closing making a clicking sound and quickly filling my mask with air causing it to puff up on my face.

there is an amount of pressure (I don't know where it is) that you should not use EPR if you are at or below that pressure

you need to find out where that is

your mask could very well be unsealing when the pressure is dropped

contact your DME and get the EPR turned off for now

the quattro does make noise when water collects in the seal - been there - done that myself - check it during the night or first thing in the morning

Snuff-L-Reddy wrote: I have considered the EPR, but as my machine is still in the rental phase so I do not want to mess with the clinical settings

Weird problem you're having. I'm a Respironics user and on my machine, the A-flex (same as EPR) is a patient comfort setting and can be easily changed w/o going into the clinician's menu. So perhaps it's accessible to you.
Jamis

8 is a low pressure, so you probably do not need EPR. Try turning EPR off.

If EPR is set to "Patient" you should be able to turn it off without going into Clinician's Menu.

RandyJ wrote:If EPR is set to "Patient" you should be able to turn it off without going into Clinician's Menu.

And if EPR is NOT set to Patient, you should politely, but insistently ask the DME why they locked you out of this important patient comfort setting.

Robysue is 100% right... in the event that you are locked out of changing EPR setting, you should still be able to see whether EPR is set to "Off" or to "1," "2" or "3." If you want to change it, it is very easy to do. Going into the Clinician's Menu does not void your warranty or violate Federal law or any of the other crazy things you may hear. You are renting to own the machine, and you can make changes to settings if you want.

To see a video on going into the Clinician's Menu etc (it's really child's play), go to:

http://www.cpaplibrary.com/machines.html

and watch the first video for the S9 series. Clinician's Menu explanation starts at 11'13".

robysue wrote:

RandyJ wrote:If EPR is set to "Patient" you should be able to turn it off without going into Clinician's Menu.

And if EPR is NOT set to Patient, you should politely, but insistently ask the DME why they locked you out of this important patient comfort setting.

AMEN!!

Well last night as far as I am aware this only happened 3 times so maybe I am learning to breathe in unison with my machine. But I guess I will have to lose my paranoia and access the clinician menu and change the EPR. Hopefully DME does not read this.

Whether it's a rented machine or one you or your insurance paid for - it's YOURS!!! It's also YOUR therapy, YOUR body, so do whatever it takes to make this experience as comfortable as possible. It's of no business or concern of the DME how you manage your therapy, just that you are compliant.

IMHO, you need to learn to relax more - don't try to 'breathe with the machine' otherwise you'll hyperventilate and get anxious and panicky - I did - at first.

I'm still a relative newbie at CPAP, but what I still do after a year is this -
When I get into bed, I set up my TV to watch a dvr'd episode of Jeopardy (any non-stressful half hour program will work). Then I put on chinstrap and mask, hit the Play button and my SmartStart on the CPAP kicks in. I spend the 20 or so minutes watching Jeopardy adjusting my gear so it's snug, but not tight, comfy and by the time the program is over, I'm not even conscious of my breathing and can lay down and go to sleep immediately.

When we go camping, Jeopardy isn't an option, so I read my Nook for a few minutes, all the while checking and adjusting my gear (always with the machine running, of course) and by the time I'm starting to fall asleep - again, my breathing in not a conscious effort.

This might work for you if it's anxiety causing your issues.

Cheers,
xena

Ok I accessed the clinicians menu ( Whew !!!! no alarms, police raids, or self destruct sequence ) I turned EPR and Climate control both to patient. I then set EPR to 2cmH2O. Still had some clicking but not quite as noticeable. I will lower it again tonight to see if it gets even better. I am even more happy about being able to adjust the humidity manually. I have tried different Temp. settings on Auto but would still wake up with an extremely dry mouth. After yesterdays manual humidity adjustment my mouth was not dry this morning, my wife even noticed this . Thanks to all for convincing me to take the "plunge" into the Clinicians menu as it is sure to make me more comfortable. Why were these "comfort settings" not available in the first place ?

Snuff-L-Reddy wrote:Why were these "comfort settings" not available in the first place ?

Because the RT at your DME in his/her infinite lack of wisdom locked you out. And why did he/she lock you out? He/She is probably a card carrying member of the CPAP Police and believes that the less patients know about their own therapy the better.

Even though you've fixed the problem, I think you should complain (and loudly) to the DME about the fact that you were locked out of patient comfort settings. I'd play dumb when talking to them: Tell them you've been told to experiment with different humidity settings and different EPR settings by the doc's office to help solve the dry mouth problem and that your owners manual says you should be able to do these things and ..... You get the picture.

When I get into bed, I set up my TV to watch a dvr'd episode of Jeopardy (any non-stressful half hour program will work).

I love Jeopardy but it totally STRESSES me out when there's a category I don't know much about like Greek mythology (somehow, my education missed that topic, but thanks to Percy Jackson books my 10 year old ACES that category) or sports.