BiPAP acting up

Hello, Happy New Year and Help! My BiPAP, which has sailed through the last four years wonderfully, has developed a bit of a "tic" that has rendered it fairly useless.

It will, at seemingly random intervals, quickly stop and then restart the air flow, mostly when I'm just starting to breathe out. This has the effect of a strong puff of air, which makes the mask jump, similar to when it first starts up. It may do this one to four times, or (rarely) up to ten times quickly in succession, all within the same exhalation. It certainly keeps me from getting to sleep, and I suspect I'm not getting deep sleep because of it either.

I have changed the entire mask, strap & cushion. There are no leaks that I can find, checking from the hose attached to the humidifier on out through and around the mask. (Also checked where the air enters the humidifier) It has stopped for a short time after a "thump" that seems to come from near where the mask joins the hose (but I have been half asleep when that happened, so perhaps take that with a grain of salt!). But will start up again soon.

My set up:
BiPAP: Respironics AutoSV with a pass-over humidifier. 12 inhale, 6 exhale. Rise set at "2"
Mask: ResMed Mirage Quattro Full Face Mask (Large)
Unheated 6' hose with no condensation problems at all

Called the equipment tech where I got the equipment from, and she thought there was a leak somewhere, but not that I could find.

Has anyone had this happen? And more importantly, how do I get back to a great night's sleep with my BiPAP?
Entirely too sleepy minds want/need to know!!
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I'd take it into the dealer and make them do a really good exam and test on it... having someone guess at one aspect over the phone is not going to help.

Do your sleep reports say you are leaking? Sounds like it is your machine failing not leaking to me...

rockhound,

I also think that it's worth taking the machine into the DME and having them do a thorough check of the machine. You ought to take your mask and hose in as well and see if you can recreate the problem in their presence.

Is your machine a System One (series 50) AutoSV or is it an older model AutoSV machine? I ask because the answer to this question largely determines whether you'll be able to easily get the recorded data off the machine and into Encore to analyze it. SleepyHead will not work at all with the pre-System One AutoSV machines, and it seems to still be buggy with the System One AutoSV machines.

Thanks! I'm in the midst of changing sleep doctors (an hour+ away vs 10-15 minutes) and plan to call the new doc tomorrow and get a recommendation of a place to take it and get it gone over good. And get my appointment (Jan 13) moved up. My recent report (early Dec) was glowing: no leaks, almost no bad stuff, lots of usage!

Robysue: Umm... it's a black one! Not sure, I got it exactly four years ago yesterday. It does have a spiffy little card with a gold circuit board looking thing on it that I take to the doctor to get reports printed out for yearly physicals at work.

And I'm guessing I can rent one until there is a decision either way on my machine.

You can figure about 3 to 4 hundred dollars to replace the pc board when you send it for repairs. If your on insurance get a new one, and get the old repaired and keep it as a back up.