Full Face Mask - Can I benefit from A-Flex or C-Flex?

My machine is set to OFF for these therapy modes. My AHI numbers have been over 7.0. I am currently set in an auto range between 8.5 cm and 11 cm. I wear a full face mask and I am a mouth breather since I have deviated septum and don't breathe well through my nose. I was wondering if the A-Flex or C-Flex setting would be of benefit to me. Thank you.

Hi Jason, good to see you! Are you using software? What's your 90% pressure? You may need a bit of min/max tweaking. Keep us posted.

I use a FFM and a relief pressure of 2. My machine is set from 8 to 17 right now. My median pressure is around 9 and my 95% is around 12.

I didn't like a pressure relief of 3 though; the difference made breathing feel odd. Not bad; just different enough to notice.

It's worth a shot to try it. The S9 has a relief pressure test feature; but I can't remember if the PR machines do.

DoriC wrote:Hi Jason, good to see you! Are you using software? What's your 90% pressure? You may need a bit of min/max tweaking. Keep us posted.

Its says 9.3, but I've only had it in the 8.5 - 11 cm range for 1 night. Before last night I had it set at 8 cm steady. My question is: Can I benefit from the A-flex or C-flex settings, or that only for nasal CPAP only. Thanks.

Jason S. wrote:My machine is set to OFF for these therapy modes. My AHI numbers have been over 7.0. I am currently set in an auto range between 8.5 cm and 11 cm. I wear a full face mask and I am a mouth breather since I have deviated septum and don't breathe well through my nose. I was wondering if the A-Flex or C-Flex setting would be of benefit to me. Thank you.

These settings lower the pressure on exhale. They are for people who perceive comfort from having a lower exhale pressure. You did not complain about comfort so what are you expecting to get out of using these settings? You already have a low pressure (8.5 - 11).

You did complain about AHI. Lowering the pressure on exhale might make your AHI go up. It made mine go up.

Additionally, I did not like the pressure constantly cycling up and down.

Experiment with the settings if you are so inclined.

ChicagoGramps

The cflex settings are independent of the mask. They help with higher pressures by lowering the pressure on the exhale.

Only way to know if you like any of the flex settings is to try each. You may find it helps a lot or you might not be able to see any difference.

Pugsy wrote:Only way to know if you like any of the flex settings is to try each. You may find it helps a lot or you might not be able to see any difference.

OK, thanks for the responses. I don't have any issues with comfort or breathing while wearing the mask. I did have some bad morning stomach pain from swallowed air. The CPAP nurse told me to reduce the pressure, which I did. That helped with the gas pain, but then the pressure wasn't high enough to do a good job with the apnea.

I was wondering if the swallowing of air might be helped by using A Flex or C Flex and allowing me to raise the auto pressure range some. My AHI used to be 1.0 - 1.5 on a regular basis. I have had a weight loss of about 10% since then, however. I will try different settings.