I have a respironics system one, auto, aflex machine.
It is set to auto mode, min of 5 and a max of 20 mm of water.
The machine start at a low pressure and when I fall into sleep, the air pressure will increase as expected. Say the pressure now is 13.0... I woke up and the pressure will remain at 13.0 almost forever. This pressure of 13.0 will definitely wake me up completely. I will turn off the machine, turn it on and pressure is low again and I can fall into sleep again. This cycle of waking up, turning off the machine, turning on the machine, and sleeping again repeats.
I have a backup machine, same make, same model, and behaves the same. Are these machines behaving properly? Or there is a setup issue?
Now, my question, is there a better machine out there that can sense I am awake and will automatically lowers the pressure?
Thanks!
The machine is behaving as it is deigned to do and your response in restarting it is exactly what is recommended. What exactly is waking you? Do you have mask or mouth leaks? What kind of mask do you wear? Do you have access to your download data? That may shed some light on the situation.
Hi sleeptech - thanks for your reply! I wear a full-faced mouth. I used to have a software to look at the data - charts displayed on the PC. I have these data though direct from the machine display: LARGE LEAK AHI 90% PRESSURE PERIODIC BREATHING THERAPY HRS 7 day average 1% 2.8 14.0 0 8:36 30 day average 1% 2.4 13.0 0 8:24
Please take a look at these data, and let me know what can I do to minimize waking up.
Also, I noticed when I sleep on my back, I usually sleep longer before I wake up. I am more enegized in the morning. (It takes me a while to fall asleep though sleeping on my back).
When I sleep on my tummy, I may sleep faster. But I usually wake up many times. I noticed my shirt is wet and I have to change a couple of times at night. I believe when I sleep on my tummy, It is harder for my system to breathe.
I greatly appreciate if you can give me a advice to greatly improve my sleep.
Thanks!
Hi sleeptech,
Let me reformat the data. The data did not show up in order.
Large Leak: 7 day average 1%, 30 day average 1% AHI: 7 day average 2.8, 30 day average 2.4 90% pressure 7 day average 14.0, 30 day average 13.0 Therapy hrs 7 day average 8:36, 30 day average 8:24 periodic breathing 7 day average 0, 30 day average 0
What your data is telling me is that your breathing is good and you use your CPAP well every night. Good job. It also says that you only have a large leak 1% of the time, however, I happen to know that there threshold for a leak to register as large leak on your particular machine is quite high, and even though your leak may not be high enough to count as "large leak" it may well still be enough to be waking you. Are you aware of any leaks? Is your mask especially uncomfortable?
The difference between lying on your back and front is quite unusual. If you have tried both in the last month it has had no effect on your AHI which, as I referred to before, is very low. It is probably worth while practising sleeping on your back as it can only help. Just keep and eye on your AHI and make sure it doesn't go up much if you are spending more time on your back.
I just realised that I missed a question on your original post "is there a better machine out there that can sense I am awake and will automatically lowers the pressure?". To answer the first part, all CPAP machines are the same in regard to how well they treat your OSA. All that separates them is the secondary features. On that note, the answer to the second part of your questions is yes, there is a machine that senses when you are awake and automatically drops the pressure for you. The Icon series CPAP machines from Fisher & Paykel, and their new Sleep Style range, both have a feature called Sense Awake which does exactly that. If it thinks you have woken it will automatically drop the pressure back to a pre set level. I have seen it work very well and I have seen instances where it gets thoroughly confused and fails utterly (activating 30 or more times/night when it shouldn't be). It would be far cheaper to try getting used to sleeping on your back as much as possible before shelling out on a new machine.
Out of curiosity, do you know if you have C-Flex turned on?
I try not to sleep on my tummy anymore. The last 2 nights, I have been sleeping on my back. I secured my mask pretty well. I use a garter, an elastic band that goes around my neck, and around the cpap by the chin. This secures the mask on my face. Without the garter, the large leak percentage goes up.
If the Fisher & Paykel CPAP machine with Sense Awake feature is faulty, then I am not interested in using it. When I need higher pressure to open up my air passage, and the machine drops its pressure, this is dangerous to my health.
My machine has A-Flex set to 3. I believe this A-flex setup has something to do with lowering the pressure when the user exhales. I like this feature very much. I had old CPAP machine which does not lower its pressure when I exhale - this was hard on me.
Thanks for replying to my post. I appreciate your help!
