Hello Guest, Welcome to Apnea Board !
As a guest, you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use.
To post a message, you must create a free account using a valid email address.

or Create an Account


New Posts   Today's Posts

[split] max / min pressures - comments please
#1
[split] max / min pressures - comments please
Reading with interest. Saw my 'sleep therapist' today. She saw that my APAP was set to 5 min - 20 max and said not a good idea. Something about running at 5 for a long time can actually be detrimental because after awhile (i.e., many months ...) your body will begin to develop more apnea events when running a lot at just 5. So, she set my min-max to 10-15 with a 15-minute ramp from 5 to 15. That way, when not having events, the machine will still put out at 10. She set the upper limit at 15 because my typical high pressure was in the area of 14 or so with just an occasional reading over 15.

So, now I'm curious what the rest of the community has to say about this.
Post Reply Post Reply
#2
RE: [split] max / min pressures - comments please
Welcome to the forum.
5 is rather low. I don't know that it would cause more apnea events.  The machine would not run continuously at 5 but the pressure would increase as necessary to control apneas. Most would feel starved for air at such a low initial setting so a higher low setting would make sense. Starting at 7 or 8 and then letting yourself be guided by the data might be better but it's hard to say what is right for you without seeing some SleepyHead data. !0-15 may be the best range for you.  After 2 more posts you can begin posting data. See the links below for how to organize and post your data.

Once some data is available there are a number of people here who can provide excellent guidance.
Download OSCAR

Organize Charts
Attaching Charts

Mask Primer
Soft Cervical Collar

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.

Post Reply Post Reply
#3
RE: [split] max / min pressures - comments please
(06-26-2017, 06:25 PM)dgiebink Wrote: Reading with interest. Saw my 'sleep therapist' today. She saw that my APAP was set to 5 min - 20 max and said not a good idea. Something about running at 5 for a long time can actually be detrimental because after awhile (i.e., many months ...) your body will begin to develop more apnea events when running a lot at just 5.
This sounds like BS to me.  Some people don't need more than 5 or 6 cm to control their apnea.  And if for some reason the apnea gets worse over the years, you can always increase the min pressure when its needed.

Quote:So, she set my min-max to 10-15 with a 15-minute ramp from 5 to 15. That way, when not having events, the machine will still put out at 10. She set the upper limit at 15 because my typical high pressure was in the area of 14 or so with just an occasional reading over 15.
And if "running at 5 cm can lead to your body developing more apneas with time" then what's to prevent your body from developing more apneas with time while running at 10cm?

More seriously: I would not trust this sleep therapist any further than I could throw her. Because even if the pressure increase were warranted, her rationale for explaining why it was necessary is a crock.  

It's true that a lot of people are not particularly comfortable breathing at 5cm, and that's a good reason for increasing the min pressure from 5cm to something higher, but then you also don't set a 15 minute ramp to go from a starting ramp pressure of 5cm to a min pressure of 10 cm.  (By the way, a 5cm increase in 15 minutes might be enough to make it harder to get to sleep if you are sensitive to pressure increases.)

And it's also true that a min pressure of 5cm is not high enough to properly treat a lot of people's OSA: If your titrated pressure is 10cm and your min pressure is 5cm, then you are spending a lot of time at subtherapeutic pressures, and that can allow too many events to happen NOW (not several years from now).  Typically you need that min pressure setting to be within 2 cm of your titrated pressure from a sleep study (if you had one) OR you want that min pressure to be within 2cm of your 90% or 95% pressure setting based on a week or two of autotitration if they didn't do a titration study.

So when would increasing the minimum pressure from 5cm to 10cm make sense?  Under any of these circumstances:

1) Data shows lots of events occurring when the pressure is at or near 5 cm with frequent pressure spikes above 10cm.

2) 90% or 95% pressure level is at least 10cm

3) Patient reports that breathing is uncomfortable at 5cm because not enough air is coming into the mask.

But if your data looks good at 5-15, you're sleeping well in terms of getting to sleep and staying asleep, and you are feeling better in the daytime, there's no good reason for increasing the minimum pressure if you don't want to.
Questions about SleepyHead?  
See my Guide to SleepyHead
Post Reply Post Reply
#4
RE: [split] max / min pressures - comments please
I'd download the right manual for your machine and sleepyhead from the top of the page. I think you have the wrong name in avatar, as the elite is a constant pressure machine.

10-15 probably sounds right, going by was said. I don't think it will be much different, but to double check it. Another way is to set your min around the median number and the max 2cm above your 95%, that will get you into the ballpark. Until you are able to work out how to post charts and get the help of the forum to fine tune.
mask fit http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ask_Primer
For auto-cpap, from machine data or software. You can set the min pressure 1 or 2cm below 95%. Or clinicians commonly use the maximum or 95% pressure for fixed pressure CPAP, this can also be used for min pressure.
https://aasm.org/resources/practiceparam...rating.pdf
Post Reply Post Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Split night sleep study Bwanajohn51 0 66 03-20-2024, 01:07 PM
Last Post: Bwanajohn51
  High Pressures - Inflammation of the CV system? MrIvanDrago 5 299 03-05-2024, 07:14 PM
Last Post: G. Szabo
  [split] Doctor won't help improve Vauto settings JohnCondor 7 526 02-19-2024, 04:20 PM
Last Post: SarcasticDave94
  [split] Central and Complex apneas with CPAP JohnCondor 3 281 02-16-2024, 01:24 PM
Last Post: Sleeprider
  Central apnea and high pressures? esaulcatnas 20 1,731 02-16-2024, 12:22 AM
Last Post: esaulcatnas
  [split]Innisfree - Therapy Thread Innisfree 1 232 01-09-2024, 07:56 AM
Last Post: SarcasticDave94
  Will lofta help me find the right pressures? Swsch2985 6 458 12-30-2023, 01:22 PM
Last Post: Swsch2985


New Posts   Today's Posts


About Apnea Board

Apnea Board is an educational web site designed to empower Sleep Apnea patients.