[Equipment] Auto CPAP took me on a wild ride but....

[fortywinks]

Thanks to this board I discovered how to use the auto titration function on my RemStar Auto with A-Flex (560P).... But the results were kind of puzzling. The CPAP mill set it up with a fixed 8.0 psi and I used that for about a year with an average AHI of 7.7.

Then I discovered this group, found out about the auto function, turned it on, and the machine did its titration thing..

Over the next couple of months the machine took me as high as 14 psi and my average AHI came way down to 3.69 but here's the mysterious part: The machine seems to have settled on 8.5 psi as the right dose and I'm still at a low AHI... The Sleepyhead readout says Min, Max, Average and 90% pressure are all at 8.5...which is just a little higher than where i started....

So what gives? Four months ago, 8 psi was not enough. Now at 8.5 I'm doing great. Did my body adjust? Or what?

Thanks!

[justMongo]

"The Sleepyhead readout says Min, Max, Average and 90% pressure are all at 8.5"

That does not sound like you're in auto mode.

[Lazer1234]

Thanks to this board I discovered how to use the auto titration function on my RemStar Auto with A-Flex (560P).... But the results were kind of puzzling. The CPAP mill set it up with a fixed 8.0 psi and I used that for about a year with an average AHI of 7.7.

Then I discovered this group, found out about the auto function, turned it on, and the machine did its titration thing..

Over the next couple of months the machine took me as high as 14 psi and my average AHI came way down to 3.69 but here's the mysterious part: The machine seems to have settled on 8.5 psi as the right dose and I'm still at a low AHI... The Sleepyhead readout says Min, Max, Average and 90% pressure are all at 8.5...which is just a little higher than where i started....

So what gives? Four months ago, 8 psi was not enough. Now at 8.5 I'm doing great. Did my body adjust? Or what?

Thanks!

I think your machine is on Auto-trial mode, 1 month on APAP and then CPAP fixed pressure. Get clinical settings and adjust to Auto-mode.

[fortywinks]

Hmmm.... very interesting. I will investigate....But what would account for the improved AHI numbers at such a small change from the original setting after about three months?

"The Sleepyhead readout says Min, Max, Average and 90% pressure are all at 8.5"

That does not sound like you're in auto mode.

[fortywinks]

I was worried that I wouldn't make my question quite clear. Let me see if I can ask in a different way: What I'm wanting to know is why such a small difference in pressure made such a big difference in my AHI score. Half a PSI doesn't seem like that much. Or is it the cumulative effect of all the different pressures I've gone through in the past couple of months?

Thanks to this board I discovered how to use the auto titration function on my RemStar Auto with A-Flex (560P).... But the results were kind of puzzling. The CPAP mill set it up with a fixed 8.0 psi and I used that for about a year with an average AHI of 7.7.

Then I discovered this group, found out about the auto function, turned it on, and the machine did its titration thing..

Over the next couple of months the machine took me as high as 14 psi and my average AHI came way down to 3.69 but here's the mysterious part: The machine seems to have settled on 8.5 psi as the right dose and I'm still at a low AHI... The Sleepyhead readout says Min, Max, Average and 90% pressure are all at 8.5...which is just a little higher than where i started....

So what gives? Four months ago, 8 psi was not enough. Now at 8.5 I'm doing great. Did my body adjust? Or what?

Thanks!

I think your machine is on Auto-trial mode, 1 month on APAP and then CPAP fixed pressure. Get clinical settings and adjust to Auto-mode.

[trish6hundred]

Hi fortywinks,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for more answers to your questions. Much success to you as you continue your CPAP therapy.

[Lazer1234]

You must look at your data in SleepyHead. It could be that you need 8,5 to take away your obstructive apnea and not with 8,0.

[Crimson Nape]

Good going on getting your AHI down. Could you please furnish the AHI breakdown of OA's, CA's, Hypopnea's, and anything else. This might help in providing you with a better answer.

[PaulaO2]

Unless your machine has some sort of "demo" mode or has AutoIQ, it doesn't settle on a pressure. That's not how autoPAP mode works.

The auto mode means it is automatically adjusting all the time, every night, all night. No two nights are the same anyway. The treatment range is set with a minimum and a maximum and the machine stays within that range. As you sleep, and as events happen, the machine adjusts.

If your machine is saying it has 8.5 for all 3 readings, then somehow it got turned back to regular CPAP mode.

[Ghost1958]

Your machine is the same as mine. Get into clinical where you set it for auto or straight cpap. Set auto mode. Set your min pressure at 8 and your max at 14.

Enable Opti start in clinical settings. In 30 hours of use it will give you your best min pressure. youll have to go back into clinical and set your min to that pressure or Opti start will start at the pressure but if you have no events in about five minutes it will drop back down or up to its preset min pressure. So you have to lock in the opti start min pressure manually.

Once you have that watch your SH results. If you pressure is going up to 14 where its capped and not clearing events out then up it .5. If its running and showing a max of say for a couple weeks then set it at 13 to give a little wiggle room at the top.

.5cm of pressure can and does on a lot of people make a huge difference. My wife is one of them. Id never move her pressure more than .5 and wait at least a week to see what it did because ,5 with her can be the difference in AHI less than 1 with no gas problems or AHI of less than one and a worse gas problem.