Newbie - Problems Exhaling

[wintermute]

Another problem has popped up in the last two nights using my S9 Autoset. It's supposedly set up in Auto mode with a 4-20"H2O pressure range.

I woke up both nights in the early morning feeling I was in a wind tunnel. I wasn't inhaling so much as having air shoved into my lungs (and stomach) at a constant 13.5"H2O pressure. My diaphragm muscles were fatigued and it was difficult to exhale. Being awake at this point, I normalized my breathing bit the pressure did not decrease. I shut off and restarted the brick, but had the same problems after the machine ramped up. Is it possible that it's in manual mode?

[SleepEZ]

The question is whether or not EPR has been enabled in "Full Time" mode in the Clinician's Menu. Hopefully so. If that's the case, you should have access to EPR settings when you press the bottom silver button (with two check marks on it). It should be the first menu choice. Be sure to set it to 3 for starters. It allows you to exhale at a lower pressure, which helps alot when first starting out.

Another problem has popped up in the last two nights using my S9 Autoset. It's supposedly set up in Auto mode with a 4-20"H2O pressure range.

I woke up both nights in the early morning feeling I was in a wind tunnel. I wasn't inhaling so much as having air shoved into my lungs (and stomach) at a constant 13.5"H2O pressure. My diaphragm muscles were fatigued and it was difficult to exhale. Being awake at this point, I normalized my breathing bit the pressure did not decrease. I shut off and restarted the brick, but had the same problems after the machine ramped up. Is it possible that it's in manual mode?

[eplantz]

This sounds like what happens when you have excessive leaks. The S9 attempts to compensate by increasing the pressure up to the limit you specify (20 in your case)

[vsheline]

I woke up both nights in the early morning feeling I was in a wind tunnel. I wasn't inhaling so much as having air shoved into my lungs (and stomach) at a constant 13.5"H2O pressure. My diaphragm muscles were fatigued and it was difficult to exhale. Being awake at this point, I normalized my breathing bit the pressure did not decrease. I shut off and restarted the brick, but had the same problems after the machine ramped up. Is it possible that it's in manual mode?

Hi wintermute, welcome to the forum!

I would turn unit off (if on/off button has a lighted LED, hold down on/off button about 5 second until power turns off) wait 5 seconds, and unplug unit for a minute and plug in again.

On the other hand, you probably are needing the high pressure and will need some time to get used to it. Your breathing muscles will be stronger in a week or so.

One thing you can do to probably improve (lower) how much pressure you need, is to make sure you stay off your back while asleep. I wear a snug teeshirt with a tennis ball in a pocket sewn right between the shoulder blades.

Take care,
--- Vaughn

[Shastzi]

Sounds like you need to bump the upper limit down to about 12cm. let yourself acclimate at that pressure.
(about a week)
Get SleepyHead up and running and learn how to read the reports (from this site of course)
The next week if you are still showing a high AHI from the reports bump the pressure up 1-2cm.
run another week and re-accilmate.
Do this like a stair-step process and you'll nail down the best pressure for yourself.
It works!
Since the machine can only do so much,
SleepyHead will help you pinpoint leaks and several other problems that are common.
You still need to engage the little grey cells and you'll be on the right path in no time!

Cheers and Best of luck!