Philips Dreamstation or Airsense 10 CPAP machine

[sdb7802]

For me, the DreamStation is more comfortable than the A10. Try them both, if you can.

[trish6hundred]

Hi stephennic,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Good luck to you on your machine decision and much success to you as you start your CPAP journey.

[stephennic]

Hi,
Rented a Airsense 10 , tried it last night no noise which is great however the exhale I found harder than the old 50 series machine. I found it not as easy to breath, I need to feel it smooth and natural to breath. Can you adjust the setting for exhale pressure for a fixed machine, even though I have rented a auto machine. Also it was set at 9cm straight away with no RAMP put on so no prep before sleep. What should I do, rent a dreamstation? The goodnews I had 5.6 per hour which is much better than around 50 when I sleep on my back and 25 on my side.
Cheers
Steve

[DeepBreathing]

Resmed machines have a function called EPR (expiratory pressure relief). This drops the pressure by up to 3 cm H2O on exhale. This is a user setting, so have a look in the manual to see how to set it. Note that it has to be enabled by the provider in order for you to set it, so check that it's actually enabled on your machine. Respironics have a similar system called "flex".

Likewise, the ramp is a user setting, but may have been disabled by the provider. Have a look in the user manual to confirm that both ramp and EPR are enabled. If not, you can go into the clinician menu and enable them yourself, but as this is a hire machine I don't recommend doing that (talk to your supplier).

[sdb7802]

I'd try out a DreamStation. I'd configure it as APAP (8cm min, 14cm max) and set C-Flex = 3. You can always set it back to fixed mode when you turn it in.

[stephennic]

I'd try out a DreamStation. I'd configure it as APAP (8cm min, 14cm max) and set C-Flex = 3. You can always set it back to fixed mode when you turn it in.

Thanks, I will try both machines now, got appointment tomorrow to try out both. I will try the Airsence again tonight.
Cheers
Steve

[stephennic]

Have they updated the software on the dreamstation now, I read back In December it was very limited.
Cheers
Steve.

[chill]

Software on the DreamStation? Do you mean SleepyHead support of the DreamStation data files? SleepyHead has not connection to the machine manufacturers. SleepyHead does support the DreamStation data now.

[sdb7802]

Have they updated the software on the dreamstation now, I read back In December it was very limited.
Cheers
Steve.

Don't know if it's been updated.

The two issues that seem to annoy users are:

1.) display backlight too bright and stays on too long if you shut her down for a bathroom break.

2.) bluetooth flaky. Requires frequent reset. (I don't use it; I use a wifi sd card.)

Neither issue really bothers me.

[sptrout]

One thing that I did not see mentioned is the size of the two devices. The footprint of the DreamStation with the humidifier attached is much larger than the AirSense 10 (w/o the humidifier about the same size). When I saw them side by side at a brick and mortar store here in the Houston area, that difference alone made it an easy call. The DreamStation's footprint is at least 2x the AirSence 10. Check your available nightstand space.