(10-30-2016, 11:48 PM)JaminV Wrote: I've done a little reading and have noticed that there are CPAPs that automatically adjust to the needed pressure (APAP) -- my DV54 is suppose to be "autoadjusting", but maybe that just means that the pressure is "ramped" (I don't know).
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Before I purchase this machine I would like to know if it really is the appropriate one for me.
The DV54 is the IntelliPAP AutoAdjust, which is an APAP that records some efficacy data.
Your machine can be set up to run in either CPAP mode or APAP mode. You need to figure out which mode yours is running in. Your machine also has a "ramp" feature that allows the machine to increase gradually as you fall asleep.
Quote:I've done a little reading and have noticed that there are CPAPs that automatically adjust to the needed pressure (APAP) -- my DV54 is suppose to be "autoadjusting", but maybe that just means that the pressure is "ramped" (I don't know). Anyway... I would have thought that if I wake up and the pressure is at it's maximum, that I should be able to lower the pressure by breathing "normally" -- but this does not happen.
If your APAP is set to run in AutoAdjust mode, then it should be adjusting the pressures during the night in response to the specific events the machine detects.
But your APAP machine cannot tell when you are awake and when you are asleep. Once it raises the pressure up to 20cm, it's going to leave it there until the machine is happy that your breathing looks good. I don't know enough about the IntelliPAP's auto algorithm to know how aggressively it increases the pressure or how stubborn it is about decreasing the pressure once it has increased it. But in general, APAPs are not going to reduce the pressure just because you wake up. And since wake breathing is naturally more ragged than sleep breathing, your normal wake breathing is probably not going to be "clean" enough for the machine to decide that it is safe to reduce the pressure if you do not restart the machine.
If you want to lower the pressure, the easiest way to do that is to just turn the machine OFF and back ON. That will lower the pressure back down to the min pressure setting if you have an APAP and the beginning ramp pressure if you use a ramp to start the pressure at a level that is below your prescription setting. There is nothing wrong with doing this, by the way.
Quote:I have been using the DV54 for about 2 months now, and have not adjusted to the high pressure, which wakes me up 1 or 2 hours after I go to sleep. The maximum pressure is set to 20 cmH20 and I that's the pressure that wakes me up each night. I usually leave the mask off for the rest of the night, or I have to reset (on/off) so that I can get back to sleep with a lower pressure but then I just wake up in a few hours again from the high pressure.
You are better off turning the machine OFF and back ON and keeping the mask on when you wake up and the pressure is too high to get back to sleep. Taking the mask off for the rest of the night is just going to make it take longer for you to learn how to sleep well with the machine.
