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+--- Thread: HME Z1 travel - ear popping (/Thread-HME-Z1-travel-ear-popping)
HME Z1 travel - ear popping - mchad - 01-14-2014
I just received my new, tiny, exciting, Z1 travel cpap. This is SMALL! I was thrilled to see it, an slept with it (figuratively) for the first time last night. Well, tried to sleep with it. I find the exhalation relief system is very lacking. So much so that my ears would pop as I try and exhale. My pressure is 15, and I have tried both of the two "Z-breathe" settings. No appreciable difference. I expect maybe my ears are too sensitive. But in any case, I can't use it. I have two other machines, a S9 and an Intellipap, both set on auto from 11-15. I wonder if the fact that I am getting a full 15 all the time has something to do with it, but I've never had ear problems with the other boxes.
I'm pretty much stuck here, as I can't return the unit, so I have a $500 brick. I so wanted it to work, its so perfectly small... Oh well. I'm going to reach out to the mfgr, but I doubt there is much they can do...
RE: HME Z1 travel - ear popping - Peter_C - 01-14-2014
Please keep us informed of what you learn? Am sorry for your issues, but I've read that the maker is easily reach-able, and hopefully will be a help. Any chance it was an off night?
RE: HME Z1 travel - ear popping - SuperSleeper - 01-14-2014
Howdy mchad !
Well, you're switching from two Auto-CPAP machines to a standard one-pressure CPAP machine. If your auto ranges were 11-15, it's probably not best to put your new CPAP on the highest pressure in that range. Find out what your average (or 95%) pressure is for the auto-CPAPs and use that as your standard CPAP setting - that will give you a better feel for whether or not standard CPAP will work okay for you.
Your auto-CPAPs don't start off at 15 cmH2O of pressure like you've set the Z1 to do - they start off at a much lower 11 cmH2O of pressure. If on your auto-CPAPs you actually reach that 15 pressure at all, it's probably not until you've fallen asleep and are less sensitive to the higher pressure once asleep. But with the Z1, you currently have it set to continuously deliver 15 cmH2O of pressure right from the start (while you're still awake), which probably is difficult to tolerate while you're still awake.
So, it's kind of like comparing apples to oranges.
PS - forgot to all, does the Z1 have a "ramp" feature to slowly build up to the set pressure? If so, you may wish to implement that feature to help you get to sleep before the higher pressure kicks in.
RE: HME Z1 travel - ear popping - mchad - 01-14-2014
(01-14-2014, 10:45 PM)SuperSleeper Wrote: Howdy mchad !
Well, you're switching from two Auto-CPAP machines to a standard one-pressure CPAP machine. If your auto ranges were 11-15, it's probably not best to put your new CPAP on the highest pressure in that range. Find out what your average (or 95%) pressure is for the auto-CPAPs and use that as your standard CPAP setting - that will give you a better feel for whether or not standard CPAP will work okay for you.
Your auto-CPAPs don't start off at 15 cmH2O of pressure like you've set the Z1 to do - they start off at a much lower 11 cmH2O of pressure. If on your auto-CPAPs you actually reach that 15 pressure at all, it's probably not until you've fallen asleep and are less sensitive to the higher pressure once asleep. But with the Z1, you currently have it set to continuously deliver 15 cmH2O of pressure right from the start (while you're still awake), which probably is difficult to tolerate while you're still awake.
So, it's kind of like comparing apples to oranges.
PS - forgot to all, does the Z1 have a "ramp" feature to slowly build up to the set pressure? If so, you may wish to implement that feature to help you get to sleep before the higher pressure kicks in.
Understood. And thanks for the replies! My 95% was 12.4 last week, with the occasional spike to 13.7, so you would say 13 is actually where I should have the Z1 set? I was originally prescribed a straight 15 cpap after a sleep study... But I took it upon myself to insist they prescribe me an apap machine, which I "self prescribed" (after research) to the current 11-15 setting. My ahi is rarely over 1.4, and I feel great, so I feel it is successful. I did, however, use the S9 for a few weeks when originally delivered as straight 15 cpap, and even then I never had the ear popping that I am getting now. I think the problem is more the z-breathe functionality, then the pressure. As an experiment, tonight i set my backup, the intellipap, to a straight 14 cpap mode, and did not experience the same difficulty on exhale. I expect the S9 and the Devilbiss have more advanced exhale relief mechanisms.
I tried to get in touch with HME, but they closed a bit early today I guess. So I'll try again tomorrow, just to make sure I don't have a bad one.
And yes, it has a ramp function, I used 30 min last night, starting at 4...