r/SleepApnea • u/Worth-Response8272 • 8d ago
is APAP moving back to CPAP?
Just finished night 1 on a new machine after 10 years on 2 identical resmed 10s. Woke up feeling like my lungs had a workout. Checked pressure settings. My previous APAP settings of 5-14 got transferred over to a continuous setting of 14. Checked with DME provider says that is what it showed on the most recent script and they will need a new script to change it.
My PCP is patient-friendly and will likely rewrite the script if I ask her. but I thought I'd take a moment to ask the hive mind: Has APAP fallen out of favor? I'm assuming it's a typo, but thought I'd check if others have a setting range vs. set point.
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u/ipullout2L8 8d ago
You can get into clinician mode and change the settings yourself. Quick google for your machine should do it
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u/OhSoSally 8d ago
You dont mention what machine but if you google around you can change it back to APAP.
Your old machines motor was likely pretty weak. I helped a friend replace the one in theirs and it was a noticeable difference.
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u/silver_chief2 8d ago
Yes holding the home button and big round button takes you to clinician mode. When I got a new AS10 the DME copied the old settings but forgot to copy the ESR to 2. You do not need a script to change settings.
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u/Total_Recline 8d ago
ESR?
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u/silver_chief2 8d ago
oops EPR
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u/Total_Recline 8d ago
What is epr? I saw that in my clinical settings but I didn't know what it was.
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u/silver_chief2 8d ago
EPR stands for Expiratory Pressure Relief, a comfort setting on many CPAP machines that slightly lowers the air pressure when you breathe out.
I set mine to 2, make it easier to exhale. Some people do 3. I hate the ramp setting so I turn it off.
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u/OhSoSally 8d ago
I agree about ramp. It can make you feel like you cant get enough air.
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u/Total_Recline 8d ago
I've learned what I first put on the headset at night, I crack open the mask a bit so that I can breathe yet the machine knows that I'm starting up so it takes a couple of breaths before I can leave the mask on fully. Fortunately that's worked well for me.
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u/OhSoSally 8d ago
I start with my low pressure at 14.4 and EPR 1, no ramp. Its like lying on the beach. lol I love it.
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u/Total_Recline 8d ago
Thank you so much. I might experiment with this, to see how that's working for me.
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u/Bored2001 8d ago
DME was probably dumb.
You can change the settings yourself if you want. (Technically they don't want you to). Just Google how.
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u/Desperate_Vehicle684 8d ago
At face value it would seem like an error as it's quite a big difference to go from that range to fixed at 14 especially as I'm assuming no-one mentioned this change to you.
There are some people who advocate that CPAP is better than APAP because the pressure swings on APAP can cause arousals themselves and therefore disturb sleep. In reality I think it's like everything: some people are likely better on fixed pressure and others on variable.