APAP forcing me to breathe more than I want

[chunkyfrog]

It is a swarm of Asian beetles!

[palerider]

Thanks xxyzx,

That's it precisely. I'm looking for the machine to adapt to me with some data & intelligence behind the ideal RR for me. Resmed Airsense 10 keeps shoving down with air *just when* I'm finally falling asleep.

Do you know why it forces 15 RR no matter what? Which ASV are you using now, and please let me know how your new machine deals with centrals. I'm so bleeping destroyed from my experience so far. How could empirical experimentation get so wild in the night

the person you're replying to has no idea what he's talking about.

listen to him at your own peril.

[Pugsy]

That's it precisely. I'm looking for the machine to adapt to me with some data & intelligence behind the ideal RR for me.

None of the cpap/apap machines will adapt to you...they don't remember or learn anything. Once they get turned off it's a whole new ball game the next time you turn it on.

Now the ASV...it does do a bit of averaging if you have it on auto for breathing rate but that's about it in terms of learning anything...and it starts a whole new day once it gets turned off. Besides, ASV machines...very expensive and unless you meet criteria your insurance won't pay for it. If you think the apap/cpap is trying to force you to breathe more than you want....you don't want ASV...trust me...I have one and I know how it works and cpap/apap is a lot more gentle if you aren't breathing than ASV is if you aren't breathing.

These machines don't adjust to you.....you have to adjust to them.

The forum member telling you that stuff you wanted to hear...he really has no idea what he is talking about. I don't think he even has an ASV...he just wants one but hasn't got it yet

[chunkyfrog]

And seeks recognition without merit.

[Night Warrior]

Chunky Frog,
It's the swarm of Asian beetles over here. I'm persistent in general & will see if I can tweak the language settings on this forum. Not immediately apparent...but what in this OSA journey has been easy, right? I might have to learn Japanese soon!

Pugsy,
Thanks for the perspective on ASV, and on member comments. I'm very new to all of this. I know it's wishful thinking to have a more intelligent APAP machine, and it hit me between the eyes with a resounding gong when you reminded me that: "These machines don't adjust to you.....you have to adjust to them."

[Pugsy]

Pugsy,
Thanks for the perspective on ASV, and on member comments. I'm very new to all of this. I know it's wishful thinking to have a more intelligent APAP machine, and it hit me between the eyes with a resounding gong when you reminded me that: "These machines don't adjust to you.....you have to adjust to them."

I know people seem to think the machine "learns" but it doesn't nor can it and even what little some of the higher machines might sorta learn (specifically when set to auto breaths per minute the ASV will figure breaths and average when you initially start the machine then it will try to maintain that average but even it loses it when powered off) it can't remember anything once it gets turned off.
What really happens is your body learns and adapts.
Sort of like when I first went to school and lived in the nurses dorm over a large metropolitan hospital ER...ambulance sirens all night long.
Took several weeks but eventually the body/brain adjusted and tuned the sirens out.
New people would move in and complain about the sirens...and after I had been there a few months I would say "what sirens"

Use your machine while awake watching TV or reading and not being under any pressure to fall asleep or stay asleep. That will help the brain get better acquainted with its new best friend.

Now you can play with the exhale relief settings a little bit and maybe find one that seems to fit your own breathing rhythm better.

Do you have SleepyHead up and running yet? If so, are you seeing very many ClearAirway/Central events?

[SleepyBobR]

Coming in late on this one but I can assure you that your machine is not trying to force you to breathe. APAPs just don't work that way. They follow your breathing rhythm; they don't lead. (Btw, I have the same machine and I think it is excellent). Sounds to me like you are experiencing sleep onset centrals which are normal and harmless but can be very distressing if you become aware of them and they keep waking you up just as you're drifting off. As others have said, the gentle puffing is just the machine trying to figure out what is happening when you stop breathing. If your airway is clear it does nothing. If it's obstructed, it raises the pressure to prevent more obstructive apneas. If your centrals occur throughout the night, not just at sleep onset, you may need a different type of machine. CPAP/APAP machines simply do not treat central apneas. As Julie said though, an ASV will really take charge and force you to breathe. I have no experience with this but I'm sure it takes some getting used to.

[chunkyfrog]

Sometimes, it may feel like the cpap is trying to speed up the pace;
but the exhale relief is only a small reduction in pressure, and once your expiration has less force,
it can feel like the pressure has increased--when, in fact it has not.
With time, this will become less noticeable, or we come to ignore it, as it is only an illusion.

[Night Warrior]

Pugsy and Chunky Frog,
OK, then I'll go with the sirens until they become background noise and the illusion of "all this breathing" that I don't want to do at night. When I was PG with my kids, I recall deliberately slowing down my breathing to starve my brain of O2 and force myself to go to sleep! Bad, bad habit. Right now, I'm dealing with mask issues & went back to my DME yesterday. This is the beginning of Week 2 of CPAP, so I haven't gotten to Sleepyhead yet. My APAP shows 5.6 centrals/hour which doesn't seem all so bad, right?

SleepBobR,
I fought the machine all of last week. Didn't sleep much. The machine auto adjusted to 11.5 - 12 cms H2O and perhaps I'm perceiving that as the machine forcing me to breathe, when it's just the pressure. I'm not very big: 5'4" and 114 lbs on a good day. Thanks for your comment about ASVs because I never want to see one of those

[ajack]

I wouldn't listen to anything xxy said and I'm sure you will agree with me after being here for a week. There is a big adjustment with getting use to cpap. I would wear it while watching tv, to help get use to it.

It's very common to have clear airways apnea for a while, I wouldn't worry about that number for now.

when I wake up now, I have to check if the machine is on, you really do get use to the pressure. you could set the pressure to min 6 max 10 till you to get use to it. I would download sleepyhead and post your charts for advice.