Steady stream or pulsating air

[DoubleB65]

My machine seems to have suddenly started pulsating air she T first I thought it was a steady stream? Maybe I imagined that part and I’m just getting used to it? Or is this indicate something is wrong?

I’m also not real Happy with the nasal pillow mask as it seems louder and I have a few squeals from air leaks that I can’t seem to ever stop so I may go back and exchange for a full mask
Again

Interesting that the last two nights I’ve gotten so hot in the mask (the air just isn’t cool enough despite being in a cool room with a fan on) that I’ve only used the mask a little
Over two hours each of the last two nights but without the mask night before last I slept like a baby. Approaching three weeks and I still can’t tell any difference how I felt pre cpap. Any advice?

[MrsRinPDX]

I don't think you are imagining the pulsating air. That is the machine's way of checking if your airway is open. You shouldn't be feeling it unless you are holding your breath. When is it happening?

[DoubleB65]

When I'm breathing....obviously part of it is the reduction in pressure to let me exhale I'm guessing. It's not so much that I feel it, but hear it and it's fairly loud.

I think changing to the nasal pillow mask made it more noticeable than the full face mask. I also guess I'm not getting the best seal because of the squeaking sound I hear when I breathe. It's all been enough over the last two nights that I haven't been able to sleep without taking the mask off and going without it, which I know isn't a good thing. I am seriously considering going back to the full mask.

[ChicagoGranny]

When I'm breathing....obviously part of it is the reduction in pressure to let me exhale I'm guessing.

This sounds like you are using the EPR feature. You may be like me - I don't like the pressure ramping up and down on each breath cycle. I turned it off. Maybe you want to try turning it off?

[Pugsy]

Exactly which model Respironics DreamStation are you using? Look on the bottom of the blow for a number that begins with DSX....and then 3 digits followed by some letters and numbers.
DSX200xxx, DSX400xxx or DSX500xxx

And exactly what are all your settings in the setup menu? You will need to go into the setup menu area to see all the settings.
If you don't know how to do that go here and request the manual and it will explain how to get there.

https://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap- ... tup-manual

Respironics machines don't have EPR (that's ResMed's exhale relief feature) but instead have Flex exhale relief.

What you are feeling might be Flex in action or it might be something else. It might be pressure pulses which is the machine way of determining centrals from obstructives but you have the DreamStation CPAP which is model DSX200xxx in your profile and it doesn't distinguish between centrals and obstructives I don't think....so I don't know if it does the pressure pulse thing or not.

[DoubleB65]

I have the 500 model....the Flex is set on 3...but if I go lower I feel like I can't breathe out without forcing my breath out. I just didn't notice it doing this before I changed from the full mask to the nasal pillow.

[USMCVet]

Try wearing with the machine on during the day to get used to it. when I was changed to a fixed pressure I was having a hard time breathing out against pressure too at first. After a few hours you don't notice it anymore until you first start the next day. Gradually it gets easier and easier and I slowly turned down the flex to where I have to flex anymore.

For the leaks are you using the right size nasal pillow? Have you tried adjusting straps to see if that makes a difference? The headgear does stretch out a bit.

Do you have a heated hose that night be making the air hotter then it needs to be?

If your only wearing the mask for 2 hours a night you won't feel a difference. If you want to feel a real difference or have a shot at feeling better you need to wear the mask all the time when sleeping and you need to get your therapy optimized for yourself.

[Pugsy]

When you have time please update your profile to the correct machine to avoid potential confusion later.
You need to choose
DreamStation Auto CPAP

Do you know about SleepyHead software?
https://sleep.tnet.com/equipment

Can you post an image of the detailed report from a recent night when you started having this problem?
viewtopic/t158560/How-to-post-images-for-review.html

Let's see for sure that the pressure line is doing since there is data available.
I am wondering if there might be something going on with your machine.....been a lot of that going around lately and if the problem is your machine going whacko on you then all these good ideas won't help.

[USMCVet]

The pressure pulse I think is totally normal. I know if I am laying half asleep with pauses in breathing little bits of air sometimes puff out of my mouth in a pulsing fashion. I don't notice it anymore though and wonder if hypersensitivity to something new makes people notice it more?

[Pugsy]

I know if I am laying half asleep with pauses in breathing little bits of air sometimes puff out of my mouth in a pulsing fashion. I don't notice it anymore though and wonder if hypersensitivity to something new makes people notice it more?

People can be hypersensitive to just about anything. I have seen people complain about the FOT in the ResMed and it's not nearly as noticeable (at least to me) as the pressure pulse thing.

What's odd here with the OP is that thing were fine for a while and the something seems to have changed and now it's not fine.
Always makes me wonder what changed.
Since these machines can fail at any time I always wonder about that aspect...maybe a sensor went bad or something.
This below is why I want to see for sure what the machine is reporting and doing. It wouldn't be impossible for something to go bad on it. Need to rule that out first before spending much time on the other stuff.

My machine seems to have suddenly started pulsating air

[DoubleB65]

Here is last night....youll notice it was off for a while because that's where it started driving me nuts. I had been keeping it on between 5:45 and 7 hours a night prior to the last three nights....my AHI is coming down but I also know it likely isn't accurate due to the time it was off.

screenshot-20180314-215915.png (77.83 KiB) Viewed 8358 times

[DoubleB65]

Here is night before last with same issue

screenshot-20180314-215934.png (77.75 KiB) Viewed 8355 times

[TedVPAP]

If pressure changes are bothering you, change it from APAP to CPAP so that pressure remains constant. Then maybe you will be able to ware it for the entire night which is an important goal.
Once we get through a full night, then we can worry about improving the settings.

[DoubleB65]

So...I had a response on another post I had made about the air being too warm at night..and somewhere I'd read about disconnecting the humidifier and just using the CPAP alone. So, I tried that three nights ago.

Last night I decided to hook the humidifier back up...and guess what? The pulsating air flow stopped and returned to normal like it had been for the two weeks prior. I had consistent pressure all night...I did not have any pulsating rushes of air...

At any rate, I was able to keep the CPAP on for almost six hours and had an AHI of 5.8...still not where I need it but better than I've been having and I slept halfway decent as well. I'll be curious to see how things go the next couple of nights.

[ChicagoGranny]

The pulsating air flow stopped

Is this from your perception and/or did you see it on the pressure graph?

Glad you slept for six hours with the system!