time for a new machine?

[Denial Dave]

Just before Memorial Day, my AHI went from it's consistent under 1.0 for several years to well over 4 & have stayed up there. It's like someone flipped a switch

FYI - Bi-pap settings prior to the sudden change in AHI were 14 over 10 & had been there for well over 6 months.

Aside from the increase in AHI, there's nothing that I can determine from my data that shows any changes in my sleep. No changes in hours of use, respiration rate, tidal volume. etc Nightly 90% leak levels are under 10, so there's no leaks.

As best, I can tell from the data whatever it is, is being reported as hypopnea's. What I find strange is that I feel great with no ill effects from the reported much higher AHI levels

There's nothing in my life or health that has changed either.

Initially, I thought it was just a bad week of sleeping and left everything alone. But recently, I've been slowly increasing the pressures to see if that makes any difference in the data.

As of this morning, pressure is 15 over 10 and there's been no little or no change in AHI.

I'm beginning to wonder if my nearly 8 year old machine's sensors have gone haywire and are reporting things that aren't really there.

Am I grasping at straws about the machine's sensors no longer functioning properly??

Aside from major malfunctions, how do you know when it's time for a new machine?

[Lifeisabeach]

I went through something like this recently. My case was stable and under control until, out of the blue, it wasn't starting middle of last year. And this was on a machine barely a year old at the time. There was no apparent reason for why this happened, and it's still not clear a year later. I'm back under control now, and better than ever. It's a crazy long story, but the short answer is that the pressure needed to resolve my sleep apnea is now lower than what I had been on for the past few years. In your case, the adjustments you are making may be the wrong ones. You should consider posting charts from OSCAR so some of the more knowledgable members can take a look and make more informed suggestions.

As for whether or not your machine is failing... does it make any unusual noises? You can always test it with a gauge manometer to see if the pressure it is set at is what's being delivered. I had an older ResMed S9 that was starting to fail and it was delivering at least 1 full unit less than what it was programmed for. At 8 years old, there's a good chance your unit's motor is starting to fail. You can compensate by adjusting the pressure to whatever it takes to get your case back under control... just know that if you get a new machine, the numbers on the old may not "translate" properly to the new one. Again, speaking from experience... I was using my old S9 alternating with the much newer AirCurve 10, and despite having identical settings, my sleep apnea was better controlled on the older one than the newer one when my aforementioned problems started. Basically it appears that my pressure needs had dropped, and the S9 was failing to a level that just happened to meet those new needs.

[Pugsy]

I assume no extra few pounds packed on...

You know OSA can worsen simply with age and we can need more pressure simply from the airway tissues getting floppier and being more stubborn in terms of preventing the floppiness but it is odd that the change would be so abrupt. I would think the change would be more gradual.

And the sensors can start to sort of fail but we really have no way to know their status or check for accuracy short of sending the machine in to a repair facility where they have the tools to check all that stuff out.
Now you could do your own pressure checking to see if it is actually delivering the set pressure with a manometer if you want to make one or buy one. That might answer at least the question as to whether or not it is actually delivering the pressure it is suppose to be delivering.

At any rate....I think if it were me I would start the ball rolling on getting a new machine if I couldn't find some other reason like extra pounds or such to blame the change on.

[Denial Dave]

Trust me, lower pressure is not needed. Tried is lower than the 14 over 10 and the results weren't good.

14 over 10 had been the right setting for quite a while with some minor tweaks every so often just to see what would happen.

As I posted, what has me confused is the fact that it was like someone flipped a switch and the AHI jumped.

Thanks Dave

I went through something like this recently. My case was stable and under control until, out of the blue, it wasn't starting middle of last year. And this was on a machine barely a year old at the time. There was no apparent reason for why this happened, and it's still not clear a year later. I'm back under control now, and better than ever. It's a crazy long story, but the short answer is that the pressure needed to resolve my sleep apnea is now lower than what I had been on for the past few years. In your case, the adjustments you are making may be the wrong ones. You should consider posting charts from OSCAR so some of the more knowledgable members can take a look and make more informed suggestions.

As for whether or not your machine is failing... does it make any unusual noises? You can always test it with a gauge manometer to see if the pressure it is set at is what's being delivered. I had an older ResMed S9 that was starting to fail and it was delivering at least 1 full unit less than what it was programmed for. At 8 years old, there's a good chance your unit's motor is starting to fail. You can compensate by adjusting the pressure to whatever it takes to get your case back under control... just know that if you get a new machine, the numbers on the old may not "translate" properly to the new one. Again, speaking from experience... I was using my old S9 alternating with the much newer AirCurve 10, and despite having identical settings, my sleep apnea was better controlled on the older one than the newer one when my aforementioned problems started. Basically it appears that my pressure needs had dropped, and the S9 was failing to a level that just happened to meet those new needs.

[Denial Dave]

HI Pugst,

No weight gain, still rocking the loss of 80lbs that allowed me to go from the 21 over 15 to the setting of 14 over 10 Still doing my 5 1/2 mile hike every morning

FWIW - Tried going to lower pressure settings and while the AHI was good, I was tired during the day. So lower pressures wasn't a good idea

As I originally posted, what has me confused is the sudden increase in AHI from the years long under 1.0 immediately to over 4.0. It's like someone flipped a switch someplace.

Add to that that I feel great. One would think that if my AHI was well over 4.0, I'd be having some type of ill effects from it. Especially after years of it being under 1.0

A recent increase in my pressure settings to 15 over 10 hasn't made a bit of difference in the higher AHI levels.

I've been over my data with a fine tooth comb. I haven't found anything that I could attribute such an instant and then sustained jump in AHI

That has me questioning whether it's the machine's sensors that might be FUBAR and not the actual sleep data.


Dave

I assume no extra few pounds packed on...

You know OSA can worsen simply with age and we can need more pressure simply from the airway tissues getting floppier and being more stubborn in terms of preventing the floppiness but it is odd that the change would be so abrupt. I would think the change would be more gradual.

And the sensors can start to sort of fail but we really have no way to know their status or check for accuracy short of sending the machine in to a repair facility where they have the tools to check all that stuff out.
Now you could do your own pressure checking to see if it is actually delivering the set pressure with a manometer if you want to make one or buy one. That might answer at least the question as to whether or not it is actually delivering the pressure it is suppose to be delivering.

At any rate....I think if it were me I would start the ball rolling on getting a new machine if I couldn't find some other reason like extra pounds or such to blame the change on.

[Pugsy]

About the only thing you can check yourself is the actual pressures being delivered. No way to test the sensors that I know of.
I think it can be done in repair facilities with special equipment but you run into the situation as to whether it is worth the cost or not.
It costs money just to ship to and from the repair facility and then if they find something wrong...fixing it costs. Your insurance may or may not want to pay for those costs.

Your equipment supplier might have a manometer and check it for you...I know mine does. I saw him doing it on a machine one day.

Your machine is old...I think time to start the process of getting a new machine because there are questions about this one's accuracy and effectiveness. Peace of mind thing if nothing else.

[tlohse]

I would say that machine is pretty old. In most terms anything older than 5 is considered replaceable when it comes to cpap. I just got my PR cpap replaced it was going on about 7 years.